India: In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending 31 March 2020 Dalmia Bharat sold 5.17Mt of cement worth US$326m, down by 13% year-on-year from US$374m in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Net profit for the quarter was US$3.16m. The company said that the figure was “not comparable to the previous year’s fourth quarter profit of US$34.6 due to a change in reporting standards, according to the Press Trust of India. Full year net profit fell by 32% to US$31.3m from US$45.9m and revenues grew by 2% to US$1.27bn from US$1.25bn.

India: The government of Tamil Nadu has responded to a labour shortage resulting from the coronavirus lockdown by training up local minors for construction jobs. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the regular workforce consists mainly of some of India’s 9m annual migrant workers who travel from rural areas to construction hubs such as Tamil Nadu’s state capital of Chennai.

The state-owned Tamil Nadu Cement Corporation (TANCEM) has said that it will increase cement production at its Arasu plant in Ariyalur to 3000t/day from 2000t/day in anticipation of construction growth in the second half of 2020.

Barbados: The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled in favour of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in its dispute with Trinidad and Tobago-based Rock Hard Cement. Stabroek News has reported that Rock Hard’s products had previously attracted a 5% import duty due to their classification as ‘other hydraulic cements.’ However, in mid-2019 COTED approved a decision by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to permit Barbados to enforce a tariff of 35% on this class of goods, compared to 15% on ’grey cement’ until mid-2021 in order to protect domestic producer Arawak Cement. The court found this reason to be, “within the rule of law.”

Japan: The Japan Cement Association (JCA) has reported that cement demand has resumed its pre-coronavirus outbreak levels, with all planned construction projects from mid-May 2020 going ahead. R&I News has reported that this follows the suspension of multiple major works during the crisis, leading to a domestic demand of 3.19Mt in April 2020, down by 7% year-on-year from 3.43Mt in April 2019. Although the JCA’s 2020 cement consumption forecast is 41.0Mt, the lowest since 1990, contractors will reportedly have a backlog of projects “even after the completion of projects related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics,” suggesting the likelihood of a considerable rise in demand year-on-year in 2021, set against a moderate decrease in the medium to long term.

India: The state government of Telangana has instructed cement producers that the price of cement must fall to support the construction sector. Telangana Minister for IT, Industry, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Rama Rao said, “There is a need to extend a helping hand to the sector and the government is therefore seeking cooperation of the cement companies in bringing down the prices so that real estate picks up momentum.” The Hindu newspaper has reported that producers “responded positively to the request.” Each will decide internally on the measure of price reductions.

All Telangana producers will continue to supply cement to government projects at a pre-agreed rate.

Uzbekistan: Russia-based Eurocement subsidiary Akhangaran Cement said that it shipped 180,000t of cement in May 2020, up by 11% year-on-year from 163,000t in May 2019. Uzbekistan Newsline has reported that the increase resulted from a combination of production modernisation, business process efficiency improvement and personnel training and development.

Akhangaran Cement general director Gennady Kulikov said, “Despite the special mode of operation associated with the coronavirus pandemic, the enterprise team at all stages of the technological process is set to work efficiently. Together with the achievements of high production results, employees pay special attention to ensuring industrial safety, production culture and organisation of workplaces.” The Akhangaran Cement cement plant’s new 3.0Mt integrated line is due for completion in mid-late 2020. It will enable the company to serve 100% of demand in the Toshkent region and 30% of Uzbekistan’s total domestic demand of 17.3Mt/yr.

Russia: The government has launched a strategy to support that development of manufacturing industries that it says will increase cement production by 50% to 90Mt/yr from 60Mt in 2019. The strategy consists of investment in equipment and vehicles, reducing building materials imports to below 1% of consumption, reducing the cost of construction by 30% across all building types and increasing the energy efficiency of building materials by a heat loss factor of 30%.

Egypt: Misr Cement Qena’s first quarter sales were US$50.4m in 2020, up by 2.0% year-on-year from US$49.1m in the first quarter of 2019. Daily News Egypt has reported that the company’s debts on 31 March 2020 were US$30.0m, down by 20% from US$37.5 on 31 December 2019. Misr Cement Qena managing director Tarek Talaat said, “The extraordinary performance in the quarter will contribute to alleviating the repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak on the company’s 2020 results.” Talaat urged the “revitalisation of demand” to boost prices. Egyptian producers produced 78.0Mt of cement in 2019, 29.3Mt surplus to the domestic cement demand of 48.7Mt/yr.

South Korea: All nine domestic cement producers and the Ministry of Environment have agreed on measures to reduce NO_x emissions. Asia Cement, Halla Cement, Hanil Cement Manufacturing, Hyundai Cement, Korea Cement, Sampyo Cement, Ssangyong Cement Industrial, SungShin Cement and Union Corporation have agreed to invest in upgrades to filters or new high-efficiency filters and process improvements, according to the Korea Times newspaper. There was also an agreement to set NO_x emissions reduction targets for the allocation of funding. The Korea Environmental Industry Technology Institute is investing US$2.93m in research towards developing methods of selective catalytic NO_x emissions reduction and selective non-catalytic NO_x emissions reduction.

The government aims to reduce national NO_x emissions by 20% to 155,000t/yr from 195,000t/yr through subsidies to emissions reduction technologies development and uptake. The cement sector presently emits 62,500t, 32% of the domestic total.

Puerto Rico: Cement companies produced 43,900t of cement in May 2020, up by 2.5% year-on-year from 42,800t in May 2019. M-Brain News has reported that sales rose by 2.1% to 52,800t from 51,700t.