Displaying items by tag: Azerbaijan

A few news stories in recent weeks have emerged concerning falling cement sales in Central Asian countries. Steppe Cement reported in mid-April 2016 that its cement sales had fallen by 12% year-on-year to US$5.98m in the first quarter of 2016 from US$6.79m in the same period in 2015. The cement producer noted an overall drop of 16% in the cement market in Kazakhstan, with a slowing reduction in March 2016 compared to the preceding four months. It forecast that the domestic cement market would contract by 1.1Mt in 2016 to 8.5Mt. The country has a cement production capacity of 11.85Mt/yr according to Global Cement Directory 2016 data. So on average this would see a drop in the capacity utilisation rate to 72% from 81%.

Likewise, Italcementi reported a fall in cement consumption in the fourth quarter of 2015 although overall in 2015 it reported consumption up by 9%. It is currently upgrading its Shymkent cement plant to a dry kiln with testing planned for early 2016. Meanwhile, HeidelbergCement – the other multinational present in the country, reported cement sales growth of over 9% due in part to the ramp-up of its new CaspiCement cement plant. How this will turn out after HeidelbergCement takes control of Italcementi remains to be seen.

Then, Holcim Azerbaijan reported that its sales had fallen by 37% to US$56m in 2015. It blamed the resultant loss it made on not being able to cut its production costs fast enough to match the falling revenue. The parent company LafargeHolcim blamed it on a ‘significant’ decline in public and private construction. Elsewhere, the World Bank reported a 13% drop in the construction sector in the second half of 2015 as the government cut investment.

Tajikistan may have broken this pattern as it reported that its cement production volumes rose by 33% to 373,000t in the first quarter of 2016. Over half of this output came from the 1Mt/yr Huaksin Ghayyur Cement plant that was commissioned in March 2016. The same news source reported government estimates that local demand will be 3.5Mt/yr in 2016. Similarly, Turkmenistan reported growing cement production in 2015 due to the opening of the 1.4Mt/yr Polimeks cement plant in Lebap. Otherwise there has been little reported recently from the cement industries in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan although the World Bank has reported that their economies are in reasonable shape.

The multinational cement producers all noted the economic problems caused by low oil prices in the Central Asian countries in which they operate. In February 2016 this was reinforced by the International Monetary Fund after its latest visit to Azerbaijan. The World Bank also expects little growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the region in 2016. Low oil prices have followed economic problems in Russia that have also impacted upon the region due to its economic ties with that country and membership of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

This is bad news for the local markets but it is especially bad news for the Chinese cement industry. As China has faced production overcapacity and falling prices at home, its suppliers and producers have sped off down the Silk Road to seek expansion prospects elsewhere. With this route blocked, the Chinese industry faces one fewer opportunity to avoid the crunch at home.

For more information of the cement industries in Central Asia read Global Cement's feature on the region from January 2016

Azerbaijan: The Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) sold its 10% stake in Holcim Azerbaijan to Holcim on 18 November 2015, according to a government source quoted by Azer-Press. AIC and Holcim signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2007 allowing AIC to gain 10% of shares in local Holcim cement plant following the completion of certain conditions. These included increasing the plants cement production capacity from 1.3Mt/yr to 1.7Mt/yr of cement and its clinker production capacity from 0.8Mt/yr to 1.2Mt/yr of clinker.

Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan plans to double its production of building materials including cement in the next five years, according to a draft concept of socio-economic development for 2016 - 2019, which is currently under review in the Parliament under the budget package.

"In the following years, it is planned to expand the production of building materials and bring the quality of the products to international standards. Supplementary investments will be raised in this area, as well as modern eco-designed technology introduced, and the exports of local building materials promoted," according to the draft.

The government expects that in 2015, Azerbaijan will produce US$555m of construction materials and building material production growth will increase by 9.3%. In 2016, these figures are expected to reach US$608m and 6.1%, respectively, and in 2017, building material production growth may reach 13.1% at US$708m. In 2018, growth could reach 20.3% to US$871m, while in 2019, building material production growth could reach 16.2% to US$1.03bn. However, according to government forecasts, the construction sector is expected decline by 4.6% in 2016. The total volume of construction in the 12 months is expected to stand at US$17.5bn.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Sevinj Aliyeva said the decline of the construction sector continues against the background of cuts in public investments. "Measures to attract additional sources of financing, the use of new financing mechanisms in the housing market and the expansion of mortgage lending are particularly important to revive the construction sector," said Aliyeva.

The construction market in Azerbaijan is going through changes after recent economic shocks, including a fall in oil prices and the devaluation of the Azeri Manat. The overall standstill in the market continues as real estate prices fluctuate.

Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan produced 1.62Mt of cement between January and July 2015, a 2.4% decrease compared to the same period of 2014.

Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan's Trend News Agency has reported that the largest cement plant in South Caucasus, Norm Sement, plans to start oil well cement production in 2016, according to Norm Sement CEO Hasan Yalcinkaya. He said that oil well cement is a very sought-after product in Azerbaijan and that by starting its production, cement imports to Azerbaijan will decrease.

"Today, the import of cement products to Azerbaijan is gradually decreasing and the share of imported cement is only 5% of the total market volume, while the share of clinker is 10%," said Yalcinkaya. Norm Sement is also preparing to export its products to the Caspian Sea countries. "Currently, we are considering the opportunities for exporting our products to Russia's south regions, as well as to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan."

