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Displaying items by tag: Export
Update on Algeria
24 July 2019Two new stories from Algeria this week highlight a changing industry. Firstly, Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algérie (GICA) started marketing cement from its new Sigus integrated plant. The unit was commissioned earlier in the year. Secondly, clinker export figures for the sector show 10-fold growth year-on-year to a value of US$30m for the first five months of 2019.
Graph 1: Cement production and capacity in Algeria, 2012 - 2018. Source: Algerian National Office of Statistics, United States Geological Survey, Global Cement Directory 2013 - 2019. Estimates supplied for 2017 and 2018.
Graph 1 above depicts the moment that lots of new production capacity started to be ordered and then commissioned in 2017. The Global Cement Directory lists new plant projects as they are announced so the trend from 2016 to 2017 may not be as pronounced as it seems but the general destination remains the same. A Ministry of Industry and Mining report estimated that production capacity would reach 40Mt/yr in 2020. Consumption was reported at 26Mt in 2016.
To cope with this the cement industry in Algeria has been moving towards an export model over the last few years. Industry and government figures started to warn of an end to imports in 2016. This quickly flipped to prognostications of production overcapacity in 2017. This then became a stream of news stories about export operations from the local industries to places like West Africa. One consequence of this were problems for foreign exporters in Tunisia and Spain, for example, as the Algerian market was shut off. Indeed, it must have been satisfying for state-producer and market leader GICA to announce that it was exporting cement to Europe in 2018!
Notably the local market has no cement grinding plants, yet this too has started to change. In May 2019 Algematco Steel ordered a modular Ready2Grind MVR vertical roller mill from Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer. Target markets for the exports identified by the Ministry of Industry and Mining included neighbouring Mali, Libya, Mauritania and Niger. However, only two of these countries are accessible by sea. Unfortunately, Libya’s resurgence in violence since April 2019 is unlikely to help the export market. The other countries share land borders with Algeria but no rail links. An overland export operation to Niger from a plant near Adrar was reported in early 2019 but feasibility on a large scale seems unlikely given the distances involved.
LafargeHolcim said in its 2018 financial report that its net sales were down in its Middle East and African region due to price pressure and lower volumes in oversupplied markets, particularly in Algeria, Iraq and Jordan. Bloomberg reported in February 2019 that LafargeHolcim was considering divesting assets in the region. However, LafargeHolcim’s exit from Southeast Asia may have since bought it some financial breathing room.
With Algeria facing a production capacity gap of at least 10Mt/yr it seems likely that foreign-backed producers like LafargeHolcim will suffer despite potential in the local economy. Nationally, the race is on to see if the industry can bring its cement to the sea and find new export markets.
Argentina: Sergio Faifman, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Loma Negra has said that his company does not export cement because it is ‘not competitive’ with other countries. He cited logistical issues with transporting clinker and cement to ports, in an interview with the Ámbito Financiero newspaper. He also mentioned that the costs per tonne of cement in Brazil and Egypt were 30% and 50% respectively cheaper than in Argentina. In a ranging interview Faifman also discussed the cement producer’s labour problems at its Baker plant , its on-going upgrade at its L'Amali plant and negative effects from the local currency devaluation in 2018.
Annual Pakistan cement exports grow by 40% to 6.41Mt
23 July 2019Pakistan: Data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows that cement exports grew by 40% year-on-year to 6.41Mt in the financial year to the end of June 2019 from 4.56Mt in the same period in 2018. The value of the exports rose by 22% to US$272m from US$223m.
Algeria: The value of clinker exports grew to US$30m in the first five months of 2019 from US$3.2m in the same period in 2018. The country is hoping to increase its exports of cement and clinker to around US$500m/yr by the mid-2020s, according to Télévision Algérienne. It is facing a significant production overcapacity with the manufacturing base expected to reach 40.6Mt/yr in 2020. Consumption was 26Mt in 2016.
Peru: Cement production rose by 6% year-on-year to 5.02Mt in the first half of 2019 from 4.75Mt in the same period in 2018. Local despatches rose by 5% to 4.84Mt from 4.60Mt. Data from the Asociación de Productores de Cemento (ASOCEM) shows that clinker exports fell by 18% to 0.45Mt from 0.55Mt. Clinker imports remained stable. Consumption increased by 3% to 5.50Mt from 5.33Mt.
Najran Cement renews clinker export licence
10 July 2019Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has renewed its clinker export licence. It is valid for one year from 9 July 2019.
Turkish cement industry to focus on exports
05 July 2019Turkey: Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TÇMB) chairman Nihat Özdemir says that the local industry needs to focus on exports rather than for local consumption. He made the comments at a meeting between the TÇMB and the Cement Industry Employers' Association (ÇEİS) hosted by Deloitte, according to the Dünya newspaper. Exports grew by 46% year-on-year in the first half of 2019 to a value of US$444m driven by deliveries to the US, Ghana and Israel. ÇEİS chairman Suat Çalbıyık called on the Turkish State Railway company to abolish its fixed tariff for goods moved up to 150km to further support the industry.
TÇMB data shows that local consumption fell by 24% year-on-year to 5.12Mt in the first quarter of 2019 from 6.74Mt in 2018. Domestic sales fell by 34% to 3.98Mt from 5.99Mt. Exports rose by 37% to 0.94Mt from 0.68Mt. Local decline in the market has been blamed on a weak housing market and a slowdown in the Turkish economy.
Kenya: Data from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics shows that cement production fell by 6% year-on-year to 1.46Mt in the first quarter of 2019 from 1.55Mt in the same period in 2018. Cement consumption dropped by 3% to 1.46Mt from 1.50Mt. Cement consumption previously grew by 2.8% year-on-year to 5.9Mt in 2018 from 5.8Mt in 2017. However, production fell by 2.6% to 6.07Mt from 6.23Mt. Imports increased by around 50% to 23,000t but exports decreased by 63% to 0.14Mt from 0.39Mt, mainly due to a major drop in deliveries to Uganda and Tanzania.
Cement demand drops ‘significantly’ in Azerbaijan
26 June 2019Azerbaijan: Cement demand has dropped ‘significantly’ due to a slowdown in economic growth and the lack of implementation of major projects. The country’s three cement plants are producing more than enough cement to cover local demand, according to the Trend News Agency. Concrete plants are also operating below full production capacity. Despite this downturn, growth has been noted in the housing sector. Producers are now focusing on export markets.
Tajikistan: Tajikistan exported nearly 0.62Mt of cement in the first five months of 2019, with average monthly cement of around 0.124Mt. This represents a significant increase compared to the recent past. In 2015 monthly exports typically averaged 42,000t.
Between 1 January and 31 May 2019, Tajikistan exported 0.346Mt of cement to Uzbekistan, 0.247Mt to Afghanistan and 27,000t to Kyrgyzstan, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies. Over the same five-month period, Tajikistan made more than 0.1Mt more cement than in the same period of 2018.
Tajikistan now has 18 cement plants with a total production capacity of about 5Mt/yr, with Huaxin Gayur Cement, Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement accounting for more than 85% of the overall volume made in the first five months of 2019.
The country exported