India: The Builders Association of India has urged that the state government of Tamil Nadu take measures to reduce the price of cement following a 37% rise in the cost of the commodity. Chairman S Ayyanathan said cement prices had witnessed ‘sharp’ increase in the last 10 days, despite the cost of raw materials, labour and transportation remaining static, according to the Hindu newspaper. He also cited falling demand for cement due to a slowdown in construction activity in the state.

India: US private equity company KKR is reportedly discussing investing up to US$284m in Emami Group. Sources quoted by the Economic Times newspaper said that Emami Group was looking to reduce its debts and raise funds for an expansion strategy.

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement’s sales fell by 30% year-on-year to US$139m in 2018 from US$199m in 2017. Its profit decreased by 82% to US$9m from US$51m. The cement producer blamed its performance on falling demand for cement and ‘fierce’ competition.

Paraguay: Union representatives at Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) have warned of shortages in mid-February 2019. They have cited a shortage of bags at its Villeta plant and problems with the kiln at the Vallemi plant, according to the ABC Color newspaper. The president of INC has denied the claims. Local cement sales are expected to rise by 7.7% year-on-year to 1.4Mt in 2019 from 1.3Mt in 2018.

US/Mexico: Growing cement sales volumes and higher prices in the US and Mexico drove Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s (GCC) sales in 2018. Its net sales rose by 7.2% year-on-year to US$883m in 2018 from US$824m in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 6.7% to US$256m from US$240m. However, its net income fell by 24.2% to US$63.5m from US$83.7m. US sales rose by 7.1% to US$883m and Mexican sales rose by 7.2% to US$237m.

“We completed a purchase-sale transaction exchanging GCC’s ready-mix plants in Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas, which were not integrated into our cement distribution network, for a cement plant in Montana representing a strategic addition to our system that will also improve our profitability. This plant, along with the completion of capacity expansion at our South Dakota cement plant in Rapid City, will enable us to continue to benefit from the robust pace of growth in the US economy,” said Enrique Escalante, GCC’s chief executive officer.

US: Martin Marietta's sales rose by 7% year-on-year to US$4.24bn in 2018 from US$3.97bn in 2017. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained stable at US$1.1bn. Revenue from its cement business grew by 4.5% to US$388m from US$371m.Cement shipments increased slightly to 3.5Mt. The building materials company said that its cement shipments had been negatively affected by bad weather in the fourth quarter. The bulk of the company's revenue comes from it aggregate business followed by ready-mix concrete.

Italy: W&P Cementi and Friulana Calcestruzzi’s turnover grew by 12% year-on-year to Euro35m in 2018. W&P Cementi produced around 0.35Mt of cement and binders, according to the Il Friuli newspaper. Friulana Calcestruzzi produced around 0.12Mm³ of ready-mix concrete. The companies are part of Austria’s Alpacem brand bringing together cement and concrete subsidiaries of Wietersdorfer Group in Austria, Slovenia and Italy. The group has a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr and a concrete production capacity of 0.3Mm³ across 19 sites with over 640 staff.

Pakistan: Cherat Cement’s turnover fell by 7% year-on-year to US$50.3m in the six months to 31 December 2018 from US$54.2m in the same period in 2017. Its operating profit dropped by 38% to US$6.8m from US$10.9m.

Bangladesh: Bashundhara Industrial Complex plans to spend US$53m towards upgrading its Mongola grinding plant to 3Mt/yr from 2.1Mt/yr at present. The upgrade is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020, according to the Daily Star newspaper. Bashundhara Group holds the second largest cement market share at 8.48% through its two brands, Bashundhara Cement and Meghna Cement. Once the upgrade at Mongola is completed is will have a total production capacity of 7.56Mt/yr.

China: Anhui Conch has chosen Conch New Materials, a fellow subsidiary of Conch Holdings, as one of its grinding aids suppliers for 2019 following an open tender process. The value of the deal is estimated to be worth no more than around US$125m for no more than 0.15Mt of cement grinding aids. Conch New Materials develops, produces and sells cement additives, concrete admixtures, related chemical products and technical services. The other supplier has not been named.