Displaying items by tag: Government

Bangladesh: Saudi Arabian company Engineering Dimensions has signed a partnership agreement with Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) to build a cement plant at Chhatak in Sunamgan. BCIC Chairman Shah M Aminul Haque and Engineering Dimensions President Mohammed N Hijji signed the deal, according to the Financial Express newspaper. Representatives of the Ministry of Industries and the Saudi Arabian embassy also attended the ceremony.

Philippines: The Philippine Cement Importers Association (PCIA) has warned of a slowdown in the construction sector due to an investigation in tariffs started by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in September 2018. The association says that several importers are ‘wary’ and have stopped imports, according to Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. Napoleon Co, president of the PCIA, said that although local cement producers have started building new plants it will take three or four years for these to start production. In the meantime, he argued, importers are required to meet market demand. He added that import tariffs on cement would also add costs to end consumers.

India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he wants to reduce the rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on regular items, including cement, to 18% from 28%. A proposal to reduce the rate will be considered by the GST Council in late December 2018, according to the Economic Times. Luxury items are likely to remain in the higher tax bracket.

Azerbaijan: The State Statistics Committee says that the country produced more than 3.2Mt/yr of cement in the first nine months of 2018. The record figure is a rise of 21.2% year-on-year from the same period in 2017, according to the Turan Information Agency. The production growth has been attributed to protectionist policies by the local government including introducing tariffs on cement imports. These duties were started in 2016 and will run until 2020.

India: Sanghi Industries has signed a memorandum of interest with the Gujarat state government to expand its Kutch cement plant. It plans to invest around US$213m on the project, according to the Times of Indian newspaper. The plant will be expanded to a cement production capacity of 8.6t/yr from 4Mt/yr. The project is scheduled for completion by 2020 and it will create 350 new jobs.

Pakistan: The Sindh High Court has ordered the provincial government to take possession of around 1100 acres of land of Rohri Cement’s plant while a dispute concerning the lease of the land is decided. The Sindh government has argued that the lease of land was illegal was the cement producer’s representatives have asked the court to grant a grace period, according to the Dawn newspaper. The case continues.

Nepal: Matrika Yadav, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, has offered support to Hetadua Cement at the inauguration of a work program at its plant. However, he said that any upgrades to the plant depending on other parties, according to the Republica newspaper. The state-owned company has made a profit in recent years after a period of decline.

Iran: Masoumeh Mousavi, the head of the office of industries affairs for Industries, Mining and Trade Organisation of Hormozgan province says that around 0.4Mt of clinker was exported from the Hormozgan plant in the first eight months of the Iranian year that started on 20 March 2018. Exports from the plant rose by 40% year-on-year, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. The region has been exporting clinker to Oman, the UAE, Tanzania and South Africa. The plant has a cement production capacity of 1.9Mt/yr.

Spain: The regional government of Andalucia has fined Cementos Cosmos’ Córdoba plant Euro3000 for dust emissions in September 2016. The local environmental board criticised the subsidiary of Brazil’s Votorantim for only reporting the incident after the board contacted the plant about a dust cloud, according to the ABC newspaper. However, the fine was small because the dust pollution had no effects on the environment or local residents.

India: The state government of Himachal Pradesh has invited tenders for the Chamba cement plant project for a second time. To attract sufficient bids the government has also decided to build a US$2m road to the project site, according to the Times of India newspaper. Other rules and regulations surrounding the project have also been relaxed. All of the clinker used at the plant must be produced in the state and a quarter must be ground into cement in the region. The project has a proposed budget of US$140m. It has been in development since 2002.