Global Cement News

Vietnam: SCG Vietnam’s sales revenue rose by 20% year-on-year to US$639m in the first half of 2018. The subsidiary of Thailand’s SCG reported faster sales growth in the second quarter of 2018, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. Sales increased by 28% year-on-year to US$371m in the second quarter.

Turkey: İsmail Bulut, the head of the Turkish Cement Manufacturers Association (TÇMB), says that the local industry exported US$124m of cement in 2017. He told the Daily Sabah newspaper that the sector has a production capacity of 81Mt/yr. TÇMB data shows that it exported 7.98Mt of cement in 2017 to nearly 100 countries. The top destinations for Turkish cement included Syria, the US, Israel and Ghana. It also exported 4.93Mt of clinker led by Ghana, Colombia, Ivory Coast and Guinea. Despite the high levels of exports, the country also imported relatively small amounts of clinker for Greece and Bulgaria in 2017.

Colombia: Data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) shows that cement production declined by 1.2% year-on-year to 5.96Mt in the first half of 2018. However, production has improved since 2017 with the annual production from July 2017 to June 2018 being 12.2Mt, a decrease of 0.5% year-on-year, compared to a fall of 5.9% for the previous 12 months.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento’s (INC) Vallemi cement plant has been paralysed by a coke shortage. All operations at the unit’s clinker kiln have been suspended, according to the Ultima Hora newspaper. The producer is still making cement deliveries but its clinker stocks have fallen to below 30,000t. The company reportedly only has fuel oil left for one day and sufficient coke for one day of full operation. It is awaiting the arrival of a 6000t consignment of coke.

India: Emami Group is considering an initial public offering (IPO) for its cement subsidiary, Emami Cement. The IPO is intended to generate funds for expansion, according to sources quoted by the Hindu newspaper. The company has appointed a consultant to explore public issue prospects and preliminary discussions have started with merchant bankers. The cement producer has invested over US$575m to double its production capacity to 8Mt/yr from 4.4Mt/yr in the current financial year with plants in Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.