Displaying items by tag: Shutdown

Cement consumption data for the first half of 2025 from Russia has been released this week and it is down from 2024. Added to this, Cemros announced earlier in July 2025 that it is preparing to suspend production at its Belgorod cement plant. What can these and other news stories tell us about the state of the Russian cement sector at present?

Graph 1: Cement consumption in Russia, 2019 - H1 2025. Source: Soyuzcement.

Figures from Soyuzcement, the Union of Cement Producers, in the local press reports that consumption fell by 8.6% year-on-year to 27.2Mt in the first half of 2025 from 28.4Mt in the same period in 2024. By region the largest declines were noted in the south (-14%), the Urals (-13%) and in Siberia (-11%). Producer Sibcem released some production data for the first half, also this week, and this reflected the national picture, with a 9% fall.

The national situation has been blamed on a suspension of infrastructure projects, a fall in the domestic building sector and mounting imports. Imports rose by 5.8% to 1.9Mt. Notably those trade flows have been coming in from other countries with restricted access to international markets such as Belarus and Iran. A China-based company Jinyu Jidong Cement in the far-eastern Heilongjiang Province also started exporting cement to Russia in July 2025. Unusually though, for these kinds of stories, exports from Russia have also risen. They grew by 9% to 0.5Mt, mainly to Kazakhstan. The general picture fits with Soyuzcement’s updated forecast for the local market from 2025 to 2027. It expects a decline of 6 - 12% in 2025 as a whole, followed by a change of -6% to +1% in 2026 and then the start of a recovery in 2027 under most scenarios.

One reaction to the shrinking market became apparent earlier in July 2025 when Cemros said it was preparing to suspend production at its Belgorod cement plant. The company plans to use the stoppage to assess the market, reduce its operating costs and consider market diversification options. It blamed the decision on a decrease in demand in the domestic market in Russia along with lower profits and higher imports. Back in May 2025, Cemros, the leading Russia-based cement producer, said that it had 18 plants, a total production capacity of 33Mt/yr and a 31% share of the local market. It also reported that it had two mothballed plants: the Savinsky cement plant in Arkhangelsk and the Zhigulovskiye plant in the Samara region. Although, to be fair to Cemros, up until fairly recently it had been spending money on its plants. It resumed clinker production in mid-2024 when it restarted one production line at its Ulyanovsk plant in mid-2024. Then in May 2025 it said it was getting ready to restart the second line at the site too as part of a €8m renovation project. Once back online the unit will have a total production capacity of 0.8Mt/yr. Another recent plant project by Cemros was the upgrade of a kiln at Katavsky Cement that was completed in June 2025. Elsewhere, Kavkazcement was reportedly planning to invest US$224m on equipment upgrades in April 2025 in response to a large rise in production costs in 2024.

The larger problem facing the Russian construction industry and the building material producers that supply it is the ongoing economic fallout from the war in Ukraine. The head of the country’s national bank said at the start of July 2025 that the nation had broadly adapted to economic sanctions and that inflation was slowing down. Growing cement demand since 2021 broadly supports this view. Yet, governor Elvira Nabiullina warned of further market turmoil ahead due to a slowing economy and high labour costs. This spells uncertainty for the cement sector as underlined by Soyuzcement’s gloomy forecasts for 2025 and 2026. In this kind of environment market mergers and acquisitions seem likely but international sanctions may limit the options. One general remedy the government has been advocating for has been the formation of a common commodities exchange for the Eurasian Economic Union that was suggested in late 2024. However, Soyuzcement has been lobbying against the proposal on the grounds of price volatility, increased competition and a reluctance by producers to join it. The cement sector in Russia faces challenging times ahead.

Nepal: The government plans to shut down Udayapur Cement Industry, which operates the Jaljale cement plant, in mid-July 2025. The República newspaper has reported that the government has received a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between workers, local people and political parties to contest the closure. Critics reportedly accuse the government of trying to bankrupt the company in order to sell it.

Nepal: Udayapur Cement Industry resumed operations on 24 April 2025, despite ongoing legal disputes and internal administrative obstructions, according to acting general manager Mahesh Sah. The plant ceased all activities in late November 2024. It began kiln firing at 10:40am local time and expected clinker production to begin after eight hours of machine operation.

The plant aims to produce approximately 400t/day of clinker. Coal and dinepalesel stocks are expected to last 12 days. Sah noted that coordination has been made with the Nepal Electricity Authority, which has assured uninterrupted power supply despite outstanding dues. Udayapur Cement, a fully state-owned enterprise, has a daily production capacity of 800t/day.

