Global Cement News

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s cement sales volumes grew by 19% year-on-year to 8.89Mt in the first three months of 2019 from 7.45Mt in the same period in 2018. The company’s acquisition of Holcim Indonesia in February 2019 drove the growth. The cement producer’s domestic sales fell by 3.5% to 5.98Mt although export sales grew significantly. Both domestic and export sales from its Vietnamese TLCC subsidiary fell by 32% to 0.41Mt. Overall national cement sales volumes increased by 3.2% to 17Mt in the reporting period.

Tajikistan: The Ministry of Industry and New Technologies says that Mohir Cement plans to build a new 0.6Mt/yr cement plant in the Jaloliddini Balkhi district of Khatlon province. The project has a budget of US$30m, according to Asia Plus. As part of the agreement with the government, the cement producer has been granted a range of tax breaks on foreign workers and the import of equipment and materials required to build the plant. Mohir Cement currently operates a 1.2Mt/yr plant with Chinese investors known as Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement.

Mexico: Cemex has adopted the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It has prioritised five goals from the charter that connect with the company’s business and represent an opportunity to contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda. These five goals are focused on the promotion of decent employment and economic growth (SDG 8), innovation and infrastructure development (SDG 9), climate change mitigation (SDG 13), environmental and ecosystem conservation (SDG 15) and the advancement of sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). Cemex plans to continue embedding the UN SDGs into its business processes to create systemic change, increase engagement, promote a sense of purpose and raise awareness among its stakeholders.

Philippines: Cement producers say that if the government does not implement a permanent safeguard duty on cement imports they may reconsider investment plans to upgrade their plants. Representatives of Taiheyo Cement, Republic Cement, Holcim and Cemex made the comments at public hearings by the Tariff Commission, according to the Philippine Star newspaper. The commission is conducting an investigation to determine whether the provisional safeguard duty imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on cement imports should be kept.

During the hearings, Cirilo Pestaño II the executive director of the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP), lobbied the government to impose a higher ‘definitive’ safeguard duty. He said that imports of cement rose by 64% year-on-year to 1.74Mt in the first quarter of 2019 from 1.06Mt in the same period in 2018 despite the provisional safeguard measure being in place.

India: The Builders Association of India (BAI) has called for the creation of a regulatory body to control the price of cement. Sachin Chandra, the president of BAI, called on the newly elected Indian government to set up the organisation, according to the Hindu newspaper. He alleged that the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP), the Competition Commission of India and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal had ‘repeatedly’ found evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in the cement industry.