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Fight against proposed Titan cement plant continues 15 January 2015
US: Titan America plans to build a cement plant in Castle Hayne, New Hanover County, North Carolina. However, NC Coastal Federation members, among others, are still fighting the proposal after six years. They say that the plant, which will burn more than 250,000t/yr of coal, will discharge pollutants into the Northeast Cape Fear River. Coastal Advocate Mike Giles said that they're still waiting on a decision for their challenge against Titan America's air quality permit. According to the Titan America website, the plant would bring about 160 full-time jobs to New Hanover County and have a US$120m/yr fiscal impact.
Semen Indonesia sales rise by 3% in 2014 15 January 2015
Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia Tbk has reported that cement sales grew by 3% to 26.4Mt in 2014. Domestic sales contributed 13.9Mt of the total sales, up by 7% from 2013.
Can Peru’s cement industry continue to grow?
Written by David Perilli, Global Cement
14 January 2015
If you ever visit Lima be sure to try the wonton soup! One of the surprises of the Peruvian capital is the large number of Chinese restaurants. Peru has one of the largest proportions of inhabitants of Chinese-descent in Latin America. This adds a spoonful of historical context to this week's news of China's Jidong Development Group's intentions to buy Cementos Interoceanicos. It is one of a few stories affirming Peru's growth in recent years, although this trend may be changing.
The major Chinese producer is acquiring a cement plant with mineral rights that was first proposed in 2008. Originally the 1.6Mt/yr plant was budgeted at US$250m with construction set to start in 2009 and production intended to start in early 2011. At the time company executive director Armando Belfiore told local press that reserves of 700Mt of limestone and 390Mt of pozzolan exist in the Macusani, Ajoyani and Potoni districts in the Carabaya province of Puno. Subsequent plans were to develop lime and calcium carbide also. However, at present the project still appears to be in the development phase. No doubt Chinese money will be very welcome.
Meanwhile Peru's local producers have steadily been making their own progress towards becoming regional players in their own right. In December 2014 Union Andina de Cementos (Unacem) completed its purchase of Lafarge's cement assets in Ecuador. The US$517m deal included a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant in Otavalo. This followed Holding Cementero del Peru, a subsidiary of Gloria which operates Cementos Yura, paying US$300m to buy up to 98.4% in Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce), Bolivia's largest cement producer. Media analysts have predicted that Cementos Pacasmayo is also likely to expand internationally once it has finished its local projects.
Internally, each of the major Peruvian cement producers has its own projects. Unacem is investing US$374m on its Atocongo and Condorcocha plants between 2014 and 2018, with a focus on the cement mill, the development of the Carpapata III hydroelectricity project and the construction of bagging facilities in Condorcocha. Cementos Yura targeted US$50m towards machinery and equipment at its Yura plant near Arequipa. Cementos Pacasmayo's new US$385m cement plant at Piura is due to start operation in the second half of 2015. The new plant in northwest Peru will have a production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr of cement and 1Mt/yr of clinker.
Cement production in Peru has slowed since 2012 when the country saw production rise by 16% year-on-year to 9.85Mt. 2013 saw production rise by 6% to 10.5Mt. Currently released figures from the association of cement manufacturers in Peru (Asocem) to November 2014 suggest that this growth has continued to fall to 1.5% year-on-year.
Cementos Pacasmayo reported in its third quarter report for 2014 that the Peruvian economy had experienced a slowdown during the first nine months of the year although it was expected to recover in the final quarter and beyond due to impending infrastructure projects and spending. Given Peru's continued growth in gross domestic product (GDP), Jidong, Pacasmayo and Peru's other cement producers could do worse than order a nice bowl of wonton soup while they wait and see what happens.
Scancem applies to International Finance Corporation for Euro11m grinding plant in Guinea-Bissau 14 January 2015
Guinea-Bissau: Maxime Cardoz and HeidelbergCement subsidiary Scancem has applied to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a loan of Euro11m to help finance Guinea-Bissau's first cement grinding plant. The project is estimated to cost a total of Euro22m.
The Cardoz Cimentos de Bissau project is 60% under the ownership of Cardoz and 40% by Scancem. Its location will be 1.5km from the port of Bissau, a plant location in an area which at present absorbs 50% of the country's cement consumption. A decision on the funding will likely be finalised on 27 February 2015.
Cement consumption in Guinea-Bissau is dependent upon imports, mainly sourced from Senegal via the country's sole port at Bissau and accounts for 80% of its international trade.
Itacamba Cemento to import 50,000t of cement in 2015 14 January 2015
Bolivia: Itacamba Cemento intends to import 50,000t of cement in 2015 to guarantee supplies in Santa Cruz. Itacamba Cemento will also raise its production by 6% in 2015 to 3.6 million bags.
Cement demand in Bolivia is expected to increase by 8 - 10% in 2015 according to estimates by the local cement industry. However, due to insufficient local production, cement has to be imported. In 2014 the government used Insumos Bolivia to import about 600,000 bags of cement. A similar amount is planned for import in 2015.
Guillermo Schrupp, the president of the Construction Chamber in the Santa Cruz department of Bolivia, Cadecocruz, has said at least two or three more cement plants are needed in the medium to long term in order to meet rising demand until the Rositas hydroelectric dam is completed in 2018.