Global Cement News

Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia is considering the construction of a cement plant in Papua in a bid to supply the market in the country's easternmost province. Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto said the location of the plant would be either in Jayapura or Manokwari, the two largest cities close to limestone reseerves, according to local media. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 0.6 – 1Mt/yr with an investment of up to US$100m.

"We hope the study can conclude soon so that we can include the investment needed for the plant in our next year's capital expenditure budget. It might take around three years to construct the facility before it can commence commercial operations," said Dwi Soetjipto.

According to Semen Indonesia's estimates, Papua consumes around 600,000t/yr of cement, or 40% of the total eastern Indonesia cement consumption of 1.5Mt/yr. Semen Indonesia supplies around half of Papua's cement market. With the new factory, it is expected to increase its market share to around 70%.

The company has projected that cement demand in Papua will hit around 900,000t/yr from around the time the company has finished building its new plant.

Increasing its market share in the region will place Semen Indonesia in competition with Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa and Semen Bosowa. Currently the company supplies the Papua market from its subsidiaries Semen Gresik in East Java and Semen Tonasa in South Sulawesi.

In 2013 Semen Indonesia built a rotary packing plant in Sorong, West Papua at a cost of US$13.8m. The plant produces 2200 bags per hour and currently supplies 300 - 400t/day of cement to the West Papua area.

India: Chettinad Cement Corporation is moving forward with plans for projects in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka costing a total of US$616m.

The Indian cement producer is building a greenfield 3.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh at a cost of US$181m. It is expanding its cement plant at Gulbarga in Karnataka to 5.75Mt/yr from 2.5Mt/yr and adding a 130MW captive thermal power plant at a cost of US$330m. It is also building two 2Mt/yr grinding plants and two 50MW thermal power plants at Solapur, Maharashtra at a cost of US$108m.

Chettinad Cement has received all the necessary clearances for its greenfield project in Andhra Pradesh and an expansion project in Karnataka, according to local media. The projects in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are expected to be operational within three years of the start of construction. The company has acquired 1000 acres for its proposed cement plant in Andhra Pradesh and 120 acres for its grinding plant in Maharashtra.

"In the last 20 years, the installed capacity of the cement units has increased from 1Mt/yr to 13.5Mt/yr. With the commissioning of new and expanded units, it is possible to scale up to 20Mt/yr,'' said Chettinad Cement Group Managing Director MAMR Muthiah.

Muthiah added that the company had a debt-equity ratio of 1:1. The upcoming projects will be financed through a combination of debt and internal accruals. Chettinad Cement is also considering expansion opportunities in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. At present, Chettinad Cement is currently operating at 50% of its production capacity due to 'sluggish' market conditions.

Tomorrow (18 September 2014) the residents of Scotland, one of the UK's four 'home nations', will vote in a referendum. The question will be whether or not the country should leave the UK and become fully independent. Rival 'Yes' and 'No' campaigns have spent the best part of two years trying to convince the electorate of the benefits of either leaving or staying in the UK.

Leaving the political discussion to one side, where would a 'Yes' vote leave the Scottish cement industry? The only cement plant in Scotland is the 1Mt/yr Lafarge Tarmac plant at Dunbar, East Lothian, so on the face of it, Scotland's cement industry would be 100% owned by one operator. At this stage, however, it is (hopefully) fair to assume that relations between Scotland and the rest of the UK should be cordial enough to allow normal supply chains and contracts to continue over the border. Lafarge Tarmac, or any future operator, should expect business as (mostly) usual.

However, there are potential issues when it comes to the ongoing UK Competition Commission's (CC) investigation into competition in the UK cement and blast furnace slag markets. The removal of Dunbar from the list of UK cement assets is small but significant. Would the CC come to the same conclusion regardless of the outcome of the Scottish vote? And (how) would any decisions filter into the EU-wide investigations into the LafargeHolcim merger disposals?

Part of the discussion around Scottish independence has been the suggestion that Welsh nationalists might ask for a similar referendum in the event of a Scottish 'Yes.' In our cement plant thought experiment, this has much more of an effect on the current UK situation, with two Welsh plants at Mold, Flintshire and Aberthaw, Roose, which is also a Lafarge Tarmac plant. This would really re-shape the former UK's cement industry and pose new questions for regulators. Elsewhere, Northern Ireland's only cement plant is also a Lafarge Tarmac facility.

Also, a 'Yes' for Scotland has the potential to reverberate around the rest of the European Union (EU). Catalonia, the autonomous region in Spain, has a long-standing and separate identity to the rest of Spain. By contrast to Scotland, its cement industry is massive, with Ciment Català listing eight plants across four operators. If it left Spain, there would be 30 plants in the country instead of 38.

More provocatively, Belgium is a country that, while at the centre of Europe, is often divided at home. French-speaking Wallonia has all five of Belgium's cement plants, but separation between this region and the Dutch-speaking Flemish region would require a number of unlikely changes.

Elsewhere, there are calls to separate the north of Italy from the south, although cement plants are roughly in proportion throughout the country. In France, Brittany also has its fair share of nationalist sentiment. However, any moves here would not trouble the French operators - there are no cement plants in Brittany. Normandy is in the same situation, although a Breton would probably claim that Normandy is 'just part of France.'

The above is only a scratch on the surface. A quick internet search for 'separatist movements in Europe' leads to a large number of hits. The most illustrative of the links is this map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_separatist_movements_in_Europe#mediaviewer/File:Active_separatist_movements_in_the_European_Union.png
It appears that many EU residents would like the map of Europe redrawn.

Looking outside of the EU, the cement industry of Texas has the largest cement industry of all US states. With huge oil reserves, a large and growing population and fast development, Texas' cement industry would thrive in the event of its secession. Discussion of this was particularly strong following the re-election of President Barack Obama in 2012.

Of course, much of the above is hypothetical... or is it? Just two year's ago nobody was talking about Scottish independence. We will find out tomorrow if Europe will get a new (Scottish) cement industry.

Myanmar: Cargotec's Siwertell has received an order from CITIC Heavy Industries Co Ltd (CITIC) for a rail-travelling ship unloader. The ST-640 M-type unloader has been ordered to support the energy production requirements for a new cement plant in Myanmar and will unload coal from barges at a rate of 800t/hr. The plant is being built as part of a collaboration between CITIC and Siam Cement's subsidiary, Mawlamyine Cement Ltd (MCL).

India: Reliance Mutual Fund has bought 3.26 million shares in Sanghi Industries for US$0.732/share via a bulk deal. Prior to the deal, Reliance Mutual Fund owned 71% of the shares, while institutions and non-institutions held 3.50% and 25.5% respectively.