18 March 2015
New Chinese-led cement plant coming to Nepal 18 March 2015
Nepal: Two private companies have signed an agreement of joint venture investment worth US$300m for cement production in Nepal. The investment, one of the biggest in Nepal's cement sector, has a 7:3 equity structure between Hongshi Holdings Limited of China and Nepal's Shiva Cement.
"This project will adopt a dry process with the use of 95% domestic raw materials," Xu Youyuan, Executive Vice President of the Chinese company said at the signing ceremony. He added that Hongshi had been attracted to Nepal's market by its booming cement industry in 2012.
Addressing the ceremony, Finance Minister of Nepal, Ram Sharan Mahat, said that the signing of this project was a landmark between the economic ties of the two neighbours and that he was happy to see that Chinese investors had shown confidence in Nepal. He even suggested that Nepal might become a net exporter of cement in the coming years.
Qatar National Cement to increase output by 12% in 2015 18 March 2015
Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has announced that it will increase its cement production by 12% in 2015 to over 4Mt/yr. The company's total production was 3.5Mt/yr in 2014, a 3% rise compared to 2013.
"Our two new mills are scheduled to begin operation this year," said Salem Butti Al Naimi, Chairman and Managing Director of QNCC. "The first will commence production from 15 October 2015, while the second is expected to start by the year's end. The whole plant will start running at full capacity by early 2016 producing about 23,000t/day of cement." Al Naimi added that he expects cement demand in Qatar to continue to grow in the coming years ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.