August 2025

Guatemala: Cementos Progreso says that its new San Gabriel cement plant is currently being tested. Plant manager Heber Barrios Valenzuela said that this stage of its set-up began in 2018 and will continue throughout 2019, according to the Prensa Libre newspaper. The unit had an investment of US$500m. Work on the project started in 2008 and construction work began in 2013.

The new integrated cement plant will have a clinker production capacity of 4500t/day when fully operational. Key features include a 1.5km conveyor from the quarry to the plant with a capacity of 1000t/hr. After raw material grinding, pre-heating, the kiln and the cooler the production line has a 70,000t clinker silo. This is followed by two vertical cement grinding mills, each with a capacity of 220t/hr. For packaging and despatch the plant has four cement silos. Two of these have a capacity of 10,000t for bulk cement. The other two have a capacity of 5000t for bagged cement. The plant also uses a 0.15Mm³ rainwater reservoir to store water to cool machinery.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria has exported 10,000t of white cement to South Africa via the port of Oran to Cape Town. The consignment consists of its ‘Super White’ product from its Oggaz plant, according to the Algeria Press Service. The local subsidiary of LafargeHoclim operates two cement plants, at M’Sila and Oggaz respectively, and it runs a third plant at Biskra as a joint venture with Souakri Cilas Group.

Egypt: Sinai Cement has reduced its net loss to US$17.6m in 2018 from US$20.4m in 2017. Its revenue decreased by 38% year-on-year to US$46.1m from US$74m, according to Mubasher. The company has blamed its financial results on the role of negative currency effects on imported fuel costs. Although this was partly offset by rising cement prices.

Barbados: Arawak Cement plans to introduce alcohol breath tests for all of its workers in late March 2019. Previously the cement producer had been conducting random tests, according to the Barbados Today newspaper. The introduction date for the breath test has been delayed following negotiations with the Barbados Workers Union. Multiple breaches of the company’s alcohol rules could lead to drug treatment, counselling or discipline. The cement producer says it has introduced the alcohol testing on health and safety grounds.

Armenia: The Centre for Initiatives to Economic Growth has said that government plans to implement tariffs on imported cement will negatively affect the Armenian construction industry. The research body has sent a letter to the prime minister raising its concerns, according to the ARMINFO News Agency. Local cement producers are reportedly under pressure from Iranian imports. In February 2019 the government said it was planning to impose of rate of around US$45/t on imported cement to protect local producers.

Data from the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia shows that cement production rose by 60% year-on-year to 0.40Mt in the first nine months of 2018 compared to 0.25Mt in the same period in 2017. However, production in September 2018 fell year-on-year by 23% to 44,000t.

Spain: Yecasa Group has opened a new 90,000t terminal at Arinaga. The project cost Euro8.5m, according to the Canarias7 newspaper. The unit will be used to import building materials, including cement, to the islands.

India: JSW Cement has launched its ‘Comp Cem’ product in Goa. It is a blend of clinker, ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash, according to the United News Of India. The new product is intended to help the cement producer expand its distribution network in the southern and western parts of the country.

Uzbekistan: Russia’s Eurocement has ordered three mills from Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer for its Akhangarancement plant upgrade in Uzbekistan. The package includes an MVR 5000 R-4 for raw material grinding and two MVR 5000 C-4 for cement grinding. The MVR 5000 R-4, features a total drive power of 2500kW, will grind 500t/hr of cement raw material to a fineness of 12% R 90µm. The cement mills, each with an installed drive power of 4000kW, are designed to grind 200t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) at 3200 Blaine. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Germany: Fuchs Petrolub has officially opened an expansion to its plant in Kaiserslautern. A new automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) warehouse, two production halls and new office space for a total of Euro16m have been built on the premises of Fuchs Lubritech. The location, which mainly produces lubricants for special applications, now covers a total of 96,000m².

"The growth of the special application division and the concentration of diverse activities at this location made an expansion necessary. The extension is part of our global growth initiative, which is focused on capacity increase in line with advanced technology," said Stefan Fuchs, Chairman of the Board of Fuchs Petrolub.

Namibia: Singapore’s International Cement Group has acquired a 100% stake in Schwenk Namibia for US$104m. Schwenk Namibia owns a 69.8% share of Ohorongo Cement and a 100% share of alternative fuel supplier EFF, according to the Business Times newspaper. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Previously, a subsidiary of International Cement agreed to build a cement plant Almaty, Kazakhstan as part of a joint venture.