Global Cement News

Colombia: Cementos Argos has raised US$750m from the preferred shares-issuance in the local and international markets, according to a letter to the Colombian financial services watchdog Superfinanciera. The share-issuance was oversubscribed, with demand amounting to US$1.18bn from more than 14,000 Colombian and international investors.

Of the interested investors, 65% were local investors and 35% were from abroad. Additionally, 58% of the interested parties were institutions and 42% were individuals. The proceeds from the transaction will be used by the company to support its growth in the cement and concrete industry.

Ghana: Stanbic Bank Ghana has closed a US$20.2m loan deal with Western Diamond Cement Limited, a company in the West African Cement SA (WACEM) Group, to build a 1Mt/yr cement plant in Egyam Bokro, near Takoradi. Production will start in 2014.

WACEM has two associate companies currently operating in Ghana, namely, Savanna Diamond Cement Limited (SDCL) in the Northern Region, and Diamond Cement Ghana Limited (DCGL) in the Volta Region. Stanbic Bank's relationship with the WACEM Group started in 2011. WACEM has cement plants in West Africa including Niger and Burkina Faso, and with project stage plants in Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. It has recently commissioned a plant in Mali.

The current cement production capacity in Ghana is 5.2Mt/yr. The project raises the number of cement plants Ghana to four, with the addition of a bagging plant that processes imported cement.

Equatorial Guinea: FLSmidth has been awarded an order worth approximately Euro68m from Grupo Abayak AKOGA Cemento for the supply of a 3000t/day green field cement plant at Akoga in Equatorial Guinea. The contract includes supply of plant engineering and all main equipment, including jaw crusher, cone crusher, ATOX® raw mill, OK cement mill, pyroline with cross bar cooler, dosing systems, filters, packing plant and automation control system.

"Equatorial Guinea and the surrounding region have been relying on imported cement - thereby suffering from high prices and constraints. This plant will be serving the local market as well as neighbouring countries," said group executive vice president Per Mejnert Kristensen in a statement.

Grupo Abayak AKOGA Cemento is a newcomer to the cement industry but has been involved in multiple infrastructure projects in Equatorial Guinea. The order will be booked by the FLSmidth's cement division and contribute beneficially to the cement plant manufacturer's earnings until 2016.

Tajikistan: Tojikcement, Tajikistan's largest cement plant, has been accused of failing to replay US$2.5m to the Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation (EGAP), a Czech state-owned credit insurance company. However, the Tajikistan Ministry of Energy and Industries has announced that a Chinese firm has started preparations for a major upgrade costing US$7.73m.

Hana Hikelova, chair of the EGAP PR department, made the accusation and has been quoted by Asia Plus news agency. According to Hikelova, EGAP in insured a loan provided by the Czech Export Bank to Tojikcement for modernisation of the Dushanbe cement plant in 2006. According to a statement released by the Czech Embassy in Tashkent in February 2013, "The main problem of further development of Czech exports is the unsettled debt of Tojikcement."

Meanwhile, on 10 May 2013 the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) Secretariat announced that Beijing Uni-Construction Group had started preparations works at Tojikcement, to install a coal-fired rotary kiln. Eleven Chinese specialists are reportedly working in the plant in Dushanbe. The coal-firing kiln is expected to be delivered to Dushanbe in mid-June 2013 and the installation work is expected to be completed by mid-September 2013, an official source at a MoEI said. The total cost of the upgrade is US$7.73m, with US$150,000 provided by Tojikcement and the remainder by Beijing Uni-Construction Group.

Tojikcement, which has a cement production capacity of 1.1Mt/yr, is the largest cement producer in Tajikistan. The plant has not been operational since the beginning of 2013 due to a lack of natural gas supplies. Currently there are five cement plants operational in Tajikistan with a combined cement capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. In 2012, Tajikistan produced 235,000t, including 203,000t produced by Tojikcement.

Indonesia: Cement plant projects for operation in 2014 are being planned by four companies in the Lebak regency of Banten province in Java, according to the district office of a local investment board. PT Gamma is in the final phase of construction for its 4Mt/yr cement plant. PT Siam, PT Tri Utama and PT Pos Perdi are still in the process of seeking licenses and procuring land. The plants are to be built in the sub-districts of Muncang, Sajira, Cibeber, Bayah and Cilograng.