Displaying items by tag: Export

Pakistan: Cement producers despatched 44.6Mt of cement during the 2023 financial year, down by 16% year-on-year from 52.9Mt in the previous financial year. Exports dropped by 13% to 4.57Mt from 5.26Mt. The Dawn newspaper has reported that cement plants in Northern Pakistan accounted for 33.9Mt (76%) of despatches, while those in Southern Pakistan accounted for 10.7Mt (24%).

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association urged the government to support export-orientated industries. It said “Boosting exports will play a pivotal role in the revival of our economy. Signing of standby agreement with IMF is only an interim solution and we must use our own resources in order to build a stronger Pakistan.”

UK: Mineral Products Association Lime (MPA Lime), the body representing the UK lime sector, has launched the Net Negative 2040 Roadmap. The association said that the roadmap sets out the strategy for its to 'go beyond net zero' by 2040. The industry will rely on the deployment of fuel switching, carbon capture, renewable energy sources and green transport technologies, among other approaches. It called on the government to support its aims through the implementation of carbon accounting, subsidisation of renewables and decarbonisation technologies, the development of green hydrogen infrastructure, ensuring that UK lime can remain competitive in the UK and overseas markets.

MPA Lime director Mike Haynes said “Each lever will contribute to decarbonisation – many initiatives are happening already or will come on stream this decade." He added "The combination of using biomass fuels with carbon capture and lime product carbonation will result in removal of 250,000t/yr of atmospheric CO₂, making the sector net negative overall. Other levers, especially indirect emissions and transportation, require broader collaboration and enabling action by government and other industries.”

Through their actions to date, MPA Lime members reduced their absolute CO₂ emissions by 25% between 2005 and 2022.

Kenya: Parliament's Finance and National Planning Committee has rejected a petition from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) for the removal of the 10% customs duty on imports of clinker. Business Daily News has reported that KAM member Rai Cement said that the duty will force cement plants to shut due to high costs. The committee, however, concluded that the levy aims to encourage local manufacturing, promote exports and create jobs for Kenyans.

National Cement, which operates the 1.95Mt/yr Kajiado cement plant in Merrueshi-Mbirikani, opposed the KAM line by submitting its own petition for an increase in the clinker import duty to 25%.

Bolivia: State-owned gas and oil company YPFB has commenced gas supply to Potosí via its Sucre-Potosí gas pipeline, which underwent a 32% capacity expansion to 4.15Mm³/day. Página Siete News has reported that the expansion cost US$5.8m. YPFB said that it can now increase gas allocations in accordance with customers' contracts.

Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL) is scheduled to commission its upcoming 1.3Mt/yr Potosí cement plant in June 2023. YPFB holds a contract to supply 337,000m³/yr of natural gas to the plant. YPFB says that the expanded Sucre-Potosí pipeline will help to boost cement production in Bolivia, both to supply domestic demand and to establish an export market.

Myanmar: The new port of Sittwe in Rakhine State, which opened on 9 May 2023, has received a shipment of 20,000 bags of Indian cement. Press Trust of India News has reported that the shipment left Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata, West Bengal, in May 2023.

Uzbekistan: Bekabadcement is carrying out a 'large-scale' upgrade to its 0.7Mt/yr Bekabadcement plant in Tashkent Region. The producer said that the upgrade involves a 20% capacity expansion of the plant's production line to 2500t/day. Austria-based Unitherm CemCon supplied burners for the upgraded line, while China-based Beijing Triumph International Engineering supplied heat exchanger components and a KC 4.1-0955 cooler. The upgrade also involves the installation of new kiln lining, and will transition the plant's cement production from wet to dry process. Germany-based Christian Pfeiffer previously upgraded the Bekabad cement plant's grinding unit in April 2023.

General director Vasily Korobkin "We see that (parent company) United Cement Group (UCG) is interested in the modernisation and development of the enterprise. The group adheres to international standards, so all plans for the development of the plant are built accordingly." He concluded "We expect to become a modern and successful enterprise in Uzbekistan which is capable of becoming a major player in the cement industry of Central Asia.”

Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas has benefitted from a European Union (EU) ban on cement exports from Belarus in response to the Russian-led invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The subsidiary of Germany-based Schwenk Zement reported a profit of Euro16m in 2022, according to the Baltic News Service. This is its first recorded profit since 2013. Artūras Zaremba, the head of Akmenes Cementas, added that higher cement prices, further borrowing from its parent company and fixed electricity prices also helped it make a profit.

