19 May 2021

India: Cement demand will drop by an estimated 20% year-on-year in the three months up to 30 June 2021, the first quarter of the 2022 financial year in India. Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has attributed the projected decrease to a significant drop in rural housing’s bagged cement uptake due to state governments’ coronavirus lockdowns, which prevent retailers from opening. The Hindu newspaper has reported that this type of construction previously generated one third of demand. Segments such as urban housing, commercial construction and infrastructure will be less affected, according to the forecast.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet implemented a national lockdown in response to the country’s second wave of coronavirus. New cases numbered 264,000 on 17 May 2021, down by 20% week-on-week from 330,000 on 10 May 2021.

Vietnam: SSI Research has predicted that Vietnamese cement exports will not grow in 2021. The reason for this is the expected stabilisation of China’s domestic cement supply, which is forecast to increase its share of the market. The Viet Nam News newspaper has reported that China accounts for 57% of Vietnamese cement and clinker exports. Other factors restricting export growth are safeguard duties in Bangladesh and the Philippines and the Vietnam government’s mandatory minimum domestic sales regulations, variously between 65% and 70% of total output.

Mexico: Cement production in Mexico grew by 24% year-on-year to 56Mt in 2020. This was its highest figure in the last five years, according to BNamericas. Data from INEGI, Mexico’s national institute of statistics, shows that production in January 2021 grew by 14.5% year-on-year to 4.2Mt. Yanina Navarro, the director of the National Cement Chamber (CANACEM), said that consumption changed in 2020 to favour bagged cement over bulk. She added that cement production was allowed to continue through coronavirus-related lockdowns in 2020 as it was classified as an ‘essential’ industry.

Spain: Cement consumption grew by 120% year-on-year to 1.24Mt of cement in April 2021 from 0.57Mt in April 2020. Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, says that the rise continues a pre-coronavirus positive trend, representing an increase of 3% from April 2019 levels. It added that the demand was the highest of any April since 2011. The association nonetheless urged caution in light of a 4% drop in four-month cement demand levels compared with the first four months of 2019, and a more moderate 25% increase year-on-year from 2020 levels.

In April 2021, Spanish producers exported 812,000t of cement, up by 230% from 248,000t in April 2020.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement’s revenue rose by 11.3% year-on-year to US$788m in the first quarter of 2021. Its income increased by 11% to US$119m. It attributed this to profit growth in its cement businesses in Taiwan and Europe despite ‘weak’ sales prices in China.

Chairman Nelson Chang said, “To reduce carbon emissions, using alternative fuel and material for cement production, adopting renewable energy, and expanding energy storage usage are crucial and Taiwan Cement aims to play our role in helping society achieving the goal of a low carbon environment.” In 2020 the group processed over 9Mt of alternative fuels in its Greater China business.

Brazil: CSN Cimentos has filed for an initial public offering (IPO). Reuters previously reported that the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) subsidiary entered talks with Banco Bradesco and JPMorgan Chase regarding management of a future IPO in February 2021. CSN has not revealed the bank it has chosen.

India: Prism Johnson has added a proposed addition of 1Mt/yr to the cement grinding production capacity at its 5.6Mt/yr integrated plant at Satna in Madhya Pradesh. The project is expected to cost around US$34m with a scheduled commissioning date by September 2023. In January 2021 the cement producer said it was considering investing US$19m in a 0.9Mt/yr expansion to the Satna plant with a commissioning date by December 2021.

Ivory Coast: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has set caps for the ex-factory and retail price of cement. Maximum prices have been designated for 32.5 and 42.5 grades of Ordinary Portland Cement in both urban and rural areas, according to the Agence de Presse Africaine. The ministry said that arrangements had been made with producers to keep the market supplied. It added that failure to comply with the designated prices would lead to penalties.

Jamaica: Builders have complained about a shortage of cement with mounting delays between ordering the product and receiving it. However, Caribbean Cement has denied that there is any disruption to supply, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper. However, the producer did note that there is currently an ‘extraordinary’ demand for cement due to a boom in the construction sector. It is currently increasing production to meet the surge.
Caribbean Cement says it produced over 0.1Mt of cement in March 2021, a record in recent monthly production. In 2020 it produced over 0.94Mt.

Poland: HeildelbergCement subsidiary Górażdże Group plans to vaccinate 700 of its employees against Covid-19. A first dose will be administered in mid-May 2021 followed by a second in June 2021. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be used and administered on company sites. The corporate health campaign will be conducted as part of the country’s National Immunisation Program.