Global Cement News

Nepal: Two large cement factories, which are nearing completion in Dudhrash and Gogli in Dang, are preparing to commence production in early 2012. It is expected that the two plants will replace around 10% of the cement imports that currently come from India.

Basu Pandey, director of Sonapur Cement Factory in Dudhrash, said that construction work has almost been completed. "Some technical work is remaining and we hope to finish that within a month," he said, adding that the company will begin test-production by the end of December 2011. "We will be able to launch the product in the market within two months," he added. According to Pandey, Sonapur Cement Factory targets to produce around 700t/day of cement.

Sonapur Cement Factory is launching its products under the brand of 'Sona Cement'. It will manufacture OPC and Portland Pozzolana Cement. Sonapur has invested a total of US$415m on the project.

The other factory, which will brand its products as Ghorahi Cement, is also preparing to bring its products in the market within two months. Bikash Sharma, factory coordinator of Ghorahi Cements, said, "Test production will begin from February 2012 and the final production will start in March 2012."

Ghorahi Cement Factory is targeting to produce 1200t/day. Located in Laxmi in Dang, it plans to double its production in the future. "We will double our daily production to 2400t/day in a year's time," Sharma said, adding that Ghorahi Cement Factory would become the largest cement factory in the country. Both of the factories will use limestone from local mines of Dang and surrounding districts, which are more than 200 years old.

Indonesia: Domestic cement sales in Indonesia, the largest economy in south east Asia, rose by 26% in November 2011 from the same month in 2010, according to data released by the Indonesian cement association (ASI).

Sales volume reached 4.4Mt, compared to 3.5Mt in November 2010. Despite this, sales were down by 4.7% compared to October 2011, which saw 4.7Mt of cement sold. It should be noted that end of year deadlines for completion of government construction projects traditionally inflate November figures compared to those for December.

The ASI estimates that total domestic sales will reach around 45-46Mt in 2011, up by 15% from 2010, according to its chairman Urip Trimuryono.

In the longer term it is likely that cement demand growth will be more rapid in the country, with Indonesia's parliament stamping a long-awaited land acquisition bill on 16 December 2011. The bill will attempt to remove a bottleneck in infrastructure development that has long been seen as holding back growth in the country, providing a greater demand for cement.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian cement producer Arabian Cement Company (ACC) has seen its net profit for the first nine months of 2011 surge by 36% year-on-year to US$88.7m.The company attributed the increase in bottom-line figures to rising production and sales volumes but did not give exact figures.

ACC's operating profit jumped by 48.2% to US$96.9m in the first nine months of 2011. For the third quarter of 2011, the company registered a net profit of US$27.9m, an increase of 28.4% year-on-year.

Russia: Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has said that it is considering the application by businessman Lev Kvetnoi, owner of cement producer Novoroscement, to buy the Verkhnebakansky cement plant from businesswoman Yelena Baturina.

The watchdog said it needed time to collect additional information on the deal, adding that it would extend the consideration period by two months.The application was submitted by Gazmetallproyekt, which runs Kvetnoi's assets. In November 2011 Baturina sold the Verkhnebakansky cement plant to Kvetnoi for around US$534m.

Switzerland/Italy: Sika AG, the Swiss specialty chemicals company, is to acquire the global concrete admixture and cement grinding aid businesses of the Italcementi Group (directly or indirectly controlled by Italcementi or Ciments Français). The businesses are on the market under the brand Axim. Axim has approximately 150 employees in Italy, France, the US, Canada, Morocco and Spain. In 2010 it generated sales of around Euro61m.

"This agreement will allow the group to capitalise the value of this business," said Giovanni Ferrario, COO of Italcementi Group. "Moreover, this will further extend the relationship between Italcementi and Sika, enhancing the reputation of both companies as innovators in the field of concrete and cement."

This acquisition allows Sika to significantly strengthen its market position in the relevant countries. As Sika's CEO, Ernst Baertschi, said, "This acquisition is a major step for Sika in the process of expanding market shares in the admixture business worldwide."