Articles on the cement industry from Global Cement

The Republic of India occupies the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, the geographical region that is also home to Bangladesh and Pakistan in central southern Asia. The world's largest democracy¹ and third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, India is the second most populous country after China, a position also held by its incredible cement industry...

Ethiopia is a large landlocked country in central east Africa. Synonymous with poverty since the mid-1980s famine that ravaged the country, Ethiopia has since experienced a step-change in economic performance, with an increase in cement production also seen. The country is becoming increasingly developed and has huge potential for high cement consumption.

A turbulent political history has stunted the growth of Iraq, a country with vast natural oil reserves. Now that the US-led occupation has given way to self-governance, the country has turned up the wick on its (re)-development. Recent speculation surrounding the possible doubling of its known oil reserves has put Iraq in a strong position to become an economic and political leader in the Middle East. The cement industry will have an important role to play in this development and is seeing major investment in production capacity.

To coincide with the release of the Global Cement Directory 2013, Global Cement Magazine has taken a closer look at cement companies around the world, comparing capacities to analyse the development of the global cement market. Through this analysis we have determined the Top 20 global cement companies - and those close behind. We comment on their place in the cement industry in different world regions.

Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, covering an area of 2.15 million km². It has land borders with Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and the UAE. It also has an artificial land border with Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway. The country is the world's number one oil producer and exporter, with 20% of proven world oil reserves. It has a large cement industry and expanding infrastructure projects that require a lot of cement.