Displaying items by tag: Transport

South Korea: Cement exports are expected to reach 4.5Mt in 2025, up by 52% year-on-year, according to the Korea Cement Association, as producers seek to offset weak domestic demand and rising raw material costs. Domestic shipments are projected to fall by 16.5% to 36.5Mt, the lowest level in 34 years.

Despite high transport costs and limited profitability, producers including Ssangyong C&E, Halla Cement and SAMPYO Cement are increasing exports to cover fixed costs and maintain kiln operations to retain carbon emission allowances.

A cement industry official said “The domestic economy is as bad as during the global financial crisis, but we cannot stop the plants, so we are sending the cement piling up overseas. On top of that, we need to keep the plant kilns running to maintain a minimum allocation of carbon emission allowances, so the goal is also to secure at least fixed costs.”

Another official said “Ssangyong C&E, Halla Cement and SAMPYO Cement have plants on the coast, so their transportation expenses are lower than those of corporations located inland. For inland companies, transportation costs double when you add ocean freight to land shipping, so it is difficult even to choose exports as a stopgap measure.”

Halla Cement increased exports by 63% year-on-year, expanding sales beyond Latin America into African markets including Cameroon and Guinea. SAMPYO Cement also signed new export contracts with South America in the second quarter of 2025. The Korea Cement Association forecasts 2026 demand will fall further to 36Mt, down by 1.3% from 2025, citing continued stagnation in the domestic construction sector.

New Zealand: Holcim New Zealand has confirmed it will sell its cement carrier MV Buffalo, a source of local employment, to Switzerland-based NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC) at the end of 2025.

A Holcim spokesperson said “Holcim has decided to sell the MV Buffalo and source a replacement vessel. The 27-year-old MV Buffalo is too large, inefficient and costly to run, requiring in excess of US$4.5m in repairs and maintenance over the next four years in order to remain seaworthy. The decision follows a comprehensive review of Holcim’s shipping requirements and operational costs. The review identified the need for a more modern, smaller and cost-effective vessel to maintain supply of cement to the South Island and lower North Island.”

The company began consultation to retire the MV Buffalo in February 2025, and has since confirmed future shipping will be managed by NACC. However, NACC must obtain a government exemption to operate the Panamanian-flagged NACC Vega in domestic waters.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) has opposed the move and urged the government to reject NACC’s flag waiver application. Holcim has reportedly issued formal termination notices to the MV Buffalo’s 32 New Zealand-based crew, effective 28 December 2025. Union negotiations remain unresolved since October 2025 and have been referred to the Employment Relations Authority.

Colombia: The Colombian Navy seized 3.5t of cement during a maritime control operation in the Gulf of Urabá. The shipment, valued at US$2347, was reportedly being transported without proper documentation and aboard a vessel that did not meet maritime authority standards.

Three Colombian nationals transported the cement, and did not comply with regulations on controlled chemical substances. The Urabá Coast Guard Station inspected the unregistered, unmarked vessel, which also lacked a navigation certificate, registration or any visible identification on the hull. Authorities determined the quantity of cement aboard exceeded the legal transport limit, and the vessel was impounded. The vessel, cargo and crew were handed over to the relevant authorities.

India: Cement and clinker transport from Meghalaya has been at a complete standstill since 27 October 2025, as members of the newly formed Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners Association (MCTOA) continue their protest, according to local press. The strike has impacted despatches from all major cement plants in the Jaintia Hills, leading to a reported cement shortage across Meghalaya and neighbouring northeastern states.

The MCTOA launched the protest to demand that government-notified transport rates be extended to inter-state transportation outside Meghalaya. The protest has reportedly disrupted supply chains and halted plant despatches, with thousands of workers and transporters affected by the shutdown of all cement plants in the region.

