Vietnam: Data from the Building Materials Department of the Ministry of Construction show that cement exports rose by 0.9% year-on-year to 8.55Mt in the first quarter of 2019. They had a value of US$865m, according to data from the Viet Nam News newspaper.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with China’s Riga Company to convert its second production line to produce white cement. The agreement will last six months.

Iraq: Al Shumookh Lucky Investments, a subsidiary of Pakistan’s Lucky Cement, has ordered a power pant from Finland’s Wärtsilä for its Najmat Al-Samawa cement plant. The equipment is scheduled for delivery towards the end of 2019, and the plant is expected to become fully operational during the third quarter of 2020. No price for the order has been disclosed.

The power plant will operate on two Wärtsilä 32 engines running on locally-available heavy fuel oil (HFO) with diesel as a back-up fuel. The engine is designed to operate with reduced fuel and water consumption in hot climates.

UK: Refractory manufacturer RHI Magnesita has increased its prices for industrial and steel users by 5%. It says the rise is a consequence of the persistent increase in operating, raw materials, manufacturing, environmental and regulatory costs. The increase has been applied to the whole product range including basic (magnesia and dolomite based) and non-basic products, varying in a range of 3% to 20%. Customers have already started to be informed accordingly.

The company said that global scarcity of raw materials was still evident, mainly due to Chinese environmental regulations that have restricted mining and processing. Since 2017 there has been a ‘step’ change in refractory raw material production as China has implemented new environmental standards, which adjusted the level of production to global standards. Consequently, the refractory industry has been faced with supply shortages, leading to elevated raw material prices especially in higher grade dead burned and fused magnesia. This situation is expected to continue in 2019 although in the medium term prices are expected to fall below levels seen before 2017.

China: Germany’s Fuchs Petrolub has opened new plant in Wujiang, Suzhou. The Euro46m unit replaces a plant in Shanghai. Work on the plant started in 2017.

The new 80,000m² plant has a capacity of 100,000t/yr in phase one, almost double the capacity of the Shanghai plant. The automated high-bay warehouse has a capacity of 12,000 pallets. The production portfolio includes automotive oils, industrial oils, metalworking fluids, corrosion preventatives, rolling oils, coating materials and products for the forging industry. Expansion in phase two is at the development stage. Fuchs is also expanding its offices and laboratories at the site in Shanghai.

Ireland: CRH’s sales rose by 7% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2019. It said that sales volumes benefited from mild weather conditions, good momentum across most of its major markets and price rises.

Sales from its Americas Materials business grew by 4% although it noted falling cement and concrete volumes in its West US and Canada regions. It also said that its acquisition of Ash Grove Cement that was completed in mid-2018 had met its synergy delivery programme targets. Sales from its Europe Materials business increased by 12% due in part to better weather than the first quarter in 2017. By key markets the group reported strong sales volumes in Germany, Poland, Romania and the Philippines.

India: ACC’s sales rose by 8% year-on-year to US$551m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$509m in the same period in 2018. Its sales volumes of cement grew by 6% to 7.5Mt from 7.1Mt. Ready-mix concrete (RMX) sales volumes grew by 19% to 0.94Mm³ from 0.79Mm³. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 8% to US$76.1m from US$70.4m.

"Our three-pronged strategy of customised solutions for consumers, focus on premium products and operational improvements are enhancing our bottom-line and powering ACC's strong growth trajectory,” said Neeraj Akhoury, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim.

The company noted that fuel and slag prices rose in the quarter although this was compensated by market growth, cost reductions, fuel mix improvements and general production optimisation. It added that plant capacity utilisation improved during the reporting period. ACC also commission eight new RMX plants in the first quarter of 2019, bringing its total to 80.

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s (GCC) sales fell in the first quarter of 2019 due to lower cement and concrete volumes in the US. Sales volumes rose in Mexico and the group described a ‘favourable pricing environment’ in both markets. Its net sales dropped by 1.9% year-on-year to US$163m from US$167m. Cement sales volumes fell by 7.3% in the US but they rose by 3.8% in Mexico. Earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 16% to US$38.3m from US$45.6m.

“The US operations slowed, with severe inclement weather continuing into the first quarter. However, there is a strong backlog and we are picking up the pace as the weather conditions improve,” said Enrique Escalante, GCC’s chief executive officer (CEO). He added that Chihuahua in Mexico continued to perform well driven by mining shipments, industrial maquiladora plants and warehouse construction and middle-income housing starts.

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has asked for import tariffs on clinker to be reduced. In a letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) it requested that the duty be cut to either US$2.40/t or a fixed rate of 5%, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper. Importers pay around US$6.00/t at present. The BCMA argues that the cement industry is paying more than other industries for its imports.

The association has also called for value added tax (VAT) on raw materials to be cut to 5% from 15%, reducing advance income tax to 2.5% from 5% and exempting regulatory duties for fly ash and import duties for cement bulk carriers.

Egypt: ASEC Engineering has renewed its technical management contract with Misr Beni Suef Cement until the end of 2023. ASEC originally worked on the first production line at the plant in 2001. It maintenance contract was renewed in 2007 with the addition of a new production line. The cement plant has a production capacity of 3.1Mt/yr.