Vietnam: Cement exports rose by 50% year-on-year to over 15Mt in the first half of 2018. Estimates from the Construction Materials Department of the Ministry of Construction shows that the country consumed 51.4Mt of cement, an increase of 25%, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. Cement inventory was 3.1Mt or equivalent to 14 - 15 days of production. High local consumption has been attributed to good weather and growing exports have been attributed to a halt in cement production in a number of cities in China.

UK: Global Cement Magazine is exhibiting at the Hillhead 2018 quarrying exhibition from 26 – 28 June 2018 taking place in Derbyshire. Held in a limestone quarry, the organisers say that it is the largest exhibition of its kind anywhere in the world. Global Cement Magazine has exhibition stand PC45 in the main pavillion.

Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) plans to merge with Kalambaina Cement, a subsidiary of BUA Cement. CCNN operates a 0.5Mt/yr plant at Sokoto and Kalambaina Cement runs a 1.5Mt/yr plant, also in Sokoto state, according to the This Day newspaper. The merger is intended to improve CCNN’s competitiveness locally and take advantage of the newly-built Kalambaina Cement plant.

India: LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary ACC is in talks to buy Jaiprakash Associates’ remaining cement business. It plans to buy the production capacity of 5.5Mt/yr for US$763m by mid-2018, according to sources quoted by the Economic Times newspaper. Jaiprakash Associates is selling the last parts of its former cement assets to reduce its debts.

The proposed deal includes plants in central India with clinker production capacity of 4.4Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of about 3.3Mt/yr, the company's 74% stake in Bhilai Jaypee Cement, a joint venture with Steel Authority of India, and the Nigrie grinding plant.

Jaiprakash Associates previously agreed to sell three cement plants to Orient Cement in mid-2017 but this deal was cancelled after a delay of one year. Prior to this the company sold six integrated cement plants and five grinding plants to UltraTech Cement for US$2.5bn in 2017. Following the sale of its remaining cement assets, the company will primarily an engineering, procurement and construction contractor in road and hydroelectric power.