Displaying items by tag: China

China: Chinese regulatory authorities have instructed the country's financial institutions to begin lending more to property developers to help them complete residential construction projects. The International New York Times newspaper has reported that the Ministry of Finance has implemented tax breaks for non-first-time homebuyers. Meanwhile, People's Bank of China reduced the minimum total emergency funds to be held by commercial Chinese banks by US$70bn in order to free up cash. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lent US$91bn to 12 different developers, while Bank of Communications lent US$14bn to leading property developer Vanke.

Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang said “China’s housing sector is linked to a lot of upstream and downstream industries, so its healthy development is of great significance to the overall economy."

Philippines: Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) has awarded a three-year, 6Mt cement and clinker import contract to Fenix (CEZA) International and Gold Falcon Trading Corp. The agreement will have effect from 2023 until 2025. ‎Việt Nam News has reported that Vietnam's Minister of Construction, Nguyen Thanh Nghi, and National Assembly chair, Vuong Dinh Hue, attended the contract's signing in Manila.

Declining demand, primarily from China, has diminished Vietnam's cement exports over past months. Vietnam produced 130Mt of cement in 2021, but consumed just 65Mt.

China: China Resources Cement subsidiary Shangsi Cement has successfully commissioned its new 5Mt/yr Shangsi aggregates site in Guangxi Province. The cement company developed the site in collaboration with CNBM Design and Research Institute, beginning in February 2022.

CNBM Design and Research Institute general manager Xie Xiaoning that both parties could take this project as an opportunity to further cooperate in-depth in fields such as new building materials, waste co-processing and automation, so as to help China Resources Cement to achieve diversified development and extension along value chains.

China Resources Cement expects to exceed 30Mt/yr in 2022. Earlier in the year, it won an auction for 1.5BnT of limestone reserves in Guangxi Province.

China: Gansu Shangfeng Cement has announced plans for the establishment of a new building materials digital intelligence research company. Local press has reported that the company will function as a joint venture of a Gansu Shangfeng Cement subsidiary and another company. Gansu Shangfeng Cement says that the new venture will have registered capital of US$70.3m.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement’s sales in the first half of its financial year to 30 September 2022 rose by 10.6% year-on-year to US$2.57bn from US$2.32bn in the same period in 2021. Its reported an operating loss of US$2.14m compared to a profit of US$176m previously. Its domestic and export sales volumes of cement fell by 0.5% to 6.56Mt and 27% to 1.41Mt respectively.

By region the group said that, although demand was consistent for its business in the western US, sales volumes fell due to poor weather. In China sales volumes dropped to the effects of the country’s zero coronavirus policy upon the market. Sales decreased in Vietnam, partly due anti-dumping duties imposed by the Philippines upon imports.

Saudi Arabia: China-based Sinoma has signed a contract with Yamama Cement for the construction of a new 10,000t/day clinker production line at its new plant site. The announcement of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract at the Arab-International Cement Conference in Amman, Jordan, came shortly after the news that Sinoma had been contracted to dismantle, move and rebuild one of Yamama Cement’s existing cement production lines in a strategic move between the producer’s old and new plant sites.

Namibia: The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) and Cheetah Cement yesterday reached a wage agreement to end a strike that has crippled the company’s Otjiwarongo plant for the past three months. A total of 80 Cheetah Cement’s employees, which is the trading name of the Chinese-owned company Whale Rock Cement (WRC), had been striking after the company and the MUN failed to reach an agreement in negotiations about wage increases and improved conditions of service.

The agreement will see all workers receive a 5% increase in salary, as well as a 5% increase in housing allowances. “We would like to place on record that the company's generous offer is not based on an admission of affordability but rather a commitment to bring an end to the prolonged wage dispute,” said WRC’s general manager Kevin Lee said in a statement.

Other increases include the company paying 80% of employees’ medical aid contributions, the introduction of a new pension fund in January 2023 and back-pay for 12 months at employees’ new rates, to be paid by the company within 14 days.

Italy: Cementir Holding sold 8.2Mt of cement and clinker during the first nine months of 2022, down by 1.7% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 levels. China, Denmark, Egypt and Türkiye all contributed to the decline. Group nine-month revenues were Euro1.26bn, up by 25% year-on-year. Third-quarter 2022 revenues rose most sharply, by 45%, in Türkiye, followed by the US (38%), the Nordic and Baltic region (20%) and Belgium (17%). During the third quarter of the year, operating costs increased by 36% to Euro365m from Euro268m. Raw materials, fuels and transport costs all contributed to the rise.

In the first nine months of 2022, the group recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Euro238m, up by 11% from Euro215m during the first nine months of 2021.

China/Zimbabwe: A cement producer in China has imported 20,000t of coal from Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean Coal Producers Association said that the Port of Beira, Mozambique, despatched the order. Mining News has reported that the shipment is a trial, with other orders also anticipated.

China: Anhui Conch Cement recorded revenues of US$11.7bn during the first nine months of 2022, down by 30% year-on-year from US$16.7bn during the same period in 2021. The group's income declined by 45% to US$1.7bn from US$3.08bn.