Bahrain: The local construction sector is expected to grow following the lifting of export duties on cement by Saudi Arabia. Saudi National Committee of Cement Producers chairman Jehad Al Rasheed told said that cement export duties were cancelled at the end of January 2018, according to the Gulf Daily News newspaper. Export tariffs were originally set at US$23 – 35/t but were then halved in July 2017 to encourage the market.

Bahrain had been the only country allowed to import cement from Saudi Arabia since 2009. However, the price rose significantly in March 2017 after the Saudi government introduced new tariffs and permitted cement exports globally.

Honduras: Cementos Argos plans to spend US$20m on building a new cement grinding plant at Choloma. The unit will have a production capacity of 0.44Mt/yr. It will join the cement producer’s integrated plant in Comayagua and another grinding plant in San Lorenzo. The new grinding plant, loacted in the north of the country, is intended to integrate into Cementos Argos’ logistics network in the wider region. It will create 200 jobs.

France: Lafarge Syria’s former director Christian Herrault has claimed that Eric Chevallier, the former ambassador to Syria, knew about payments to armed groups by the cement producer. French investigators questioned Herrault in the presence of Chevallier, according to a source quoted by the Agence France Presse. Herrault allegedly said that he had met Chevallier several times, that he knew about the situation and that he said that the company should stay as, “…these problems won't last long."

Jean-Claude Veillard, the group's former security boss, has said he regularly informed French intelligence services about its operations in the region. Investigators have also found evidence of meetings between Lafarge and diplomats, including a note suggesting that one took place in Paris in January 2013.

The investigation is attempting to determine whether LafargeHolcim’s predecessor company Lafarge Syria paid terrorist groups in Syria and how much managers knew about the situation.

Pakistan: The local cement industry has asked the government to increase the custom duty on imported clinker to support local production as export rates continue to decline. The industry has also recommended that cement importers should be registered with the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and country of origin bodies, according to the Nation newspaper. Falling exports in Afghanistan have been blamed on Iranian competition and high local energy costs.