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Bolivia: A Spanish-German consortium, formed by Imasa, Polysius and Valoriza, intends to build a US$244m cement plant in Bolivia. The consortium has received the order from Bolivia's state-run cement producer Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (Ecebol).
The new factory will be located in the Oruro department near a limestone quarry that has reserves of 209Mt. This has the capability to supply raw material for 90 years. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr.
Russia: Novoroscement plans to launch a cement production line at its Pervomaisky plant near Novorossiysk. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 2.2Mt/yr and Euro250m has been invested in the project.
Russia: Sberbank and Eurocement signed a cooperation agreement at the XVIII St Petersburg International Economic Forum to secure funding for expansion by the Russian cement producer. Herman Gref, the bank's CEO and Chairman of the Board, signed the agreement for Sberbank and Filaret Galchev, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, signed for Eurocement, according to SKRIN Newswire.
The agreement also stipulates that the two parties will cooperate on a whole range of issues, from settlement and cash services to the provision of investment and banking products (via Sberbank CIB1) and other financial services, both for Eurocement group itself and for its affiliates and dependent companies.
"The signing of the agreement with Sberbank will serve as a guarantee that the Holding company's investment programme will receive sufficient funding until 2018 and that the transition to the active phase of the construction of new cement manufacturing facilities will be made. The implementation of this project will give a significant boost to growth in Russia's construction sector as a whole, by providing high-quality cement for infrastructural and residential projects in the country," said Filaret Galchev, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Eurocement.
Semen Indonesia expands operations 27 May 2014
Asia: PT Semen Indonesia's subsidiary PT Semen Padang has commenced construction of its US$279.5m Indarung VI cement plant in Padang, West Sumatra on 26 May 2014. The new plant, which has an annual cement production capacity of 3Mt/yr, is expected to commence operations in the second half of 2016.
"We are developing the Indarung VI factory as the demand for cement keeps increasing across Sumatra and western parts of Java," said Dwi Soetjipto, CEO of PT Semen Indonesia. With the operation of the new plant, Semen Padang's total cement production capacity is expected to increase to 10.5Mt/yr, up from 7.5Mt/yr.
Brisk development of property, toll roads, and other infrastructure projects has pushed up demand for cement in East Java. "Demand for cement in the country has increased. All cement production is absorbed by the market for government and private properties and infrastructure projects," Bambang Djoko claimed. The commercial director of PT Semen Gresik Aunur Rosyid said that cement sales in West Java reached 2.83Mt in the first four months of 2014, an increase of 9.8% from 2.56Mt in 2013. "The growth exceeded the 3.7% growth of cement sales nationally in the same year," said Rosyid.
Elsewhere, PT Semen Indonesia has announced that it may acquire a cement plant in Bangladesh as part of its efforts to expand business. Soetjipto stated that the Bangladeshi cement plant has a production capacity of 0.60 – 1Mt/yr.
"We are now in the process of approaching the management of the plant for further negotiations. Hopefully, it can be realised in the coming six months," Soetjipto said. He was reluctant to reveal financial details, saying that the acquisition value was less than that made for Thang Long Cement in Vietnam. In November 2012 Semen Indonesia acquired 70% of Thang Long Cement (worth US$157m) from Geleximco.
Soetjipto also disclosed that Thang Long Cement will build a new plant in Rembang, Central Java in June 2014. "We will begin the construction of a new plant in Rembang in mid-June 2014," he remarked. He explained that with the development of new factories in Padang and Rembang and upgrades to the existing plants, Semen Indonesia will have a combined production capacity of 40.8Mt/yr by 2017.
PT Semen Indonesia hopes to boost its sales in Vietnam by expanding the production capacity of its Vietnamese subsidiary Thang Long Cement. " Thang Long Cement's market share in Vietnam is relatively small at around 2.3Mt/yr, but its market potential is huge," said Thang Long Cement executive Bambang Djoko.
HeidelbergCement India’s net profit rises 27 May 2014
India: HeidelbergCement India's net profits rose to US$8.12m during the quarter that ended in March 2014, compared with US$373,296 of profit during the same period of 2013. Net sales were US$67.0m during the quarter, up by 7.6% year-on-year from US$62.3m.