Global Cement News

Nigeria: The Nigerian Army has reported that a fake cement production plant has been discovered in Ewekoro, Ogun State. According to a statement made by Captain Adamu Yahya Ngulde of the 35 Artillery Brigade, eight suspects were arrested at the site on 25 June 2013 and four cement trucks were found.

"Based on our preliminary investigation, the suspects get cement from the Dangote Cement Company and Lafarge and adulterate it with sand dust and package it in Dangote cement bags for distribution," said Ngulde. The suspects and the vehicles have been detained pending an investigation.

Vietnam: Vietnam exported nearly 5.2Mt of cement in the first half of 2013, a rise of 63% year-on-year compared to 3.2Mt in the same period in 2012 said the Ministry of Construction. Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia were the major destinations. The ministry also stated that cement sales have grown by 27.9% year-on-year, reaching 27.9Mt so far in 2013.

Due to reduced demand at home, many cement producers have focused on exports, said Tran Van Huynh, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Materials Association. The cement industry expects to export over 10Mt of cement in 2013, or 15% of the nation's total output. Huynh added that the Vietnamese export price was around 20% below the average global export price.

Exports have helped reduce the June 2013 inventory to around 2.6Mt, according to the construction ministry. The unsold volume of Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM) accounts for half of this amount.

There have been no changes in the price of cement in the Vietnam market since January 2013 despite higher coal, power and fuel prices that have pushed up production costs and caused difficulties for domestic producers. The Vietnamese cement industry has a production capacity of 66Mt/yr and consumption for 2013 is forecast to be in the region of 57Mt.

Greece: The Labour Inspectors' Corps has fined AGET Heracles cement industry, a subsidiary of Lafarge Group, Euro7500 for violating mass lay-offs legislation after ruling in favour of former employees recently laid off from its cement plant in Halkida and essentially shutting down the plant.

By closing the unit and laying-off 236 employees, the industry was found in violation of article 4 of Presidential Decree 240/2006 according to which, employees have to be notified and consulted in advance. The cement industry had said that it proceeded with the shutdown of its unit in Halkida due to financial reasons and as a result of the plunge in domestic construction activity and after failing to distribute its surplus production to international markets.

Egypt: Several Egyptian cement producers have reported how they are coping with gas shortages in the country. Production at South Valley Cement has stopped. The company has announced that the gas supply will resume on 28 June 2013. Alexandria Portland Cement has reported that its plant has not stopped production. Its subsidiary, Beni Suef Cement, has reported that it cannot yet assess the impact of the shortage on production.

The National Cement Company has announced that operations are ongoing on a normal basis and that there are no shortages in gas capacity. Misr Cement Qena has said that its cement plants are operating using Mazut and not natural gas. However, due to a shortage in the supply of Mazut, clinker production has been suspended more than once recently.

Philippines: The Cement Manufacturers' Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) is supporting major cement players in the Philippines to tap rainwater in a move that supports national and global water conservation efforts. CeMAP said that local cement producers have decided that the use of rainwater sits well with their water-management concepts. Water is mainly used to cool cement kilns and the hot gas streams used in cement production. Production of a tonne of clinker in modern cement plants consumes an average of about 100-200L of water. The cement plants use an average of 3.2BnL/yr of water.

"Sustainability has always been a major advocacy of all cement companies. A critical strategy for sustainable development includes implementation of effective water management systems in cement plants," said CeMAP president Ernesto Ordoñez. He added that the scheme reduces the dependence of cement plants on water coming from traditional sources such as waterways and commercial suppliers. Cement producers in the Philippines are also considering installing waterless urinals at their plants, which can save an average of 180,000L/yr of water.