15 June 2016
Belgium: European cement production grew by 0.9% year-on-year to 248Mt in 2015, according to newly published data in the 2015 Activity Report from the European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU).
Individual European countries recorded a mixed performance. Cement production in Spain grew by 3.3% in 2015. However, in Italy production fell by 3.4% and in France it fell by 5%. CEMBUREAU reported strong performance from its members in Eastern Europe, notably in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. In the European Union (EU28) the association reported a 3.7% increase in cement production to 172Mt fro 165.8Mt. However, CEMBUREAU reinforced the face that EU28 cement production remains 37.7% below the production levels recorded in 2007.
CEMBUREAU data uses estimates for some countries where the data is unavailable including Germany, the UK and Poland. The association represents the national cement industry associations and cement companies of the European Union with the exception of Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia plus Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Croatia and Serbia are associate members of the organisation.
St Petersburg endures cement shortage 15 June 2016
Russia: St Petersburg is facing a market cement shortage of 40% due to a decrease in the volume of shipments by a number of producers. Local media has attributed the deficit to the failure of equipment of main suppliers, including Pikalevskaya Soda, Cesla and Eurocement Group. Concrete producers have been forced to shut their plants down due to the shortage. Local cement prices are expected to rise consequently.
Sri Lanka: The Industry and Commerce Ministry has expressed its interest in buying the local operations of LafargeHolcim. Government sources have said that discussions are now on-going within the administration. The multinational cement producer announced in early June 2016 that it was selling its subsidiary Holcim Lanka. The company was originally state-owned before it was privatised.
"The government is willing to negotiate to buy it at a reasonable price. This is the only integrated cement plant in Sri Lanka. The limestone quarry in Puttalam belongs to the Cement Corporation and it had been leased out to Holcim," said a spokesman of the ministry quoted by the Daily News newspaper. He added that no final decision on the matter has been taken yet. The government also hopes that, if it successfully purchased the company, it could reduce the price of cement in the country.
Local press reports that seven bidders have made offers for Holcim Lanka. These include companies from UAE, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Sri Lanka. Holcim Lanka’s assets include two packing plants in Galle and Trincomalee, a cement plant in Puttalam and a cement grinding plant in Galle.