Displaying items by tag: Export

Iran: The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade has announced that in the first three months of 2015, cement production reached 15.8Mt and clinker output was 19.3Mt. In the same period, more than 12.7Mt of cement was distributed inside the country and 4.34Mt of cement was exported.

The Employers Guild Association for the cement industry said that, in the Iranian year 1393 (to 21 March 2015), cement and clinker exports exceeded 18.9Mt, up from 18.8Mt in 1392. Iran produced 66.4Mt of cement in the year and 70Mt of clinker.

Tunisia: According to African Manager, data published by the National Chamber of Cement Producers points to a year-on-year improvement in the position of Carthage Cement in the first four months of 2014.

Carthage Cement's domestic sales have increased by 44% to 349,823t in the first four months of 2015 compared to 242,0315t in 2014, despite the 6.69% decline of total cement sector sales. Carthage Cement's total sales in the first four months of 2015 rose by 36.6% to 420,923t compared to a cement sector decrease of 1.57%.

Armenia: As reported by ARMINFO News (Armenia), Armenia cut its cement exports 2.5-fold to 73,000t in 2014, down from 185,200t in 2013. It also increased its imports 2.2-fold, according to the Customs Service of Armenia.

The customs cost of the exported cement fell from US$11.8m in 2013 to US$4.6m in 2014, a factor of 2.6. In 2013, cement exports grew by 36% year-on-year and imports doubled. The Ministry of Economy said that cement exports fell dramatically in 2014 as a new cement plant started up in Rustavi, Georgia. There are now three HeidelbergCement cement plants in Georgia. The country was the key consumer of Armenian cement exports.

In 2014, Armenia imported 7500t of cement for US$1.2m compared to 3400t for US$615,200 in 2013. Some 98% of the country's cement imports come from Iran.

According to the Statistical Service of Armenia, cement production fell by 0.9% in 2014 and by 1.5% in 2013, compared to 3.6% growth in 2012. In 2014, the construction sector shrank by 4.3% to US$913m. In the first quarter of 2015, the construction sector grew by a marginal 0.4%.

Vietnam: Vietnam is estimated to have produced 32.1Mt of cement in the first half of 2015, up by 10.5% year-on-year, including 6Mt in June, up by 26.8% year-on-year, according to the government-run General Statistics Office.

In the first five months of 2015, Vietnam produced 26.1Mt of cement, compared to the earlier estimated 26.6Mt, according to the office's revised figure. The country's cement and clinker sales are expected to rise by 1.5 - 4% year-on-year to 72 – 74Mt in 2015, of which domestic sales will rise by 4.5 - 6.5% to 53 – 54Mt, while exports will be 19 – 20Mt.

Zimbabwe: According to Southern Eye, PPC Zimbabwe's cement exports in the first half of its 2015 fiscal year, which ended on 31 March 2015, took a knock due to the weakening of the South African Rand against the US Dollar.

PPC said that exports from its Zimbabwe operations accounted for only 10% of cement sales volumes, although local sales were encouraging. It said that cement volumes in Zimbabwe grew by 9% in the first half of its 2015 fiscal year due to new marketing strategies implemented during the period.

PPC Zimbabwe's managing director Njombo Lekula confirmed that exports had fallen. "In terms of business, we are doing fairly very well, but there has been a bit of a slowdown from last year. However, performance internally in the country is still very good and that is something we can be happy with," said Lekula. "Obviously, on exports it wasn't great, partly because of the strengthening of the US Dollar and capacity in other surrounding areas. To export has been a bit difficult this year. Looking forward, we think the second half of the year will be very good as usual. We normally do very well in the last three months of our financial year, which ends in September 2015. I'm quite happy with the PPC Zimbabwe performance at this point in time."

PPC Zimbabwe is constructing a US$75m, 680,000t/yr capacity cement plant in Harare. The plant is expected to start production in the middle of 2016. The group recently unveiled an adjustment to its brand name for Zimbabwe and is now trading as PPC Zimbabwe.

Indonesia: According to the Jakarta Post, Semen Indonesia has lowered its prices by around 10% so far in 2015 to compete with rivals amid an economic slowdown that has seen a decline in the construction sector. With an increase in competition in the local market, Semen Indonesia had hoped that its exports would boost its revenues, according to company marketing director Amat Pria Darma.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo instructed state-owned cement producers to lower their prices in January 2015 to support the government's massive infrastructure projects. However, Darma added that state-run cement producers had to lower their prices further later in 2015 to cope with tighter competition and lacklustre demand. "A number of new plants have started operating and new supplies are coming in. We have to lower our prices to keep up with the market with overall plunging domestic demand," said Darma.

Semen Indonesia saw its domestic sales volumes fall by 5.3% in January – May 2015 to 9.91Mt, even steeper than the national decline in cement demand of around 3.8%. In May 2015 alone, the company's domestic sales fell by around 14%.

While cement demand has contracted since the start of 2015 on the back of the slowing economy, several cement producers have seen additional production from newly operating plants. New players have also entered the market, such as Semen Merah Putih. Semen Indonesia saw its market share in the country slip from 44% in 2015 to 43% in 2015. Darma said that he was pessimistic that Semen Indonesia could achieve its target of seeing sales volume up by around 6% in 2015, or even maintain it at the same position as 2014. The company will instead look to export markets as a strategy to cope with the domestic slowdown.

