September 2025

Uzbekistan: Qarshi Conch Cement, a subsidiary of China’s Anhui Conch Cement, plans to commission its new 1.2Mt/yr plant at Qarshi in December 2020. The project had an investment of US$150m, according to Kun. Anhui Conch said that preliminary work had started on the plant in early 2019.

Zimbabwe: LafargeHolcim has allocated US$25m to LafargeHolcim Zimbabwe to raise its production capacity utilisation. The investment was announced following a meeting between President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and Miljan Gutovic, the Middle East and Africa area director for LafargeHolcim, according to the Standard newspaper. The investment will also be used to create additional production capacity for agricultural lime and automation of a dry mortar plant. This latest cash injection follows a US$30m loan from LafargeHolcim.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria has made two new export shipments from the Port of Oran. The first was a consignment of 15,000t of bulk grey cement from its Oggaz cement plant to West Africa, according to the El Moudjahid newspaper. The second was a dual consignment of 5000t of white clinker and 25,000t of grey clinker from the same plant to Cameroon. The cement producer said that the white clinker export was the first of its kind from Algeria.

China/US: The Chinese Ministry of Finance has increased tariffs on selected US goods, including cement, to 25% with effect from 1 June 2019. It said it took the action in response to escalating US tariffs in May 2019. The new Chinese tariffs range from 10% to 25% and include clinker, white cement, other Portland cements, other hydraulic cement, refractory cement, additives for cement, plaster and concrete, limestone, quicklime, slaked lime, gypsum, refractory products and cement packaging machinery.

Germany: Cemex has signed the final agreement to sell its aggregates and ready-mix assets in the North and North-West regions of Germany to GP Günter Papenburg AG for around Euro87m. The divestment is expected to close during the second quarter of 2019.

The assets in Germany being divested consist of four aggregates quarries and four ready-mix facilities in North Germany, and nine aggregates quarries and 14 ready-mix facilities in North-West Germany. The proceeds expected to be obtained from this divestment will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes.

Peru: UNACEM has ordered a clinker cooler for its Condorcorcha cement plant from Turkey’s Fons Technology International, part of Dal Engineering Group. The cement producer will replace its existing cooler with a new FTI clinker cooler. The FTI cooler is designed so that it can reuse the existing cooler casing and refractory. It has also ordered a three-roller crusher for its 1500t/day clinker production line. Installation is scheduled for September 2019. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Liberia: President George Manneh Weah has written to the Liberian Senate to agree investment and incentive agreements between the government and Starr Cement. The cement producer intends to build a 0.6Mt/yr grinding plant, according to the New Dawn newspaper. The project will cost US$41m. The proposed plant will supply cement locally and to other countries in the Mano River Union, including Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Nigeria: Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology, has inaugurated a pozzolana cement plant at Bokkos in Plateau state. The plant is currently being commissioned, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. The 5000t/yr grinding unit is intended to produce low cost cement. It consists of six sections: materials handling; grinding; nodulisation; calcination; milling; metering; and bagging. The plant is being run in conjunction with the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBBRI).

Australia: Adelaide Brighton has signed a deal with Oz Minerals to continue supplying cement to the Oz Minerals Prominent Hill Operation. It will last five years with options to extend. In addition to the supply of cement, Adelaide Brighton will also supply aggregate and sand from its Sellicks Hill Quarry and its Price sand operation, as well as auxiliary logistics services.

Bangladesh: Premier Cement’s profits in 2018 have been reduced due to rising raw material costs. Its net profit fell by 21% year-on-year to US$5.24m in 2018 from US$6.37m in 2017. Its revenue rose by 8% to US$119m from US$110m. Kazi Md. Shafiqur Rahman, the company secretary of Premier Cement Mills, also blamed market competition for the fall in profit.