Philippines: The Philippine Competition Commission says that its investigation on alleged violations of competitive practice by the cement industry will be kept separate from a review of the acquisition of Holcim Philippines by San Miguel Corporation. The commission made the statement in a reply to questions raised by consumer group Laban ng Konsyumer, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. However, the commission’s Mergers and Acquisitions Office said that, although both cases are being considered independently, this would not preclude them from considering the pre-merger activities of the companies.

Azerbaijan: Turkey’s Dal Teknik Makina is set to start work on an upgrade project at Akkord Cement’s integrated plant at Gazakh. It will increase the clinker production capacity to 3300t/day from 2500t/day. The supply of equipment is expected to be completed in six months and the shutdown period is planning to be five weeks. No value for the order has been disclosed.

The first phase of the upgrade project will be the retrofit of the raw mill unit. A static drying separator will be placed in front of the raw mill to dry clay and some of limestone. Equipment to be replaced in the raw mill unit include a dynamic separator, ball charge modification, all parts of separator cyclones and the raw mill fan. The raw mill grinding capacity will be upgraded by drying the raw materials and enhancing the separation efficiency.

The next phase will consist of replacing the raw mill/kiln bag filter and filter fan to reach the desired upgraded capacity. Finally, the pyro-processing system unit will be modified. In order to reach the target production capacity the equipment to be changed will be the first four stage cyclones with the modification of the calciner-TAD connection and new splash boxes will be installed.

Nigeria: Oyebamiji Dauda, the chairman of the Lagos State Bricklayers’ Association, has urged the government to cut the price of cement. He wants it to make cement manufacturing more competitive by allowing more producers to operate in the market, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. He added that the ‘high’ cost of cement was negatively affecting building construction. Dauda’s ideas to ease the price of cement include government subsidy, tax breaks for local producers of building materials and further penalties for imported products.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Data from the Central Bank of the Congo shows that cement production more than doubled to 1.84Mt in 2018 from 0.90Mt in 2017. Consumption showed a similar trend rising to 1.83Mt from 0.88Mt. Production during the first quarter of 2019 grew by 13% year-on-year to 0.30Mt. The growth in production and consumption has been attributed to new plants, a ban on imports and a strong housing market in Kinshasa.

Brazil: Data from SNIC, the Brazilian national cement industry union, shows that sales rose by 1.5% year-on-year to 25.8Mt in the first half of 2019 from 25.5Mt in the same period in 2018. SNIC president Paulo Camillo Penna said that the growth was in line with SNIC’s forecasts and that more ‘robust’ growth was anticipated the second half of the year. He added that the growth in cement sales had been supported by the real estate market and that the industrial sector was also growing.

Ethiopia: The Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) plans to sell its shares in Messebo Cement. The shares will go on sale at the International Tigray Diaspora festival later in July 2019, according to Fana Broadcasting. EFFORT is also selling its shares in SUR Construction and Trans Ethiopia.

Belarus: The Council of Ministers has required companies to obtain a special license for importing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) from outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The requirement will take effect later this month and will be in effect for six months, according to the Belapan news agency. The new regulations have been introduced to support the local sector.

In January to April 2019, Belarus imported 0.13Mt of cement including 65,000t from other EEU countries, according to the National Statistical Committee. In the same period, Belarus’ companies made 1.25Mt of cement, an increase of nearly 12% year-on-year, and exported 0.44Mt.

Togo: Eric Goulignac, a regional director of HeidelbergCement based in West Africa, says that the company believes in the local market despite competition. He expressed confidence due to the quality of its products, according to Télégramme228. The building materials producer is currently finalising a call for tenders for a Euro25m upgrade to its operations, including a new mill, at Cimtogo’s cement grinding plant in Lomé and a photovoltaic (PV) solar energy plant.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement turnover grows by 34% year-on-year to US$36.7m in first half of 2019 from US$27.5m in the same period in 2018. Its cement sales volumes rose by 6% to 0.78Mt from 0.74Mt. The cement producer said that the local market declined by 3% in the reporting period. Imports represent 8% of the market and they remained stable. Exports fell by 5% to 0.87Mt.

Nepal: The government has approved changes to allow domestic cement to be labelled under 33, 43 and 53 grades. Previously cement could not be certified higher than 33 grade due to a lack of legal provision, according to the Himalayan Times newspaper. The extended quality certification process will be managed by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology.

Before this latest change some local manufacturers were selling 43 and 53-grade products despite lacking certification. Importers have also benefited from the lack of legal clarity over higher strength grades of cement. It is hoped that the new regulations will reduce imports.