Ghana: At a recent stakeholder meeting, Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare instructed the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to shut down cement companies that produce substandard products, according to Adom Online.

“Close down companies that are defaulting with substandard products to stop production until they can prove they can consistently produce quality products,” Ofosu-Adjare said.

She added that price should not be used to justify poor quality cement and warned of the risks posed by substandard materials in public buildings like hotels. She pledged to conduct regular inspections of cement plants to enforce compliance.

The Cement Manufacturers Development Committee Regulation L.I. 2480 and the GSA Act 2022 allow the Minister and the GSA to revoke licences and halt the sale of non-compliant cement.

Bangladesh: Chhatak Cement Factory has ceased production due to severe gas and limestone shortages, despite a modernisation project having reached 91% completion.

The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) began a US$54.7m project to convert the plant’s production process from wet to dry in 2016, in order to increase capacity to 1500t/day (0.45Mt/yr). The project cost rose to US$116m, with US$68m spent by November 2024. However, the plant remains idle despite the completion of construction works over a year ago, due to the lack of a new gas pipeline and ropeway to import limestone from India. This ropeway was supposed to transport limestone from the Komorrah Limestone Mining Company in Meghalaya.

The project's committee has proposed extending the deadline to June 2026 and allocating an additional US$25m for a 43km gas pipeline from Sylhet to Chhatak. Trial runs are now being conducted every 15 days in order to prevent the plant’s machinery from rusting.

Project director Abdur Rahman Badsha said that the Chinese contractor responsible for the ropeway construction, Nanjing C-Hope Cement Engineering Group, is awaiting a subcontracting agreement with KLMC to begin work in India.

UAE: A cement plant in Fujairah has halted operations after a malfunction caused thick smoke to rise from the chimney, according to local news reports. The Fujairah Environment Authority conducted an inspection to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and laws. The plant consequently initiated an immediate shutdown and submitted a plan to repair the malfunction and prevent future issues.

Kenya: The Ministry of Mining has ordered the shut down all mining operations at East Africa Portland Cement Company due to a US$4m debt the company owes the government. The cement producer has also been accused of operating illegally since 2016, according to Citizen Digital. Its sites have reportedly been lacking safety equipment, not registering vehicles that transport limestone and other infringements. Police have been sent to the company’s quarries to ensure they stop work.

The East Africa Portland Cement Company runs quarries at Portland and Sparetech in Kajiado and Kibini in Sultan Hamud.

US: Dragon Products reportedly plans to lay off six employees at its Thomaston, Maine, cement plant later in 2024, in the plant’s on-going transition from cement production to distribution only. This will reduce the plant’s total employees to 20, down by 76% from 85 at the start of the year. Local press has reported that rising operating costs, including for energy and transport, led to the move.

The Thomaston plant continues to process ‘residual’ raw materials and has begun implementation of its new distribution strategy, taking delivery of 30,000t of bagged cement via the port of Searsport. A second delivery is scheduled for October 2024.

China: The National Development and Reform Commission, along with other government departments, has launched the Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and CO₂ Reduction in the Cement Industry. The plan aims to cap clinker capacity at 1.8Bnt/yr by 2026, with 30% of it above the national energy efficiency benchmark level. This will reduce energy consumption per tonne by 3.7% from 2020 levels. The plan will eliminate 13Mt of CO₂ emissions and 5Mt of coal consumption in 2024 – 2025.

US: Cemex has contested Boulder County's decision to terminate its right to operate the Lyons cement plant and is calling for the decision to be reversed, citing ‘significant’ implications for the state and local employment. The dispute follows a notice from the Boulder Country Community Planning office in April 2024, attributing increased traffic as the primary reason for the termination. The county and the Colorado Department of Transportation began investigating the plant in 2022, after residents of the area complained.

Cemex stated in its response to Boulder County "The Department's conclusion did not take into account the historical trucking of material to and from the Lyons cement plant, relying instead on a study Cemex voluntarily undertook for the Colorado Department of Transportation for a different purpose, and that considered only three days of traffic data in each of two consecutive years. The determination also failed to apply applicable precedent that a nonconforming use does not terminate when traffic occurring off-site changes."

The Community Planning and Permitting Director will now review the additional evidence brought forth by Cemex and issue an additional determination. Depending on the outcome, Cemex will have the option to appeal the decision to the Boulder County Board of Commissioners. The closing of the Lyons plant would lead to the loss of 100 jobs and only two cement plants remaining in Colorado.