Bangladesh: Shun Shing Group, the owner of Seven Rings Cement, has appointed Tahmina Ahmed as Additional Managing Director for Bangladesh. She has worked on the company’s board of directors since 2007.

Thailand: Scheuch Asia has appointed Mirko Köhler as its managing director will effect from mid-June 2021. He succeeds Jan Eike Graeff, who has been in the post since 2019.

Germany-born Köhler has been living in Asia since 2006 and holds international sales experience working in Singapore and Hong Kong with roles at IKN, Refratechnik Asia, Aumund and ABB. His most recent position was with fire protection company Svt based in Singapore. He is a trained engineer and holds a Master of Science (MSc) and Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Bolivia: Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL) has officially restarted cement production at its integrated Oruro cement plant in Caracollo. The La Razón newspaper has reported the cost of the restart at US$8.41m. The producer received a cash injection from the government in order to enable it to restock cement bags, pay outstanding salaries and have working capital, according to Bolivian President Luis Arce. The head of state alleges that the previous administration ‘paralysed’ many of the country’s public companies through mismanagement.

US: Colombia-based Cementos Argos is planning to export 0.4Mt of cement to the US in 2021. The cement producer’s exports to the country grew by 419% year-on-year to 135,000t in the first five months of 2021 from 26,000t in the same period in 2020. It says that it expects the US cement market to grow by 2.2% year-on-year in 2021.

The company is currently upgrading its integrated plant in Cartagena, Colombia and improving the associated port terminal. The US$40m project is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2021. It is intended to support the export market to the US and elsewhere.

Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Cement says it has no plans to raises its prices at the current time. However, it reserves the right to do so in the future if its production costs change, according the Trinidad Guardian newspaper. The subsidiary of Mexico-based Cemex said that it had suffered ‘significant’ losses due to government coronavirus-related regulations. It has not sold cement to the local market since early May 2021 with the exception of three construction projects due to the request of the government. The cement producer added that its silos and warehouses were fully stocked and that it was ready to start supply when it is given permission to do so.

Cement shortages at retailers has been reported in June 2021. Cement importer Rock Hard Cement announced earlier in the month that it was set to raise its prices in July 2021 due to increasing prices around the world and volatile shipping rates.

India: The state government of Telangana has renewed The India Cements’ mining licence for two sites in Guntur district until 2037. These are the Pondugula and Pulipadu mines, which supply the company’s Vishnupuram cement plant in Nalgonda district. The Times of India has reported that the producer first received its licence for the mines in 2000 and applied for the recent extension a decade later.

India: The Ambuja Cement Foundation has announced the formation of a partnership with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The bank is funding phase two of the foundation’s Employability through Skill initiative. The initiative supports the development of off-farm economic activity in rural areas.

India: The South Indian Cement Manufacturers’ Association has supplied 200 oxygen concentrators to the Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF) to help in the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak in Andhra Pradesh. United News of India has reported the value of the donated items as US$273,000.

US: SRM Concrete has completed its acquisition of 24 former Argos USA ready-mix concrete plants in Dallas, Texas. No issues were reported by the regulators, according to Agencia CMA. The purchase, valued at US$180m, was announced in May 2021.

India: Ratings agency ICRA has forecast a 25% year-on-year decline in cement sales during the first quarter of the 2022 financial year to 30 June 2021. Domestic cement demand fell by 4% year-on-year and by 35% month-on-month in April 2021, according to the Press Trust of India. The agency said that this was due to the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak to rural areas and the imposition of numerous regional lockdowns. Pent-up demand is expected to drive a gradual recovery in the second quarter from July 2021. Costs for cement companies increased by 5% nationally year-on-year in April 2021. Increased fuel, power and transport costs all contributed to the rise.