Displaying items by tag: Export

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales fell by 11% year-on-year to 11.8Mt in the first quarter of 2018 due to a continued slowdown in the construction industry. Weak demand and high inventory levels has forced cement producers to sell their cement in other parts of the country and export to other countries, according to a report by Al Rajhi Capital. The report cited Yanbu Cement's export agreement although it said that its low production costs gives the company the advantage to export at lower prices than its competitors.

Increased competition within Saudi Arabia has led to a price war. The report marked the central region as an attractive region for northern region cement companies due to the relatively bigger market. The sales market share for northern cement companies increased in the last six months. On the other hand, central region companies' market share decreased slightly during the same period.

Yanbu Cement signed a one-year agreement to export 1Mt of clinker and 0.5Mt of cement from April 2018. It is estimated that the deal with Yanbu Cement US$26.6m in extra sales revenue in 2018. Al Rajhi Capital reckoned that the cement producer would be likely to renew the export deal in 2019 as its low margins are unlikely to aid earnings.

Uganda: Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde has given local cement producers three weeks to lower cement prices otherwise. If they do not cooperate she will allow cheaper exports of cement into the country, according to the Daily Monitor newspaper. A recent surge in the price of cement has led to a crisis in the construction industry with panic buying, hoarding and rationing reported by retailers and consumers.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) says that the capacity utilisation of the local cement industry reached 94% in the nine months of the local financial year to March 2018. Demand for cement has been bolstered by local demand and growing exports so far in 2018, according to the Business Recorder newspaper. Cement despatches grew by 14.7% year-on-year to 34.8Mt in the first nine months of the 2017 – 2018 year from 30.3Mt in the same period in the previous period. Despatches grew faster in the north of the country than the south.

Tunisia: Ciments de Bizerte has restarted exports of clinker and cement after a hiatus of ten years. A shipment of 25,000t of clinker disembarked from the cement producer’s port to Cameroon in early April 2018, according to La Presse de Tunisie newspaper. The local cement industry has an overcapcty of 1Mt/yr.

New Zealand: Golden Bay Cement plans to start shipping cement directly from its integrated plant at Whangarei, Northland in the North Island. Previously, cement from the plant was being shipped to the South Island via Auckland, according to the New Zealand Herald newspaper. Once the logistic change is completed around 11% of Whangarei’s output will be shipped to the South Island.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria has continued exporting cement to The Gambia with a third consignment from its d'Oggaz plant. The 30,000t order of Ordinary Portland Cement was exported from the Port of Arzew to Banjul, according to the El Moudjahid newspaper. The deal follows two previous ones in December 2017 and March 2018.

Algeria/Niger: The Aoulef cement plant in Afrar province has started exporting cement to Niger. Youcef Yousfi, the Minister of Industry and Mines, welcomed the news in a statement, according to the El Moudjahid newspaper and the Algeria Press Service. The plant exported 950t of Ordinary Portland Cement by land. The 1.5Mt/yr Aoulef cement plant started production in December 2017. It aims to export around 1Mt/yr of cement.

Saudi Arabia: Yanbu Cement has signed an agreement to export 1Mt of clinker and 0.5Mt of clinker for one year from 1 April 2018. The arrangement is expected to add around US$27m to the company’s revenue.

Turkey: Data from the Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TCMA) shows that clinker exports rose by 32.4% year-on-year to 4.93Mt in 2017 from 3.72Mt in 2016. Cement production rose by 6.8% to 80.6Mt from 75.4Mt. Production rose in all regions with the exception of the Aegean and Mediterranean.

Algeria: Serge Dubois, the Director of Public Affairs for LafargeHolcim Algeria, says that the company is currently negotiating a ‘major’ export contract to a West African country. The deal to export ‘several hundred tonnes’ of Ordinary Portland Cement is expected to be concluded in March or April 2018, according to the El Mujahid newspaper. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim is attempting to secure export deals ahead of an anticipated 22 – 24Mt/yr production overcapacity in the country by 2020.

It conducted two export deals to The Gambia in December 2017 and March 2018. However, Dubois added that Algeria needs to improve its transport infrastructure to be able to increase exports. To this end he mentioned a Euro13m upgrade project at the Port of Oran. He also spoke about the company’s Ardia 600 binder product and its negotiations with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to improve local road infrastructure.