Displaying items by tag: Export

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka’s sales have risen but national exports have fallen. The cement producer has starting promoting exports to counteract this trend. Its sales revenue rose by 4% year-on-year to US$1.71bn in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$1.65bn in the same period in 2017. Its operating profit fell by 27% to US$91.9m from US$125m. The company said that local cement demand grew by 1.3% to 32.5Mt in the reporting period. However, exports fell by 12.8%. Overall, national cement sales volumes decreased by 1.6% to 40.3Mt.

Kyrgyzstan: Shukhrat Sabirov, the head of the State Antimonopoly agency, has reported to parliament that South Kyrgyz Cement was fined for selling exported cement at a price lower than it sells cement locally. The official made the comment in response to questions from a member of parliament, according to Kyrgyzstan Newsline.

Algeria: Youcef Yousfi, the Minister of Industry and Mines, says that the government is aiming for cement exports worth US$500m by 2023. This is based on a surplus of 10 – 15Mt of cement by this time, according to Télévision Algérienne. Cement exports reached 1Mt in 2018. This is expected to grow to 2Mt soon with 1.2Mt supplied by GICA Group.

Nepal: Dhrubaraj Thapa, the chairman of the Nepal Cement Producers’ Association, says that the country has become self sufficient in cement production. Local producers are expected to start exporting cement in the next financial year, according to the Himalayan Times newspaper. The country produced 9Mt of cement in the 2017 – 2018 financial year from a production capacity of 13Mt/yr.

Pakistan: Local cement despatches grew by 5.9% year-on-year to 40.9Mt in 2018 from 38.6Mt in 2017. Exports increased by 42% to 5.9Mt from 4.6Mt, according to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. Overall, all cement despatches rose by 9.4% to 46.8Mt from 42.8Mt. By region, despatches and imports grew faster in the south of the country and exports fell by 7.8% in the north. Exports to Afghanistan fell by 12% but exports to India rose by 2% and overseas exports increased by 155%.

Cambodia: The cement arm of Thailand’s SCG plans to buy the remaining shares in Jumbo Barges, a water transportation and logistics company, for US$0.5m. Once completed, the cement producer intends to invest in the subsidiary to grow its logistics business in Cambodia including bulk cargo for both import and export. It also plans to use the company to provide logistics to neighbouring countries. The transaction follows two similar deals for logistics companies in Thailand.

Laos: Cement imports rose to a value of US$47.8m in the first 10 months of 2018 compared to US$47.6 for the entirety of 2017. In 2016 the country exported US$0.2m worth of cement, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Vientiane Times newspaper.

The price of cement in the country reportedly fell when the Vientiane Hongshi Xaythirath Factory in Phabong village, Hinheup district opened in 2016. The unit was built using Chinese investment of US$300m and it has a cement production capacity of 5000t/day. The country has 16 cement plants in operation or under construction. It has a total production capacity of 6.76Mt/yr.

Bangladesh/Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement is in talks with the government of Bangladesh to export clinker to the country. The company’s clinker inventory will decrease by 1.2Mt once the arrangement is completed, according to Mubasher. The proceeds of the deal will be recorded in the company’s financial statement for the first quarter of 2019.

Peru: Local cement despatches rose by 3.2% year-on-year to 11.1Mt in 2018 from 10.8Mt in 2017. Consumption rose by 3.7% to 11.2Mt from 10.8Mt. Data from the Asociación de Productores de Cemento (Asocem) showed that cement exports fell by 26% to 0.27Mt from 0.36Mt. Imports increased by 60% to 0.98Mt from 0.61Mt. Clinker exports rose by 63% to 0.9Mt and imports rose by 49% to 0.78Mt. 85% of cement imports came from Vietnam. 33% of clinker imports came from South Korea and 31% came from Vietnam.

Iran: Abdul Reza Sheikhan, the secretary of the Cement Industry Association, has warned that an increase to maritime shipping rates is further restricting exports in conjunction with US-backed trade sanctions. He said that the country has a production capacity of 87.5Mt/yr, that 48Mt is consumed domestically and that less than 15% is exported, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. He also identified ‘negative’ competition between cement producers over exports has damaged the industry. To counter this, export teams in the east, west and south of the country have been formed.

The country exports cement to 17 countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, Bangladesh and countries in Africa. It is the sixth largest exporter in the world.