Malaysia: Repair costs at Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) Kuching cement plant have reduced the profits of the company’s cement division. The planned maintenance period in January and February 2018 was the first major shutdown carried out by the group since it purchased the integrated unit in 2007. The division’s performance was also hit by an increase in the price of imported clinker due to a reported ‘tight supply’ in the international market. The division’s profit before tax fell by 17% year-on-year to US$9.56m in the first half of 2018 from US$11.5m in the same period in 2017. However, its revenue grew by 8%.

Overall, CMS reported revenue growth of 15% to US$183m and a pre-tax profit increase of 32% to US$42.9m. It attributed the strong performance to its other subsidiaries.

India: OCL India has held a stone-laying ceremony for its third integrated cement plant at its Rajgangpur site in Odisha. Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha state, attended the event along with the management of OCL India and its owners, Dalmia Cement (Bharat). The new unit will be known as Dalmia DSP.

The new plant will have a 2.25Mt/yr cement and 3Mt/yr clinker production capacity. Once it becomes operational it will increase production at the Rajgangpur site to 6.25Mt/yr of cement and 5.9Mt/yr of clinker.

The project has an investment of US$356m and it is expected to be commissioned by early 2020. As part of the project the cement producer also plans to build a 2.5Mt/yr cement plant with an investment of US$57m at Biswali near Cuttack.

Kenya: Any potential financial recovery of ARM Cement could be threatened by the loss of its mining licences. Local legislation lists insolvency as a condition that could trigger suspension or revocation of a mining licence, according to the Business Daily newspaper. The cement producer was placed into administration by UBA Bank in mid-August 2018, with PricewaterhouseCoopers staff appointed as administrators. PWC’s Muniu Thoithi said that the company was approaching the government on the issue.

Zimbabwe: Sino-Zimbabwe Cement (SZC) has been granted certification by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The company says that ISO certification will make its products attractive to compete on the international market, according to the Herald newspaper. SCZ produces three types of cement: MC 22.5 X, PC 32.5 N and 42.5N. Most of the cement is consumed by the Zimbabwean market, with a small amount exported to neighbouring countries. The company plans to produce PC 42.5R later in 2018 to target local infrastructure projects.

The cement producer’s 0.3Mt/yr Gweru plant was built in the 1990s in a joint-venture between China National Building Material Company (CNBM) and the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe.

Germany: The German Cement Works Association (VDZ) says that cement consumption grew by 4.8% year-on-year to 28.8Mt in 2017. It has attributed this boost to higher investments in new construction work and acknowledged the benefits of good weather. However, the association expects much less growth in 2018.

Data from the German Federal Statistical Office indicates that domestic demand for cement was almost completely covered by German-based producers in 2017. Only 1.6Mt of cement or 5.4% had to be imported. This figure has increased slightly compared to the preceding years. The same applies to cement exports, which rose by 1.6% to a total of around 6.2Mt.

"Potential for growth is still evident in certain construction sectors. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to exploit this as we are reaching capacity limits in the construction industry," said VDZ president Christian Knell.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Austria’s Asamer Baustoff plans to force a buyout of Fabrika Cementa Lukavac to acquire the remaining 0.46% share of the cement producer it does not already own. The building materials company intends to use its right to transfer voting shares from minority shareholders to itself, according to SeeNews. The move follows a previous move to increase its share in the cement producer in June 2018.

Turkey: Greece’s Titan Group has reached an agreement to increase its share in its joint venture, Adocim Çimento Beton Sanayi ve Ticaret. At present the cement producer is a 50-50 joint-venture operated with Cem Sak Group since 2008. The arrangement will see it buy an additional 25% share in Adocim and dispose of its 50% share of a grinding plant. The transaction is conditional upon approvals by regulatory authorities and is expected to be concluded by the end of November 2018.

Adocim owns an integrated cement plant with a production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr, a grinding unit with a production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr and three ready-mix concrete units.

Ireland: CRH has said that is looking to build up a ‘cash pile’ of Euro7bn. It says it will use the funds for anything from acquisitions to share buybacks. Finance director Senan Murphy said the company was showing the market that it is ‘not just a one-trick pony that just does acquisitions.’ The money will be the cash left over after spending on capital expenditure, interest, tax and other payments.

"There are a number of options where that money can be deployed, and we will deploy it wherever it creates the most value for shareholders," said Murphy. "We can reinvest it in our business, we can invest it in acquisitions, we can continue on with buybacks or we can increase the level of dividends."

The company posted a 1% rise in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) year-on-year in the first half of 2018. It expects EBITDA in the second half to be ahead of that seen in the second half of 2017.

India: UltraTech Cement has received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the acquisition of the cement business of Century Textiles and Industries. The company has given its approval for the share swap deal between the companies.

The transaction will provide UltraTech an opportunity to further strengthen its presence in the east and central markets, extending its footprint in the Western and Southern markets of India.

Israel: Danny Tal, the commissioner for trade levies at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, will recommend duties on cement imports from Greece and Turkey. Nine different manufacturers will be affected by anti-dumping duties of 7-20%.

Tal drew up the duties following a complaint by cement maker Har-Tuv, which said continued cheap imports would lead to its closure. The complaint was also supported by Nesher Cement, Israel’s only clinker producer.

Tal concluded that the Greek and Turkish companies had violated fair trade rules, with the Greek companies generally ‘dumping’ at lower prices than the Turkish ones.

"We welcome the decision to protect the local industry from illegal imports and to maintain the industry and fair competition over time, and we hope that the recommendation will be adopted and implemented by all relevant levels as soon as possible," said Har-Tuv.