Uzbekistan: Representatives of Uzpromstroybank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (UCBC) have met to discuss investment projects in the country to boost local industrial capacity. Proposals included expanding the production capacity of Kuvasoycement’s Kuvasay plant and the construction of a new cement plant, Yaypancement, according to the Trend News Agency.

Poland: LafargeHolcim Poland has invested Euro2.5m towards setting up an automated laboratory in a new building at its Kujawy cement plant. The laboratory will be used to test and analyse the quality of raw meal, clinker and cement every hour over a 24 hour period. Results are then fed back to the control room to allow for production line modifications.

The new facticity was constructed and commissioned in less than 10 months, covering all sampling points. Setup included installing pneumatic conveyors to connect sample points to the laboratory. The longest was 0.5km.

Philippines: Eagle Cement’s sales grew by 9% year-on-year to US$229m for the first nine months of 2018. It attributed the growth to rising cement demand in the country due to government infrastructure project, according to the Philippine Star. Its income grew by 6% to US$65.8m. The company is planning to upgrade the grinding capacity of its plant in Bulacan in 2019.

Ivory Coast: Xavier Saint-Martin-Tillet, the head of the Ivory Coast Cement Association, says that the country has a cement production capacity of 10Mt/yr. However, the local market is estimated to only consume 4Mt/yr, according to the Agence de Presse Africaine. Saint-Martin-Tillet made the comment at the Abidjan Infrastructure Exhibition.