Displaying items by tag: Export

Bangladesh/India: India's Star Cement has started exporting clinker to Bangladesh by river. According to a report by the Times of India, the cement producer aims to export over 50,000t/month of clinker to Bangladesh by this route.

"Exporting clinker to Bangladesh by the river will give an edge to the company to encounter the stiff competition it is likely to face from manufacturers of Southeast Asian countries, all of whom cater to 99% clinker requirement of this country," said a Star Cement official.

In a pilot project in 2012 Star Cement had started clinker exports to Bangladesh by road. The company has deals with several leading cement producers in Bangladesh to meet their clinker requirements and is planning more.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Bosnian-Herzegovinian cement producer Tvornica Cementa Kakanj (TCK), part of Germany's HeidelbergCement, has announced that it expects its net profit to increase by 20 - 25% to Euro5.6 - 6.1m in 2013, while it expects cement sales to be broadly flat at around 425,000t. The effects from ongoing investment and process-optimisation measures are expected to kick in in 2013, generating savings that should lead to the projected rise in net profit, according to company director Branimir Muidza. Speaking to regional news agency SeeNews, he described the targets as ambitious and optimistic but not unrealistic.

TCK is making its claims in the midst of a Bosnian market that is estimated to require only 1.05Mt of cement in 2013, a decrease from the 1.10Mt/yr consumed in 2012. In 2008 - 2009 cement consumption was as high as 1.85Mt. Muidza expects that the lack of new investments in the industrial sector and new infrastructure, rising unemployment, illiquidity in the construction sector and a crisis in the real estate market would lead to a continued slump.

Muidza said that the expected impact on TCK's business from the recent EU accession of Croatia, which is the company's largest export market, would not cause problems for TCK, as its cement is already made to EU standards. He added that if Croatia benefits from EU accession further down the road, so will TCK.

Going forward, TCK's investment pipeline for the 2013 - 2014 period features a project for the automation of cement milling and packing operations, modernisation of its sampling laboratory, upgrade of its weighing system, construction of an administrative building and procurement of new IT equipment. No production capacity upgrades have been planned over the medium term as the existing capacity is sufficient to meet the current market demand.

When it comes to long-term investments, which covers the period until 2018, the company plans the construction of a cement silo which should further expand the range of its products and therefore put it in a better competitive position. The cost of the investment is currently thought to be US$10.3m.

Brazil: Portuguese cement producer Cimpor, which has been controlled by the Brazilian diversified holding group Camargo Corrêa since June 2012, has started its first exports to northern Brazil.

The first shipment of 28,000t/yr of cement reached the port of Manaus, northwestern Brazil in July 2013, according to local press. Cimpor's main rivals in this region will be Brazilian sector players Votorantim Cimentos and Joao Santos.

Camargo Corrêa's subsidiary InterCement, which owns directly Cimpor, projects to import some 70,000t/yr of Portuguese cement to Brazil in 2013. Cimpor is also targeting exports to Bolivia amid the continuing severe economic downturn in Portugal.

Pakistan: Domestic cement sales in Pakistan reached 25.1Mt in the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year that ended on 30 June 2013, according to data released by All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association Pakistan (APCMA). This is the first time domestic sales of cement in the country have risen above 25Mt/yr. In 2011 – 2012 domestic cement sales stood at 24Mt.

Overall the industry despatched 33.4Mt of cement in the 2012 – 2013 year, with 8.3Mt exported. This is below the record of total cement sales set in 2009 – 2010 of 34.2Mt with 10.7Mt of exports. Data for June 2013 showed that construction activities slowed down, following the Pakistan general election in May 2013. Domestic cement despatches declined by 3% to 2.21Mt in June 2013 from 2.29Mt in June 2012. Exports fell by 9% to 0.67Mt from 0.73Mt.

A spokesman for APCMA hoped that the current fiscal year would lead the cement industry to high productivity as the new government is giving due importance to infrastructure and accelerated economic growth. He added that with proper planning and prudent economic policies, Pakistan has the capability to consume its entire installed cement production capacity of 44.7Mt/yr.

Vietnam: Vietnam exported nearly 5.2Mt of cement in the first half of 2013, a rise of 63% year-on-year compared to 3.2Mt in the same period in 2012 said the Ministry of Construction. Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia were the major destinations. The ministry also stated that cement sales have grown by 27.9% year-on-year, reaching 27.9Mt so far in 2013.

Due to reduced demand at home, many cement producers have focused on exports, said Tran Van Huynh, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Materials Association. The cement industry expects to export over 10Mt of cement in 2013, or 15% of the nation's total output. Huynh added that the Vietnamese export price was around 20% below the average global export price.

Exports have helped reduce the June 2013 inventory to around 2.6Mt, according to the construction ministry. The unsold volume of Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM) accounts for half of this amount.

There have been no changes in the price of cement in the Vietnam market since January 2013 despite higher coal, power and fuel prices that have pushed up production costs and caused difficulties for domestic producers. The Vietnamese cement industry has a production capacity of 66Mt/yr and consumption for 2013 is forecast to be in the region of 57Mt.

A recent BBC television documentary explained the rise of low-cost airlines in the UK in the early 1990s. With news of an independent cement grinding plant in western France doing the rounds this week, we ask could the same revolution happen in the cement industry?

