August 2025

Bolivia: The Lower House of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly has approved a bill allowing state-owned cement producer Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL) to buy land at Chiutara in Potosi to build a future plant. ECEBOL will buy 39.8 hectares for a project with an investment of around US$240m, according to the El Potosi newspaper. The new plant will have a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr.

Australia: Boral Australia’s revenue grew slightly to US$1.31bn in its half year to 31 December 2018. This was supported by growing revenues from its cement, quarry and asphalt businesses. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 8% year-on-year to US$194m from US$210m. This was blamed on lower concrete sales volumes and rising fuel costs.

“Boral’s half year results reflect strong underlying businesses, which were impacted by adverse weather, particularly in North America, as well as project-related volume delays in Australia. We expect to deliver growth in the second half,” said chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director Mike Kane. Overall, the group’s revenue rose but its EBITDA fell.

India: FCI Aravali Gypsum and Minerals India plans to start operations at its new 0.3Mt/yr white cement plant to be built at Nohra Dhar, Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh by 2022. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Aravali and the state government, according to the Press Trust of India. The project has an investment of US$85m and it is expected to create 150 jobs. Aravali operates 15 gypsum mines in Rajasthan.

Vietnam: The Ministry of Construction says that demand for cement and clinker is expected to increase slightly to up to 99Mt in 2019. This will consist of 70Mt locally and 29Mt of exports, according to the Vietnam News Agency. Demand grew by 19% year-on-year to 96.7Mt in 2018, with growth driven by a 55% rise in exports to 31.6Mt. It shipped 9.8Mt to China in 2018. The main export markets in 2019 are expected to be the Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan and Peru.

The Gambia: Sherif Faye, the operations manager of Jah Oil, says that the company has enough cement to supply The Gambia. He made the comment at a press event held in response to public outcry over a local cement shortage, according to the Point newspaper. The company has experienced delays to its inbound shipments due to poor weather in Europe. However, he confirmed that two ships carrying cement had recently arrived in the country.

The subsidiary of Jah Group sells its Tiger Cement 42.5 grade brand product in 50kg bags. The cement is imported from Spain and Algeria and bagged locally. Jah Oil has a bagging capacity of 108,000 bags/day.

Ghana: Ghacem has linked its Kumasi terminal to the Data One server, a logistics product, to centralise sales and ordering processing. It follows requests by distributors following a survey, according to the Ghanaian Times newspaper. Sales and orders at the terminal will now use a similar system to that at the company’s plants at Tema and Takoradi. Plans are now being prepared to link the company’s other terminals – at Tamale, Buipe, Techiman and Dwenase – to the system.

South Africa: The Concrete Institute says that the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) should impose a temporary ban on cement imports to protect the local industry. The institute is preparing an application to the commission, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Bryan Perrie, its managing director, said that imports from Pakistan dropped in 2016 after tariffs were introduced. However, this has been replaced by imports from China and Vietnam. He added that prices have dropped ‘drastically,’ especially in coastal areas, that this is starting to effect jobs and cement producers are delaying expansion plans. The Concrete Institute represents PPC, AfriSam, Lafarge Africa, Sephaku and Natal Portland Cement.

UAE: Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Cement has purchased the Newtech cement plant and the Al Banna quarry from Mohammed Ali Omar Saleh Al Buraiki for around US$123m. RAK Cement operates an integrated plant at Ras Al Khaimah.

Oman: Raysut Cement has signed a letter of intent with the shareholders of Sohar Cement to buy all of its shares. The terms of the acquisition are being discussed, according to the Oman Daily Observer newspaper. Sohar Cement runs a 240t/hr grinding plant at the Suhar Industrial Estate. Sohar Cement holds a 70% stake in the business, with UAE-based Fujairah Cement Company owning the remaining share.

Russia: Eurocement is spending around Euro5m on upgrades to its Maltsovsky plant as part of its winter repair schedule. The unit is planning to increase its production output and modernise three of its four kilns. Work is also planned for raw and cement grinding mills. The plant has a cement production capacity of 4.7Mt/yr.