August 2025

Brazil: According to data from Brazil's national cement industry union SNIC, domestic cement sales in January 2018 were down by 0.1% compared to January 2017, at 4.33Mt. However, average sales per working day increased by 0.2% in the same comparison. Apparent consumption in the period stood at 4.4Mt, down by 0.5% from January 2017. The results for the period were in line with SNIC's expectations, with sales forecast to drop in the first quarter 2018, before seeing growth in the second quarter 2018.

In the 12 months ending January 2018 domestic sales saw an accumulated 6.2% drop, in comparison with the previous 12 month period, at 53.77Mt. SNIC forecasts a 1-2% increase in cement sales in 2018.

US: Eagle Materials has reported its financial results for the third quarter of the 2018 fiscal year, which ended on 31 December 2017. It recorded record revenues of US$359.4m, a rise of 19% compared to the same period of the 2017 fiscal year

Third quarter gross profit improved by 8%, reflecting the financial results of the recently acquired cement plant in Fairborn, Ohio and related assets (the Fairborn Business) and improved net sales prices across most of Eagle’s businesses. Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Cement revenues for the third quarter, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, totalled US$161.6m, 17% higher than the same quarter last year. Total cement sales volumes for the quarter were 1.3Mt, 12% greater than the same quarter a year earlier. Like-for-like average net cement sales prices increased by 4% and sales volumes declined by 2%, respectively, versus the third quarter of fiscal 2017. This comparison excludes cement sales from the Fairborn Business since its acquisition date.

Operating earnings from cement activities for the third quarter of the 2018 fiscal year were a record US$52.5m and were 16% greater than the same quarter a year ago. The earnings improvement was driven primarily by earnings from the Fairborn Business and improved average net cement sales prices offset by lower sales volumes from Eagle’s legacy facilities.

Vietnam: Vietnam exported 2.9Mt of cement and clinker worth US$101.1m in January 2018, a 32.3% compared to January 2017 in volume terms and 30.3% more in value terms, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Bangladesh, the Philippines, Peru, Mozambique, Malaysia and Taiwan remained the biggest importers of Vietnamese cement and clinker in the month, the department added.

At present, Vietnam has 82 cement production lines with a combined capacity of 97.6Mt/yr. The Vietnam Cement Association (VNCA) has warned that Vietnam will face a glut of 25-36Mt/yr of cement by 2020 as production completely outstrips national demand.

India: Birla Corporation has declared its results for the quarter and nine months that ended on 31 December 2017. The consolidated results include the financials of Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL), a wholly-owned material subsidiary of the Company.

The corporation made 3.06Mt in the third quarter, a 22% rise compared to the same period of 2016-2017. In the nine months to 31 December 2017 it produced 9.1Mt of cement, a 11.9% increase year-on-year. It despatched 3.04Mt of cement compared to 2.49Mt in the quarter and 8.98Mt in the nine month period, a 12% rise year-on-year.

In financial terms it took in US$215m in gross sales during the quarter, a 12.7% rise year-on-year. In the nine month period it took in US$667m, a 27.8% rise. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the three months were US$23.6m and for the nine months they were US$93.0m.

Mexico: Cemex’s operating earnings have fallen in 2017 due to a lower contribution from the US and South America despite growth in Mexico and Europe. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 7% year-on-year to US$2.57bn in 2017 from US$2.75bn in 2016. Its net sales grew by 2% to US$13.7bn from US$13.4bn and its cement sales volumes remained stable at 68.5Mt. The cement producer also reported an unexpected loss in net income of US$105m in the fourth quarter of the year, which it blamed on taxes on other costs.

“Although 2017 was a challenging year… We had important headwinds during the year: underperformance in Colombia, Egypt and the Philippines as well as increased energy costs, mainly in Mexico. As we have done in the past, we focused on the variables we control to dampen these headwinds and we continued to deliver solid results,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cemex.

Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta has inaugurated National Cement’s US$280m integrated plant in Kajiado County. The clinker plant has a production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr and it set to employ 700 workers, according to the Agence de Presse Africaine. The plant also includes a 15MW captive power plant.

Cambodia: Chip Mong Insee Cement has launched its new plant in Kampot province. Prime Minister Hun Sen in the Banteay Meas district of Kampot attended the event, according to the Phnom Penh Post. The US$262m plant has a cement production capacity of 5000/day or nearly 2Mt/yr. The plant is a joint venture between Chip Mong Group, which owns 60% of the shares, and Thailand’s Siam City Cement. The project is intended to meet growing demand for cement in the country.

US: Two LafargeHolcim US cement plants have been awarded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star award. The EPA recognised the Holly Hill plant in South Carolina and the Devil’s Slide plant in Morgan, Utah.

“Receiving the Energy Star award this year at two sites is an affirmation of the hard work all our employees are devoting every day to meeting our environmental goals,” said John Stull, chief executive officer (CEO), US Cement.

This recognition is the eighth time the EPA has awarded both the Holly Hill and Devil’s Slide plants with the Energy Star award since 2009.

Belgium: HeidelbergCement has hosted a ground breaking ceremony for the Calix carbon capture pilot at CBR’s cement plant at Lixhe. The ceremony itself took place at the Liège Oupeye Water Treatment Plant near Liège as part of the inaugural Innovation in Industrial Carbon Capture Conference. The two-day event, which took place on 7 – 8 February 2018, was organised by the Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) Consortium, a European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 backed research and innovation project.

Construction work on the pilot at the cement plant is scheduled to start imminently. The project will test Calix’s carbon capture technology for two years at an operational cement plant. The technology has previously been used in the magnesite calcining sector.

Over 130 delegates from industry, academia and government attended the conference. The agenda was designed to encourage discussion and knowledge sharing across key stakeholder groups with a strategic interest in innovation in carbon capture technology. As part of the programme, the wider challenges faced by the cement and lime sectors in Europe were also explored focusing on how EU industries can contribute to reaching climate change targets, the role of innovation and company entrepreneurship and a knowledge exchange fair on technology.

The LEILAC consortium, which consists of representatives from the lime and cement industries, technology and engineering providers and research institutes, has set up as an industrial project securing Euro12m in EU funding in order to demonstrate technology to reduce carbon emissions from cement and lime industries.

Ukraine: The share of counterfeit products on the cement market in Ukraine dropped to 8.0% in 2017 from a staggering 21.5% in 2014, according to a press release from the Ukrcement association of cement producers, with reference to a study by GfK Ukraine. Ukrcement believes that change was prompted by the signing of a memorandum on the quality of cement between Ukrcement, the Union of Consumers and large distributors of construction materials in 2017.