Semen Indonesia's exports rose by more than eight times from 22,155t in the first five months of 2014, to 184,181t in the same period of 2015. According to Agung Wiharto, the surges were not particularly good news as with high transportation costs, cement makers only exported their production when domestic sales were down and the contribution from exports was not significant. Exports, he said, were made to better ensure that its products were absorbed to maintain utilisation and efficiency. Wiharto said that Semen Indonesia was looking to initiate contract-based exports, in comparison to its current spot sales, in the near future if the economy does not show any signs of improvement. By relying on a six-month to one-year contract, the company could ship more cement, ensuring a more certain market.

"We hope to see our exports hit 1Mt in 2015. The prospect is good, given that some of our traditional markets have no cement producers," said Wiharto. Among Semen Indonesia's major export customers are Timor-Leste, Bangladesh and the Maldives.

Philippines: According to IHS Maritime 360, the UK's Nectar Group and Seasia Nectar Port Services Inc (SNPSI), which are in a joint venture project to build a US$185.5m dry bulk terminal in Bataan, expect the new facility to launch in early 2016.

"The current schedule is for phase one to be operational from the first quarter of 2016," said a Nectar Group official. "There are planned timeframes for the other two phases, but they are dependent on how well the first phase operates."

The new dry bulk terminal is designed to handle shipments of coal, clinker, silica sand, cement raw materials, steel, fertiliser and other dry bulk cargo. Construction of the terminal will be completed in three phases covering 114,000m2. The first phase covers the development of the port facility with a 247m quay and a 14m draft. Once completed, the terminal will have 3Mt/yr of cargo capacity.

In addition to quayside and open storage areas, SNPSI will also build facilities for warehousing, stevedoring, lightering and other services.

Sri Lanka: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited is increasing its exports to Sri Lanka through its channel partner M/s Smart Dragon Lanka Pvt Limited. With a total capacity of 20Mt/yr, Dalmia Cement has cement plants in southern and eastern India, making it a prominent manufacturer of cement in India.

Dalmia Cement currently supplies cement to the Sri Lankan market from its 3.5Mt/yr plant in Dalmiapuram, Trichy, Tamil Nadu. The plant has 21 silos, making it convenient to store many varieties of cement. It can also supply Sri Lanka from its 2.5Mt/yr plant in Kadappa, Andhra Pradesh. The plants use the ports of Tuticorin and Chennai in Tamil Nadu and the port of Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

"Dalmia Cement has been exporting cement to Sri Lanka since 2009. We wish to strengthen our bond and relationship with Sri Lanka by providing superior-quality cement, with a vision of becoming one of the leading exporters of cement to the country within the next three years," said R Sanjay, assistant executive director of institutional sales at Dalmia Cement.

Pakistan: Cement exports fell by 26.1% to 560,000t in May 2015 as cheap Iranian cement is eating Pakistan's market share in Afghanistan, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). Pakistan exported 750,000t of cement in May 2014.

"Iranian cement is fast making inroads into Afghanistan," said an APCMA spokesperson. APCMA data showed that exports dropped by 10.8% to 6.64Mt between July 2014 and May 2015. Cement makers exported 7.44Mt in the same period of the 2013 – 2014 financial year.

The APCMA appealed to the government to support local manufacturers in winning back the Afghan market by withdrawing duties, which would enable them to compete with highly-subsidised Iranian cement. There is a 5% federal excise duty and a 17% general sales tax on the retail price of cement. "The taxes are equal to around US$1.56/bag," said the spokesperson. "The incidence of high taxation encourages evasion and negatively impacts consumption." He added that the government should gradually bring federal excise duty to zero, as announced by the previous government.

Exports from the south increased by 4.5% in the July 2014 to May 2015 period. These exports go via the sea. However, exports from the north decreased by 18.3% due to the Iranian cement factor, as exports from the north usually go to Afghanistan. The spokesperson said that Iran is also dumping its cement in Balochistan, Pakistan and that cement smuggling from Iran to Balochistan is resulting in substantial losses to national exchequer. "Policy makers ignored warnings from the cement industry over the inundation of Iranian cement in Afghanistan," he said. "It has penetrated our local market." He said that full taxes are not paid on Iranian cement imports.

A road trailer entering Pakistan from the Taftan border carries up to 60t of cement. A transporter issues two different weight loads receipts, one for the customs department and another one for freight purposes. The APCMA said that if taxes are fully paid, the price of Iranian cement is equal to that of domestic cement.

Pakistani cement manufacturers dispatched 2.49Mt of cement in May 2015 compared to 2.3Mt in May 2014, up by 8%. Cement sales were 25.5Mt in the 11 months that ended on 31 May 2015, compared to 23.6Mt in the corresponding 2013 – 2014 period, depicting over 8% growth.

Vietnam: The Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) said that growing cement exports have helped domestic cement plants to slash inventories in recent years.

Vietnam produced around 70.6Mt of cement in 2014, 15% higher than 2013. Domestic consumption totalled 50.9Mt, while export sales reached 21.1Mt, up by 10% and 30% year-on-year respectively. Big producers like Vicem, Nghi Son, Chinfon, Thang Long Vina, Vissai and Thang Long contributed 80% of total cement exports in 2014. Their major markets were Bangladesh, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Nguyen Quang Cung, chairman of VNCA, said that the supply - demand balance would continue to improve in 2015 as demand for construction materials in the country and abroad is forecast to pick up. However, the VNCA warned that local cement enterprises would have to cope with fiercer competition at home and abroad. Cung said that Cong Thanh Cement Co would commission a 3.6Mt/yr clinker line in Thanh Hoa in June 2015. In addition, the Dong Lam and Thach My cement plants have run at full capacity so far in 2015. An imbalance between supply and demand might occur if clinker and cement exports decline as Vietnam now faces tough competition from other exporting countries like China, South Korea and Thailand.