Back in the early 1990s following deregulation in the European aviation industry, smaller airlines took the opportunity to try a different model to the larger national carriers. Taking cost-cutting ideas from the US-based Southwest Airlines (deregulation had occurred earlier in the US) new companies like Ryanair and EasyJet burst into the short haul market, seizing market share and changing people's attitudes to air travel. For example, low to medium income males going on a 'British Gentlemen' stag (bachelor) party to a European destination such as Ayia Napa or Riga would have been unthinkable before the mid-1990s.

Flying passengers around Europe and producing cement are clearly radically different businesses. However, Kercim Cements' objective to produce 600,000t of cement and take a 10% share of the local market near Saint-Nazaire in Loire-Atlantique department of France stands out. With the European cement industry in decline and endless stories about cement exporting nations flooding developing markets, taking a grinding-led business model suddenly sounds considerably more competitive.

In addition, an independent company importing clinker from non-EU countries might also benefit from not being subject to quota allocations of CO₂. This issue was raised from a different angle earlier in 2013, when Irish company Ecocem complained about large cement producers making profits from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) despite reduced production.

Thinking around grinding as the model for an industry step-change, one of the presenters at the Global CemTrader conference in May 2013 was Moisés Nunez of Cemengal. He spoke about 'Plug&Grind', his company's low-cost modular grinding plant technology. Essentially, the Spanish company can fit a grinding station into 15 shipping containers and assemble the grinding unit wherever the client can transport it to. Once again, this sounds perfect for a global cement industry that is making too much clinker.

As this column has reported previously, Africa is the ideal target for a low-cost grinding-led business model given its overall high level of demand for cement. Any cement business near the coast has been under intense competition from imports. So much so, that former PPC (Portland Pretoria Cement) head Paul Stuiver stated that any African facility built within 200km of a port was at risk. Could French and other EU-based coastal cement plants also be at risk? With the cost of production and transport on the rise, the low-cost grinding model may even work in Europe. The beauty of the Cemengal system is that it is mobile so that it can follow market opportunity.

As the Economist recently pointed out in a review of the global cement industry, it is an industry dominated by a small number of companies. High cost of entry, high transport costs by road and other factors mean that this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Yet, exports by sea provide some level of increased competition. Both of the grinding projects mentioned above rely on this fact. Let's wait and see what happens.

Iraq/Iran: Following a similar move by Turkmenistan, Iraq will stop importing Iranian cements from 1 July 2013, according to Sadeq Sava'edi, the deputy head of Khuzestan's Cement Exporters Union in Iran. Iran currently exports 20,000-30,000t/day of cement to Iraq.

Sava'edi said that the move aims to boost Iraq's domestic cement production, according to the ISNA News Agency quoted. He further said that political and security issues were also influential in the decision.

The news from Iraq, which is Iran's largest destination for cement exports, came as Mohammad Fatemian, an official with the Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Ministry said that Iran plans to export 18.5Mt of cement in the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on 20 March 2014. Iran's cement and clinker exports stood at 16.5Mt for the year to 20 March 2013, exporting 11.85Mt of cement and 1.79Mt of clinker.

Iran produced over 70Mt of cement in the past Iranian calendar year, according to cement industry officials. Capacity is expected to reach 110Mt/yr by 2015.

Iran exported cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China in the past Iranian year.

Iran: Iran exported over 13.65Mt of cement and clinker in the Iranian calendar year which ended on 20 March 2013. The country exported over 11.85Mt of cement and 1.79Mt of clinker, according to the IRNA News Agency.

1.04Mt of cement and 179,000t of clinker were exported in the last month of this period, from 19 February 2013 to 20 March 2013. In the 2012 - 2013 year Iran exported cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China.

Abdolreza Sheykhan, an official with Iran's Cement Producers Association, said in February 2013 that the country plans to increase its cement output up to 85Mt by the end of the 2013 - 2014 Iranian calendar year. Sheykhan also expressed the hope that Iran's cement exports would reach 18 - 20Mt in the current calendar year.

Vietnam: Cement producers in Vietnam lost at least US$80m in 2012 in a bid to undercut each other, according to Tran Van Huynh, Chairman of Vietnam Building Material Association. Huynh made the comment as he warned that producers face 'huge' losses from attempts to clear surplus inventory by exporting cement and clinker. In 2012 local firms incurred losses of between US$8 - 10/t of exports.

Huynh asked local cement producers to cooperate instead of undercutting each other to keep export prices above domestic ones. He also recommended that the Vietnam Cement Association set reasonable export prices as well as help firms penetrate large markets.

Due to cement output exceeding demand, the Ministry of Construction has requested local cement firms to seek further export markets. However, local producers face difficulties in exporting cement due to poor infrastructure, high transport costs and a lack of competitiveness. In addition Vietnam lacks ports capable of docking ships over 50,000t that are necessary to carry goods to distant overseas markets.

Vietnam is predicted to face a huge cement inventory of 14 – 15Mt by 2015. By that time the country's cement output will reach 90Mt whilst demand is estimated to be 75 – 76Mt.

Ghana: Dangote Cement has officially commenced the export of cement from its Ibese plant, Ogun State to Ghana. The Nigerian cement producer will start to export 5000t/week of cement using 50 silo trucks. However upon the completion of all logistics it says it intends to export 50 trucks of cement per day or up to 1.8Mt/yr.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Dangote's chairman, had previously commented in an interview with Reuters that his company would start cement exports to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by the end of 2012. Dangote currently says it has a production overcapacity of 20Mt/yr in Nigeria.

Dangote Cement commissioned its first overseas cement terminal in 2011 in Accra Port, Ghana with a bagging capacity of 1.5Mt/yr. Dangote has also commented that there are good market opportunities in other neighbouring countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.