Chile: Hurtado Vicuna Group has asked its minor shareholders to support a merger between its subsidiaries Cementos Bicentenario (BSA) and Cementos Polpaico. Hurtado Vicuna holds a 57.1% share in Cementos Polpaico, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. However, two of the company’s major shareholders, Volcan and Megeve, may oppose the merger. If successful the merger would create Chile’s largest cement producer. As part of its acquisition of Cementos Polpaico, Hurtado Vicuna agreed to sell some of BSA’s assets. This potentially could involve the divestment of BSA’s 26 concrete plants.

Namibia: The Whale Rock Cement plant is set to start producing cement at its new grinding plant near Otjiwarongo in April 2018. Using the Cheetah Cement brand name the company had originally intended to start production in January 2018, according to the Namibia Press Agency. Clinker for the plant has been imported from Egypt. Previously, the imported cement was reported by local media as coming from China.

Originally the company intended to buy clinker from a local producer but the negotiations failed leading the cement producer to buy imports instead. Around 24,000t of clinker from a total of 40,000t have been transported from Walvis Bay to Otjiwarongo by 732 trucks. Once fully operational in August 2018 the plant is expected to create around 600 jobs. The company is a joint venture between China’s Asia-Africa Business Management and Whale Rock Cement.

Algeria: Production overcapacity has reduced the profits of LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary in Algeria. A source at the cement producer told the El Watan newspaper that the cement market had been hit by overcapacity since July 2017. New capacity is expected to increase local production to a surplus of 20Mt/yr in 2020. LafargeHolcim Algeria aims to export 5Mt/yr but this will still leave an additional production capacity of 15Mt/yr that is expected to lead to a price war and the potential shutdown of plants. In its 2017 annual report the cement producer said that, “…profitability in Algeria diminished in the second half of the year, on the back of weaker cement demand and a shift from a sold-out to an over-supplied environment.”

Nepal: Arghakhachi Cement and Jagdamba Cement are planning to build new cement plants. Arghakhachi Cement is spending US$48m on building a new integrated plant, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. The new plant will be launched by mid-2018. The company already operates an integrated cement plant at Birpur in Kapilvastu.

Jagdamba Cement is planning to build a 1500t/day cement plant in eastern Bhairahawa. The new unit will create 400 jobs. The cement producer operates two cement-grinding plants at Bhairahawa and Birgunj. The company produces Ordinary Portland Cement, Pozzolana Portland Cement and Pozzolana Slag Cement products.