The company’s income grew by 53% year-on-year to Euro134m in 2022 from Euro87.5m in 2021. Its cement sales volumes increased by 6% to 1.5Mt and cement production rose by 8% to 1.1Mt. Around 1.1Mt of cement was sold domestically with the remainder exported to other countries within the EU. Cement sales are expected to fall in 2023 due to changes in the local market.

Mauritania: The National Confederation of Mauritanian Workers has called a seven-day strike of Ciments de l’Afrique (CIMAF) employees from 31 May to 6 June 2023. IHS Global Insight Daily News has reported that the union called the strike over working conditions at the company and to demand that it elect workers’ representatives. The strike will likely result in cement supply disruptions and backlogs at export terminals.

Sinoma International Engineering was revealed this week as the winner of a contract to build a new production line at Southern Province Cement’s Jizan plant. The China-based engineering firm said that the US$330m contract was to build a full line, from limestone crushing to bagging, with an output of 5000t/day. The construction period is expected to take just over two years, suggesting a commissioning date in mid-2025 if work starts now. The project has been in the pipeline for a while with an announcement in mid-2021. It was previously reported that the new line is intended to replace the two existing production lines at the site once completed.

Other recent projects in the country include Yamama Cement’s plans to move its cement plant near Riyadh to a new location. Sinoma International Engineering was also selected as the main contractor in November 2022 for the US$220m project. The relocated line – using both old and new equipment – will have a production capacity of 10,000t/yr. Project duration was estimated at around two-and-a half years following financial contractual commitments. So the earliest this one might be completed is also mid-2025. Eastern Province Cement also started making moves to build a new major upgrade in March 2023 when it started the tendering process for a planned 10,000t/day production line at its Al Khursaniyah Plant. The intention is to replace some of the obsolete lines at the unit. The project dates back to 2015, when it was first announced.

Graph 1: Domestic cement sales and clinker exports in Saudi Arabia, 2013 – 2022. Source: Yamama Cement

The timing of these new projects is compelling given that sales by the local industry peaked in 2015. They declined in 2018 to a low of around 40Mt before stabilising at around 50Mt for the last three years. However, one trend to note is how clinker exports reached 7.1Mt in 2022, the highest figure in a decade, since export rules were relaxed in 2017. They have grown year-on-year since 2018 with the exception of 2020. Cement exports have been lower since 2013 hitting a high of 1.9Mt in 2019, although 2022 was nearly as good at 1.8Mt.

The other big news story from the local sector in 2023 was the US$37m fine that the General Authority for Competition (GAC) levied for price fixing in April 2023. 14 of the 17 main cement companies in the country were found to have broken local competition law following an investigation. Detail on specifically what happened is light, but the GAC said that it took exception to companies “controlling prices of commodities and services meant for sale by increasing, decreasing, fixing their prices or in any other manner detrimental to lawful competition.”

As ever with the Saudi construction market, government spending is expected to keep things buoyant. Although input and logistic costs have risen like everywhere else, energy costs have also risen. This, no doubt, is useful to a government planning on building a bunch of so-called ‘Giga’ projects. Local sales of cement may have dipped slightly in 2022 but building all these big new projects will require plenty of cement. A report by the SICO Bank in January 2023 forecast that local cement demand was expected to remain ‘flat’ in 2023 but that it would grow by 5% year-on-year in 2024. Interestingly, it added that demand from the tourism and exhibition sector would also fuel demand in the run-up to 2030 as various schemes connected to the ‘Giga’ projects reached fruition.

Each of the three projects detailed above are intended to replace existing capacity. This suggests that none of these companies expect the market to grow significantly anytime soon. These cement producers are likely to be focusing on improving efficiencies from their existing market share. Alongside this, exports of cement and clinker have grown, giving combined local and export sales that are similar to the market peak in 2015. Efficiency savings and adapting to a mature market appear to be the way forward for Saudi cement producers in the near-term.

India: The government of Andhra Pradesh broke ground on the construction of the 35.1Mt/yr-capacity Machilipatnam Port in Krishna District on 22 May 2023. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that the project is scheduled for completion in mid-2025. When operational, the Port will handle despatches of cement and clinker by local producers.