Global Cement News

Pakistan: Producers increased second-half cement volumes in 2019 by 6.5% year-on-year to 24.8Mt from 23.2Mt between 1 July and 31 December 2018. Domestic consumption grew by just 3.5% between the two periods under comparison to 20.4Mt from 19.7Mt, causing exports to rise by 22% year-on-year to 4.38Mt in 2019’s second half from 3.56Mt one year previously. The Nation newspaper projected Pakistan’s total volumes in the financial year ending 30 June 2020 of 47Mt/yr against an installed capacity of 60Mt/yr.

China: Three cement plants in Dali, Yunnan province with a combined capacity of 5.0Mt/yr and belonging to Dali Cement (Group), Dali Hongshan Yunnan Cement and Hongta Dianxi Cement have ceased all functions except the packaging of existing cement in order to stop polluting the area of Erhai Lake. The shutdown was mandated by the City of Dali and Dali Economic Development Zone authorities in mid-2017. Xinhua Net newspaper has reported that the removal of kilns is underway and that demolition on all three sites will have been completed by 31 May 2020. The companies will be permitted to construct plants of corresponding capacities at allotted sites elsewhere.

Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has defaulted on contractual loan repayments to KCB Bank after auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that the Kenyan company made a loss of US$28.0m in the twelve months to 30 June 2019, over which time it produced 0.3Mt of cement against an installed capacity of 1.3Mt/yr.

India: Emami Group has indicated that it will receive bids for its cement division Emami Cement from mid-January 2020. Business Standard newspaper has reported that Aditya Birla’s UltraTech Cement is likely to submit an offer in the region of US$0.94bn for the company – over 20% lower than Emami Group’s previously projected evaluation of US$1.18bn for Emami Cement. It also reported the possible involvement of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim’s Ambuja Cements in the upcoming auction.

Vietnam: Vietnamese cement producers increased their output of cement by 7.9% year-on-year to 96.5Mt in 2019. Volumes in December 2019 were 8.7Mt – up by 12% from 7.8Mt in December 2018, when the country produced 90.2Mt throughout the year. Vietnam News Brief Service has reported that in 2019, 34Mt of cement and clinker was exported from Vietnam – up by 6.3% year-on-year from 32.0Mt in 2018 – with a total value of US$1.39bn – up by 11% from US$1.25bn.