Displaying items by tag: Capacity utilisation

Brazil: The Brazilian National Cement Industry Association (SNIC) has recorded cement sales of 64.7Mt by Brazilian cement producers in 2021, up by 6.6% year-on-year from 2020 levels. Home construction work, property development and infrastructure building all contributed to the rise. Capacity utilisation rose to 69% from 65% across the country’s 94Mt/yr, 91-plant cement network.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement says it took delivery of a shipment of 12,000t of bagged cement in addition to its regular 30,000t/month at its Colombo cement terminal in early December 2021. The Daily FT newspaper has reported that the company took the measure to help ease a shortage in the Sri Lankan cement market. Its Trincomalee grinding plant continues to operate at full capacity.

The company said “Through these concerted efforts that focus on enhancing local value creation, Tokyo Cement continues to fulfil its national duty by ensuring an uninterrupted supply of cement to meet the requirements of customers across the island, and to firmly establish the company's position as the leading partner in nation-building.”

In November 2021 Tokyo Cement laid the foundations for its upcoming 1Mt/yr Trincomalee cement plant in Eastern Province. The producer now plans to commission the plant in early 2023.

Pakistan: The government plans to raise the rate of federal excise duty for cement plants operating at less than 100% capacity utilisation. The Dawn newspaper has reported that the measure aims to reduce cement prices in the country. Taxes are currently US$8.55/t of cement produced. In the 2021 financial year, capacity utilisation was at 84% of the available 69.3Mt/yr total capacity. Since the 2017 financial year, it has dropped below 75% in some years. Over the five-year period, the national cement capacity has increased at an average of 8.6% annually.

Ministry of Finance spokesperson Muzzammil Aslam said “Who should we protect: consumers or cement makers? Is it not harmful for the country that they have joined hands and set a higher market price?”

Ukraine: The Ukrainian cement association Ukrcement has forecast a 17% year-on-year rise in domestic cement consumption in 2021 from 9Mt in 2020. Business World Magazine has reported that demand previously exceeded 10Mt in 2014.

Association head Pavlo Kachur said that the Ukrainian cement industry operated at 66% capacity utilisation in the first nine months of 2021. He added “Therefore, we have room to grow.”

Sri Lanka: Siam City Cement subsidiary Insee Cement says that it is operating at full capacity utilisation across its network, which includes a 3.6Mt/yr-integrated cement plant. The Daily News (Sri Lanka) newspaper has reported that the producer is responding to a shortage in the country due to the partial suspension of imports. It said that it has been able to do this thanks to the uninterrupted supply of raw materials by its parent company.

Chief executive officer Gustavo Navarro said, "Our consumers can be assured as always of full-capacity production and supply of Insee Cement to the market. We trust that we can curtail any unnecessary pressure on the Consumer Affairs Authority and government regulators who have been pressed for price hikes and hope to quell any disruptions to market supply across Sri Lanka."

India: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Indian government has established the Cement Industry Development Council (CIDC) to coordinate the cement sector’s efforts towards eliminating waste, maximising efficiency, increasing standards and lowering prices. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the DPIIT has appointed Dalmia Bharat chief managing director Puneet Dalmia as head of the CIDC. An initial task for the council will be to recommend steps towards securing full cement capacity utilisation.

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan’s cement production increased to 10.8Mt in 2020. Kazakhstan Newsline has reported that 2020 is the first year in which domestic cement production has exceeded 10Mt. Capacity utilisation across the nation’s 16.5Mt/yr of installed cement capacity was 66%.

HeidelbergCement’s 0.8Mt/yr Caspi Cement plant exceeded its rated capacity by 10%. Kazakhcement’s 1.0Mt/yr Shar cement plant and ACIG’s 0.5Mt/yr Khantau cement plant both produced no cement in 2020. Gezhouba-Shiyeli Cement’s Shiyeli cement plant stood idle for several months in early 2020 when management and engineering staff became stranded in China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Kazakhstan Association of Cement and Concrete Producers executive director Erbol Akymbaev said, “The production capacities of Kazakhstani factories exceed the needs of the domestic market by 41%: domestic consumption in 2020 amounted to just over 9Mt. Access to neighbouring markets is complicated by the fact that states protect their own producers. For example, in Russia, according to GOST, additional certification of imported products is required." He added that the cement industries of the two main cement exporters to Kazakhstan – Iran and Russia – are unregulated in terms of CO₂ emissions. Kazakhstan’s commitment to a reduction in its emissions of 15% by 2030 gives it a competitiveness disadvantage.

Egypt: Cement sales rose by 10% month-on-month to 3.8Mt in September 2020, the highest figure since April 2020. However, year-on-year sales for the month fell by 12.5%, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. Naeem Research said that cement demand remains 15% below where the market should be due to the coronavirus pandemic. The local cement production capacity utilisation rate is estimated to be 56%.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem says that it has implemented a number of measures to enable it to deal with any economic downturn resulting from the financial impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. The Il Sole newspaper has reported that the company’s strategies fall under two headings, namely increasing efficiencies and improving products and services. As such, the company is targeting a medium-term increase of Italian cement plant capacity utilisation of 70 - 75% from 55 - 60%, while also increasing its product range to offer custom concrete blends “to best suit the needs of the customer.”

Uzbekistan: Uzbekqurilishmateriallari deputy chair Ulugbek Abrayev has said that Uzbek cement production capacity will total 20.0Mt/yr before 1 January 2021, up by 60% year-on-year from 12.5Mt at the start of 2020. Abrayev added that, due to growing demand, Uzbekistan will produce 14.5Mt in 2021, corresponding to 73% utilisation of projected capacity. A total of ten cement plant projects across eight of the country’s 12 regions are due for completion in 2020 and 2021.