Norm Sement's plant is located in the Garadagh district of Baku. It has a clinker production capacity of 5000t/day and a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr. In 2014, the plant produced 540,000t of cement and 471,000t of clinker. Azerbaijan's domestic cement demand was 4.4Mt in 2014.

Azerbaijan: Holcim Azerbaijan's net profit fell from US$49.2m in 2013 to US$37.8m in 2014, a 23.2% drop year-on-year. Its revenue fell from US$102m to US$74.4m in 2014. At the same time, production costs fell from US$65.8m to US$53.4m in 2014.

Azerbaijan: The largest cement plant in the South Caucasus, Norm Sement, situated in Garadagh District of Baku City, has reached its design capacity, according to Norm Sement's CEO Hasan Yalcinkaya. The plant has 5000t/day of clinker production capacity and 2Mt/yr of cement production capacity. Yalcinkaya said that 2014 was successful for the company and Azerbaijan's cement industry as a whole.

"We managed to successfully complete our projects," said Yalcinkaya. "The cement plant was inaugurated by the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on 21 July 2014. "Since that time, the plant has been working very efficiently and has started to produce its own clinker. We have reached our design capacity. So, I can say that 2014 has been successful. 510,000t of cement was produced, while clinker production was at the level of 471,000t in 2014. We were able to cover about 20% of the market for just six months since the beginning of clinker production. We plan to increase our market share with the production of high-quality cement and rendering high-quality services to our clients in the consumer market."

Yalcinkaya further noted that, in 2014, Azerbaijan's domestic demand for cement stood at around 4.3Mt and in 2015 year demand will be at least on the same level. "Currently, about 60% of the market is provided by local producers," said Yalcinkaya. "About 40% of cement is imported from neighbouring countries." He said that the local production plants are fully capable of meeting the market requirements. "Our goal is to reduce cement imports as much as possible," said the CEO.

"To date, we have invested US$326m in the new plant," said Yalcinkaya. "We have several projects on efficiency and production improvements, in particular the expansion of the product range. We will continue to improve our efficiency and reduce energy consumption. We also plan to invest in the production of cement for oil wells."

According to Yalcinkaya, oil well cement production will be developed in 2015. "This is exactly the product that we can easily export to oil producing countries, for instance, to Kazakhstan and Russia," said Yalcinkaya. "Once we develop this product, we will start to export it."

Azerbaijan: Construction materials producers manufactured goods worth US$585m in 2014, some 22.2% more than in the same period of 2013, according to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee's report. During the period, Azerbaijan produced 2.98Mt of cement, a 40.5% increase compared to the same period of 2013 and 192,800t of gypsum, 23.3% more than in 2013.

Azerbaijan: Corporation Accord has reported that LLC Gazakh Cement Plant has started clinker production. It reports that the company will increase its rate of production to 70% by mid-September 2014 before ramping up to 100% of its 2500t/day (~0.8Mt/yr) clinker capacity in October 2014.

There are plans for the Sinoma-built plant to undergo capacity expansion in the coming years, with an increase to a capacity of 3Mt/yr of cement in 2017.

A group of news stories from Central Asia and Azerbaijan this week present a good opportunity to look at the cement industry in this part of the world.

Uzbekistan

Eurocement has announced that it plans to build a 2.4Mt/yr cement plant near to Tashkent. Chinese contractors have been signed for the work in line with the Russia-based cement producer's other plant builds in 2014. Eurocement also operate a subsidiary in the country, the 1.6Mt/yr Akhangarancement cement plant, that reported a criminal investigation and financial audit following various misdemeanours in April 2014.

Also in April 2014 the Almalyk Mining-Metallurgical Combine (AMMC) proposed building a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant in the south of the country and then commissioning of a white cement plant in the central Jizzakh Province. Both the Eurocement and AMMC projects show that organisations are investing in the local market of the region's most populous country at around 30m.

Turkmenistan

In neighbouring Turkmenistan the TurkmenCement Production Association has issued a tender this week for the construction of a 1Mt/yr clinker plant in the central-south of the country in the Baharly District of the Akhal Region. If realised, the new plant will raise Turkemistan's cement production capacity to 4Mt/yr. Currently the country has three state-operated plants. The most recent, the 1.4Mt/yr Garlyk plant, was commissioned in February 2013.

Kazakhstan

An investor has stepped forward to finance the completion of the delayed Khantau cement plant in Zhambyl region in southern Kazakhstan. The 0.5Mt/yr plant was originally started in 2007 before being mothballed part-way through construction.

The reignition of this project follows a couple of stories from Kazakhstan including a report on testing at the HeidelbergCement Caspi cement plant in Mangistau region and the start of operation on Line 5 of Steppe Cement's Karaganda Cement. Kazakhstan has more western international cement producers, unlike the generally state-run companies in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. HeidelbergCement will join plants run by Italcementi and Vicat.

Azerbaijan

Finally, on the other side of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijani local media has reported that cement production for the first half of 2014 has risen by 40% year-on-year to 1.1Mt. Following the opening of the Gazakh cement plant in mid-2013 the country has three cement plants with a combined cement production capacity of nearly 5Mt/yr.