India: Ramco Cements’ earnings and profits fell in the six months to the end of September 2018 as fuel and raw material costs rose. Its net profit after tax fell by 26% year-on-year to US$32.6m from US$44.2m in the same period in September 2017. Revenue rose by 15% to US$329m and sales volumes of cement rose by 18% to 50.8Mt. The cement producer said that sales in Kerala had been adversely affected by bad weather in the most recent quarter.

Indonesia: Indocement’s sales revenue rose by 2% year-on-year to US$713m in the first nine months of 2018 from US$696m in the same period in 2017. However, its operating income fell by nearly a third to US$35m from US$97m. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidlebergCement reported that its cost of sales rose in the reporting period.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement’s sales revenue fell by 5.8% to US$217m in the first nine months of 2018 from US$231m in the same period in 2017. Its net profit after tax decreased by 20% to US$73.5m from US$92.2m. The cement producer has blamed falling sales, rising costs and an increase in Islamic finance charges for its declining profits.

China: China National Building Material’s (CNBM) revenue rose by 21.5% year-on-year to US$22.5bn in the first nine months of 2018 from US$18.5bn in the same period in 2017. Its net profit nearly doubled to US$1.7bn from US$956m.

Vietnam: China has become the largest importer of clinker and cement from Vietnam in the first nine months of 2018. It imported 6.56Mt with a value of US$235m, according to the Việt Nam News newspaper. The Philippines, Bangladesh and Taiwan were the next largest importers with 4.75Mt, 5.64Mt and 1.23Mt respectively.

India: Jindal Steel & Power (JSP) plans to build a 2Mt/yr slag cement plant at Angul in Odisha. The US$68m unit will use ground granulated blast furnace slag sourced from a nearby steel plant operated by JSP, according to the Business Standard newspaper. A recent expansion at the steel plant to 6Mt/yr has allowed it to support a cement plant of this size. Land for the project has been acquired and the company hopes to obtain it from the state government by early 2019.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales volumes have been supported by exports in its first quarter. Local sales dropped by 9.1% year-on-year to 0.14Mt in the period to the end of September 2018 but exports rose by 85.1% to 0.23Mt. Despite this, its revenue rose by 2% to US$121m from US$118m. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 19.7% to US$25m from US$31m. It said that its cost of sales had increased by 7.3% due to increases in coal, packaging and other fuel prices.

Nepal: Udayapur Cement Industry has resumed production at its integrated plant in Udayapur after a month-long upgrade period. The project cost around US$0.75m, according to the República newspaper. The state-owned cement producer used its own technical team for the maintenance although engineers from India were employed. Following the upgrade the unit has a production capacity of up to 900t/day.

Peru: Higher sales to the self-construction sector, medium-sized companies and the public sector have driven sales growth for Cementos Pacasmayo. Its sales grew by 3.1% year-on-year to US$274m in the first nine month of 2018 from US$266m in the same period in 2017. Its consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 5.1% to US$83m from US$79m.

Cement and clinker production grew by 2.4% to 1.69Mt and 14.7% to 1.30Mt respectively. The building materials producer also reported that quicklime production fell by 23.6% to 97,400t at its Pacasmayo plant due to reduced demand.

Ukraine: HeidelbergCement has signed a contract with Italy’s CTP Team to upgrade its Kryvyi Rih plant. The project includes replacing the existing filtering system and relevant dust handling for drying drum four. CTP Team will supply a new baghouse equipped with SWAP technology for the cleaning of bags with low-pressure compressed air. The new filter is intended to comply with new local environmental regulations. It will be designed specifically to fit with the existing electrostatic precipitator housing. No value for the deal has been disclosed.