September 2025

Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s new production line at its Iskanderabad cement plant is expected to start production by mid-2019. It is building a new 7300t/day line at the site to increase its total production capacity to 18,000t/day. The cost is US$206m. Denmark’s FLSmidth is building the line. Approximately 66% of civil work has been completed and 14% of plant erection work was reported complete at the end of June 2018.

Kazakhstan: A new 1.2Mt/yr cement plant being built at Kerbulak in Almaty region is set to be commissioned in 2019. The joint Kazakh-Singaporean project has an investment of US$145m, according to Kazakh TV. The unit is located close to road and railway links. Once completed the plant is expected to supply the Almaty region and neighbouring regions.

Uzbekistan: Cement production fell by 5% year-on-year to 3.95Mt in the first half of 2018 from 4.2Mt in the same period in 2017, according to the Trend News Agency. The company set price controls for cement earlier in the year to support housing and infrastructure projects.

Azerbaijan: Norm Cement’s sales grew by 47% year-on-year to US$74m in 2017 from US$50.4m in the same period in 2016. Its operating profit more than tripled to US$22.6 from US$6.62m. However, the cement producer reported that it paid US$25,000 in income tax in 2017 compared to US$710,000 in 2016.

Malaysia: A US$70m contract with Lafarge Malaysia to supply cement for the East Coast Rail Link project has been suspended by China Communications Construction pending a government review. The deal was originally announced in March 2018. The cement producer said that the suspension is not expected to have any significant financial impact its operations in the period up to the suspension, as completed work shall be compensated for in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract. However, going forward the company could not rule out any negative financial impact following the government review of the project.Lafarge Malaysia railway supply contract suspended

Sri Lanka: Singha Cement has launched a new logo and packaging, according to the Daily Financial Times newspaper. It operates a terminal near Colombo. The company is a subsidiary of Germany’s Heidelberg Cement.

Kenya: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is set to take over loans worth US$120m at ARM Cement. UK-government investor CDC Group, which owns a 41% stake in the cement producer, will also loan it US$20m, according to the Business Daily newspaper. The IFC loan is expected by mid-2019 and the CFC loan will arrive by the end of September 2018. The IFC has also proposed a US$50m equity investment in ARM Cement but chief executive Pradeep Paunrana wants to wait until his company’s share price returns to normal to avoid the company being undervalued.

The cement producer reported a loss of US$55m in 2017 due to poor demand in Kenya and Tanzania. It said it was undergoing a ‘significant’ review of its current operations, asset base and financing structure to address its problems.

UAE: India’s Shree Cement has completed its acquisition of Union Cement. Shree Cement has purchased a 97.61% in the company. It is the company’s first acquisition outside of India. Union Cement operates a cement plant Ras Al- Khaimah.

Nigeria: The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has awarded Dangote Cement with its Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certification. The certification accredits the cement producer’s products and its ability to run tests on processed and raw materials in alignment with national standards, according to the Sun newspaper. Osita Anthony Aboloma, the Director General of SON, made the announcement during a tour of Dangote Cement’s Obajana plant in Kogi State.

Nigeria: The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is in discussions with Dangote Cement to transport cement. Fidet Okhiria told the Herald newspaper that talks between the companies are at an advanced stage. He also disclosed that the Lagos to Ibadan and Itakpe to Warri standard gauge railway line projects are on course and are about to start being tested respectively.