07 April 2015
Semen Indonesia considers new West Java cement plant 07 April 2015
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia is carrying out a feasibility study for a new cement plant in West Java. The study is expected to be complete by December 2015.
Vietnam: Vietnam produced 14.3Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2015, up by 5.9% from 2014, according to the government-run General Statistics Office. In March 2015, the country's cement production fell by 4% year-on-year to 5.5Mt. In the first two months of 2015, Vietnam generated 8.8Mt. The Ministry of Construction has predicted that Vietnam's cement and clinker sales will rise by 1.5 - 4% year-on-year to 72 – 74Mt in 2015, of which domestic sales will rise by 4.5 - 6.5% to 53 – 54Mt, while exports will be at 19 – 20Mt.
Ulyanovskcement building new cement plant 07 April 2015
Russia: Ulyanovskcement, a subsidiary of Eurocement, is setting up a new cement shipping and packaging department. The project includes a new 6200t/day dry-process production line. Equipment produced by Ibau Hamburg Ingenieurgesellschaft Industriebau GmbH will be installed.
Cemex brings forward Caracolito cement plant expansion 07 April 2015
Colombia: The corporate affairs vice president of Cemex in Colombia, Daniel Suarez, has said that the company is bringing forward the expansion of its Caracolito plant, which is responsible for 30% of Colombia's cement supply.
The project includes the expansion of the existing quarry with an additional 110,000m2 of land, a complete reconstruction of the kilns and the replacement of the air treatment filters. Cemex will also open a new plant in the northeast of Antioquia.
Cemex's Colombian sales have exceeded 1Mt/month in recent months, driven by projects like '4G motorways' and housing schemes. Cemex does not export any cement from Colombia. 65% of its revenues in the country come from individuals who buy cement to either build new rooms for their homes or build a home by themselves. 35% is sold to construction firms.
India: The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has said that it plans to import cement from abroad, particularly China, in order to overcome the rising prices faced by builders and the Telangana government's decision to impose extra costs on trucks coming from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh.
With trucks owners deciding to suspend their operations in protest at the move, there have been reports of cement shortages. "The cost of premium cement in the retail market is set to increase steeply, as transportation costs will shoot up with the government's decision to impose road tax on trucks from Andhra Pradesh," said CREDAI Vijayawada chapter president C Sudhakar. "To avoid this, there are plans to import cement from China."
Sudhakar estimated that the cost of importing Chinese cement could be 20 – 21% lower than getting it from Andhra Pradesh, a clear benefit to CREDAI members and local homeowners.
Bank may step in to prop up Chinese property market 07 April 2015
China: China's national housing bank could offer low interest rate housing loans to help middle and low income home buyers, bolstering demand in a sluggish real estate market and reducing risks for commercial banks, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Zhang Qiguang, head of the ministry's housing provident fund supervision department, also proposed the housing fund include rural workers who seek jobs in urban areas and offer government support to help them buy homes.
At the end of March 2015, China offered tax breaks to home buyers and reduced deposit requirements for the second time in six months in a bid to halt a slide in house prices that threatens to undermine the world's second-largest economy.
The housing market is worth the equivalent of around 15% of China's economy and its sluggish performance has held back economic growth and subdued activity in an array of sectors from cement to steel to glass making. Prices fell at a record annual pace in February 2015.