In a statement issued on 6 November 2025, the Jaintia Hills Cement Manufacturing Association (JHCMA) described the strike as ‘unjustified and economically damaging,’ adding that it has caused ‘significant losses and hardship’. The association urged authorities to ‘take immediate steps to restore normalcy, ensure the safe movement of goods and safeguard the interests of the industrial sector.’

The Deputy Prime Minister of Egypt met with representatives of the cement sector last week to discuss the local market. The key topics were prices, increased production capacity and restarting suspended production lines. Then this week it was revealed that the government was preparing to issue two new cement plant licences by the end of 2025. So, what’s been happening in the local sector?

Readers may recall that the Egyptian government tackled overcapacity issues by way of cement production quotas back in 2021. This solved the immediate problems at the time but, since then, there has been a growing problem with local producers focusing on export markets to the detriment of the domestic market. For example, there was a shortage of cement reported in mid-2024 due to a shortage of trucks. Large quantities of these were being used, it transpired, to transport cement to neighbouring Libya. For more on this read Global Cement Weekly #760.

The price of cement peaked earlier in 2025. At this point the government took action by limiting cement exports to no more than 30% of a company’s production volume and by abolishing the quota system. It later reviewed the status of eight idle production lines in an effort to get them running again. Prices subsequently eased according to local media reports. Before the changes, the Cement Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries said that the country had a production capacity of 76Mt/yr from 46 lines. Domestic consumption was estimated at 46Mt/yr and exports at 20Mt/yr giving a utilisation rate 87%. Note that this export figure is 30% of the total production of the country as a whole. For the first half of 2025, production increased by 24% year-on-year to 30.7Mt from 24Mt in the same period in 2024. Exports rose by 11.5% to 9.7Mt from 8.7Mt. However, data from Al Arabiya Business shows that exports fell by 25% in May and June 2025 following the government action. Production grew by 16%.

Vicat’s financial report for the first half of 2025 reported that export sales volumes in Egypt represented over 50% of the local subsidiary’s total sales volumes. It also noted that the domestic price surpassed the export price during the reporting period. Titan Group said that its local business had experienced an ‘impressive turnaround’ due to a construction boom in the country. It said that its plants operated at ‘high capacity’ with an alternative fuels (AF) thermal substitution rate of around 40%. It added that it was intending to expand storage capacity to support growing export volumes. By contrast, Cementir endured a tougher trading period due, in part, to less exports following technical problems related to the restart of a local production line.

A source quoted by Al Arabiya from the Export Council for Building Materials noted that there had been a ‘significant’ decline in exports to several major markets, including Libya, Lebanon, the US, Ivory Coast and Ghana. That anonymous source also warned that, if the problem with the domestic market could not be resolved quickly, then the sector risked losing export markets where reconstruction work was taking place. These comments were mirrored by Adam Khalil, a Building Materials Sector Analyst at Al Ahly Pharos Securities, who told local media this week that the anticipated reconstruction of Gaza presented benefits for Egypt-based construction and building materials companies. In particular, he noted the proximity of Sinai Cement to the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the latest ceasefire between Gaza and Israel appears to have been breached.

The other part of the government action has been focusing on increasing AF substitution rates. At the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister this month the stated aim was to reduce production cuts. To this end, a report on the number of waste recycling plants was reviewed and compared to the requirements of each cement plant. The government intends to set up ‘practical implementation mechanisms’ to maximise the usage of AF. Energy sources have been a particular bugbear for the cement sector in Egypt historically as the government has encouraged producers to switch fuels from time to time.

The wider economy in Egypt continues to face headwinds. Cementir, for example, in its half year report said that the country’s economy was “...being held back by high inflation, devaluation, rising energy costs, pressure on manufacturing industries and a revision of the state budget with the suspension of infrastructure projects.” However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its growth forecast for Egypt in 2025 and 2026 in mid-October 2025. The decision by the government to cap exports of cement and cut the production quota marks a serious change since 2021. It is clearly watching the situation closely. The timing from roughly in the middle of the year should make the effects clear to see in the annual reports in early 2026. We will wait until then.

