Displaying items by tag: Capacity

Ethiopia: Ethiopia has increased its cement production capacity to 20Mt/yr following the inauguration of Pioneer Cement’s expansion project in Dire Dawa city, according to The Ethiopian News Agency.

Minister of Mines Habtamu Tegen said that the country has been increasing its infrastructure and building large cement plants such as Lemi Cement to meet national demand, and that it was also commissioning four coal processing plants to further increase supply, including to neighbouring markets.

The Pioneer Cement expansion was reportedly the result of a partnership between Ethiopian and Chinese investors. Pioneer Cement general manager Leon Zone said that the factory had been operational for 16 years, and that the expansion project had increased the plant’s production capacity by 0.6Mt/yr and created 550 direct jobs.

France: Ecocem will invest €170m to build four new production lines for its ACT low-carbon cement technology in Fos-sur-Mer and Dunkirk. This follows a €50m investment at Ecocem’s Dunkirk facility to deliver its first production line. The additional manufacturing capacity will come online between 2028 and 2030. At full capacity, ACT production in France will reach 1.9Mt/yr, reducing CO₂ emissions by 800,000t/yr and creating 60 jobs. The French government has reportedly committed to working closely with Ecocem to identify operational and financial solutions to accelerate and deliver the expansion.

Vietnam: The government has reduced cement clinker export tax from 10% to 5%, effective from 19 May 2025 to the end of 2026. The 10% rate will be reinstated on 1 January 2027.

The Ministry of Finance said the temporary measure is an effort to help local manufacturers adjust production and reduce their inventory amid falling demand. Only 77% of Vietnam’s 122Mt/yr cement capacity is currently in use, with 34 out of 92 lines suspending operations in 2024. Cement and clinker exports fell by 5% to 29.7Mt in 2024, with revenues down by 14% year-on-year to US$1.14bn. Clinker exports alone were valued at US$301m.

Cambodia: Prime minister Hun Manet inaugurated a new US$250m cement plant in western Cambodia on 20 May 2025. The 2.2Mt/yr facility was jointly funded by Chinese and Cambodian stakeholders and has been built on 407 hectares of land in the Aural district.

According to the prime minister, the new plant is the sixth in the country, bringing the total cement production capacity to about 11Mt/yr. He said “These cement plants have transformed Cambodia from a country that imported 100% of cement from overseas into a country that is capable of supplying its domestic demand entirely on its own.”

He added that Cambodia exported over 30,000t of cement to Thailand in 2024. Cambodia has an estimated domestic demand of 10Mt/yr of cement to supply its growing construction sector.

Iraq: Lucky Cement has expanded its clinker production at its joint venture Najmat Al-Samawah plant in Samawah with a new 1.82Mt/yr line, with the kiln successfully firing on 13 May 2025, according to a company announcement published on 14 May 2025. Lucky Cement said that it is also building a 0.65Mt/yr cement grinding plant at the site, due for commissioning in early 2026.

The producer said that the new capacity will enable it to supply more cement to the local market, with surplus marketed and sold domestically. These additions will bring Lucky Cement’s total consolidated production capacity to 21.48Mt/yr, across operations in Pakistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

India: Wonder Cement’s managing director Kiran Patil led the inauguration of Line 5 at the Nimbahera plant in Rajasthan on 7 May 2025, according to a social media post by the producer. The project increased the producer’s clinker capacity by 2.8Mt/yr to 13.35Mt/yr and cement capacity by 2.5Mt/yr to 21.5Mt/yr. The company partnered with APBCO on the expansion, which also includes a 12MW waste heat recovery system to increase energy efficiency.

India: UltraTech Cement has increased its production capacity by 1.4Mt/yr through debottlenecking and ‘efficiency improvements’ at multiple sites across India.

It added 0.6Mt/yr of grinding capacity at Nagpur in Maharashtra and 0.8Mt/yr across Panipat and Jhajjar in Haryana. The company’s total domestic grey cement capacity now stands at 184.8Mt/yr, while its global capacity has reached 190.2Mt/yr.

Philippines: Concreat Holdings Philippines, a majority-owned subsidiary of DMCI Holdings, announced the full operations of the new production line at its Solid Cement plant in Antipolo City. The upgrade raises the plant’s capacity from 1.9Mt/yr to 3.4Mt/yr.

Concreat Holdings Philippines CEO Herbert Consunji said “This expansion is a pivotal step in Concreat’s turnaround. With higher capacity, a more efficient kiln and the use of Semirara coal, we are rebuilding momentum and lowering production costs - laying the groundwork for long-term recovery.”

India: ICRA expects cement volumes to grow by 6-7% in the 2026 financial year, following a 6% rise in 2025, driven by housing and infrastructure demand. Capacity additions are forecast to increase to 43-45Mt/yr from 32-35Mt/yr in 2025. Eastern and northern regions will lead the expansion, with 22–24Mt/yr of new grinding capacity.

The assistant vice president of corporate ratings, Abhishek Lahoti, added “The southern region, despite an oversupply of capacity, is experiencing significant capacity additions by large cement companies as it is operating at optimal utilisation levels and intends to maintain its market share in the near term. Overall, the industry’s capacity utilisation is likely to remain stable at 70% in the 2026 financial year, similar to the previous financial year, on an expanded base.”

Russia: Siberian Cement’s (Sibcem) five cement plants produced 840,300t of cement in the first quarter of 2025, down by 5% year-on-year. The Topkinsky plant’s output fell by 10% to 346,500t, Iskitimcement by 9% to 210,200t, and Timlyuisky by 24% to 45,900t. Meanwhile, the Krasnoyarsk and Angarsk plants increased production by 10% and 21% to 128,600t and 109,200t respectively.

Vice president of Sibcem Gennady Rasskazov said “According to our calculations, in 2024 the capacity of the Siberian cement market decreased by 2% year-on-year, to 6.7Mt. Currently, demand continues to fall: in the first quarter of 2025, cement consumption in Siberia decreased by 4% year-on-year, and amounted to 1.08Mt. There is every reason to believe that negative trends will intensify in the future.”