Global Cement News

Nepal: The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) has been inundated with applications for the Nepal Standards (NS) mark from more than 24 cement producers. The rush was prompted by the bureau's April 2013 deadline for cement plants to obtain NS certification or face closure.

The bureau has recently launched a crackdown against cement companies selling their products without the NS logo or using it illegally. In February 2013 it shut four cement plants including Ambe, Butwal, Reliance and Shree for using the NS logo illegally and producing substandard materials. NBSM director general Ram Adhar Sah said that 26 out of the 28 cement plants producing cement without obtaining the NS logo have applied for it.

According to the Cement Manufacturers' Association of Nepal (CMAN), there are 44 cement factories in Nepal producing around 150 brands. However, the bureau said that only 16 companies had received the NS logo so far, and that the rest had been using it illegally or not at all. Even producers who have acquired the certification have been using the branding illegally across different product lines.

CMAN president Atma Ram Murarka said that the bureau's move followed its request to the government. Though imported cement has secured a larger share of the Nepali market, local cement producers conduct transactions worth US$346m/yr, according to CMAN.

Argentina: Loma Negra, a subsidiary of Camargo Correa of Brazil, has reported that its profits fell by half to US$43.9m in 2012 from US$96m in 2011. Sales dropped to US$688m from US$704m following the official currency quotation in December 2012. Cement and lime production fell by 9% to 5.7Mt from 6Mt.

Loma Negra's performance follows a general reduction in the construction sector in Argentina, where the construction index (ISAC) fell by 3.2% in 2012. Loma Negra has confirmed that its results were affected by the acquisition of a 35% stake in Paraguay's Cementos Yguazu at cost of US$19m. Camargo Correa holds a 70% stake in Yguazu, with 30% belonging to Concret Mix.

Poland: Poland's cement production totalled 350,600t in February 2013, a decrease of 35.4% year-on-year, according to statistics from the country's Cement Producer Association. Cement sales remained relatively stable at 533,300t, marking a decrease of 2.5%. For the first two months of 2013, cement output declined by 46.6% to 705,900t, while sales dropped by 24.1% to 941,000t.

Japan: UBE Industries plans to install a generator powered by waste heat at its cement plant in Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture. The generator will meet about 40% of the plant's electric power consumption reducing production costs. The US$52.1m project will start providing power as early as the second half of 2015.

The Kanda plant currently produces 11% of its own electricity using a diesel generator. UBE's decision follows similar schemes at UBE's two other domestic cement plants in Japan. The company previously put off this upgrade because of a lull in domestic demand for cement. UBE is acting now because Kyushu Electric Power Co. is preparing for a rate increase in April 2013 that will impact upon production costs.

Ghana: HeidelbergCement is constructing a new cement mill with a capacity of 0.8Mt/yr at its grinding plant in the port city of Takoradi. The investment of US$30m also includes the construction of a clinker silo, a new cement silo and the installation of cement bag packing and dispatch facilities. Commissioning of the new mill is scheduled for late 2014.

"The construction of the new cement mill in Ghana is another project in the context of our strategy of expanding our clinker and cement capacities in growth markets. In particular the countries of sub-Saharan Africa have a very high growth potential due to their early stage of industrialisation and rich natural resources," said Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. Ghana now holds the company's largest capacity in west Africa.

In November 2012 HeidelbergCement inaugurated a new 1Mt/yr cement mill at its grinding plant in Tema, some 25 km east of the capital city of Accra. Upon completion of the new mill at Takoradi, HeidelbergCement's total cement production capacity in Ghana will be 4.4Mt/yr.