India: Ambuja Cements has placed a US$100m order for seven 19,000dwt bulk carriers from China-based Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the vessels will serve logistics operations at the company’s 6.1Mt/yr Sanghi Cement plant in Gujarat.

Spain: Cemex has signed a collaboration agreement with Enagás, through its subsidiary Scale Green Energy, to develop logistics solutions for the maritime transport of captured CO₂ from cement production, aiming to accelerate industrial decarbonisation. The partnership will explore options for transporting captured CO₂ via pipeline. It includes developing a full CO₂ value chain, from capture at Cemex facilities to maritime shipment in liquefied form aboard a new vessel designed by Scale Green Energy, to eventual delivery to a licensed storage site in southern Europe. Scale Green Energy plans to design a next-generation vessel with a capacity of 20,000m³ for the transport of liquefied CO₂, enabling flexible and efficient transport to multiple Mediterranean storage hubs.

Jesús Saldaña, general manager of business development and investee companies at Enagás, said “This alliance to develop comprehensive logistics for the maritime transport of captured CO₂ represents an opportunity for Enagás and Cemex to jointly lead innovation to help decarbonise the industry, boosting its competitiveness, and for Spain to play a leading role in achieving the European Commission's goal of capturing 50Mt of CO₂ by 2030.”

Benjamín Cabrera, director of cement and technology operations at Cemex Spain, added “To advance the decarbonisation of the cement industry, it is essential to develop large-scale logistics solutions that allow us to manage large volumes of CO₂ safely, efficiently, and competitively. This agreement lays the foundations for a pioneering infrastructure that will connect Cemex plants in Spain with the main storage hubs in the Mediterranean.”

India: Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) loaded 2792 wagons carrying 0.18Mt of cement between April and July 2025, up by 71% year-on-year from 1628 wagons carrying 0.10Mt in the same period of 2024. For the first time, 84 wagons were despatched from NFR’s Lumding division to East Central Railway’s Sonpur division, with Narayanpur Anant and Tilrath each receiving 42 wagons from Star Cement.

In August 2025, NFR loaded 21 wagons from Star Cement Siding near Guwahati to Kishanganj and 21 wagons to Tilrath. In July 2025, NFR despatched 21 wagons to Tilrath, 42 to Narayanpur Anant, 42 to Kishanganj, 21 to PCM Concrete Sleeper Siding, 21 to Pristine Hindustan Infraprojects, and 20 wagons from New Guwahati–Dalmia Siding to Pristine Hindustan Infraprojects.

Canada: MV Tamarack arrived at the Port of Montreal on 22 August 2025, completing its maiden voyage and becoming the first newly built cement carrier to serve the Great Lakes in 20 years. The 12,500t vessel, owned by Eureka Shipping, a joint venture between CSL and SMT Shipping, was delivered on 23 July 2025 at Holland Shipyard in the Netherlands. The ship replaces two older vessels, offering the same capacity and reduced environmental impact, according to the company. MV Tamarack has a 10,700m³ cement hold, diesel-electric propulsion, shore-power compatibility, biofuel capability and energy-saving cargo systems.

Colombia: Argos simultaneously loaded three cement ships for the first time at its Cartagena maritime terminal, moving over 31,000t of bulk cement. Platform 1 shipped 7000t to the Antilles and 3000t to the Caribbean, while Platform 2 loaded 21,000t for the US.

By the end of July 2025, Argos had shipped 570,000t of bulk cement on 44 vessels and 50,000t of bagged cement on 15 vessels.

Vice president of Argos Regional Colombia Carlos Horacio Yusty said “This milestone demonstrates the strength of our logistics network and the capacity of the terminal in Cartagena to respond to international markets. Having loaded three ships simultaneously sets a precedent in our operation and encourages us to continue growing in competitiveness.”

The Cartagena terminal has an installed capacity to handle 3.5Mt/yr of cement, clinker and raw materials.