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Suez Cement and Italcementi's first waste treatment plant in Egypt was inaugurated this week. The project uses 45,000t of household waste to produce 35,000t of alternative fuel annually. Given Egypt's on-going fuel concerns the project will be watched closely.

Italcementi has much riding on the success of the project. It has five integrated cement plants in the country. As reported in early February 2014, the cement producer suffered reduced production capacity in Egypt despite 'potential' domestic demand due to limited energy availability. Cement sales volumes in Egypt for Italcementi have continually fallen since 2011, accelerating from a 5.4% year-on-year reduction in 2011 to a 17.6% year-on-year reduction in 2013. Yet, despite this, rebounding domestic demand was reported in 2012 and 2013.

It must be extremely frustrating for Italcementi. It has the production capacity, it has demand but it doesn't have the fuel to power its lines. Any additional fuel will be welcome. At a rough and conservative rate of 200kg of fuel per tonne of cement produced, Italcementi and Suez Cement's new alternative fuel stream could help to produce 175,000t of cement or about 1.5% of the cement producer's clinker production capacity of 12Mt/yr.

Lafarge, with its mega 10.6Mt/yr cement plant outside of Cairo, hadn't suffered (publicly) as much as Italcementi from fuel shortages until the publication of its financial results for 2013. Although sales had decreased year-on-year since 2009, this has been blamed on competition. Now it has been announced that cement volumes decreased by 30% in the first half of 2013 due to shortages of gas. This was mitigated through fuel substitution to a 19% drop in the third quarter and a 7% drop in the fourth quarter.

However, Lafarge's strategy for fuel security may be threatened as the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs ordered the producer to stop preparations to build storage units for petcoke in February 2014 citing environmental and economic reasons. What happening here is unclear given that the Egyptian government has been encouraging cement producers to move away from using natural gas.

The examples above show the reactions two multinational cement producers, Italcementi and Lafarge, have made to secure their fuel supplies. The outcomes remain uncertain.

In other news, Shijiazhuang in Hebei province in China has started the demolition of 17 (!) more cement plants. This follows 18 plants that were demolished in December 2013. In total, 18.5Mt/yr of cement production capacity has been torn down.

This is more than the cement production output of most European countries or any single US state! Where was this cement going previously? What were the effects on the price of cement in China? Who is taking the loss for the destruction of this industrial production capacity? BBC News Business Editor Robert Peston has some ideas.

The 8th Global CemFuels Conference & Exhibition on alternative fuels for cement and lime takes place in Vienna, Austria on 24 - 25 February 2014

Bangladesh: HeidelbergCement Bangladesh has appointed Albert Scheuer as its chairman. Scheuer is a member of the managing board of HeidelbergCement Group with responsibility for Asia-Oceania and worldwide co-ordination of the Heidelberg Technology Centre. Before this, he was chief operating officer of HeidelbergCement's operation in China and served as managing director of HeidelbergCement Technology Centre in European Cement Plants of the group from 1998 to 2005.

France: Lafarge's financial results for 2013 have been rescued by an improved fourth quarter year-on-year. It reported a 2% decrease in sales year-on-year to Euro3.71bn for the fourth quarter of 2013 fromEuro3.81bn in 2012. Overall sales for 2013 fell by 4% to Euro15.2bn from Euro15.8bn. The French-based multinational building producer reported increasing sales on a like-for-like basis for both the final quarter and the full year. It attributed the improvement to growing sales volumes, ongoing growth in most emerging markets, the recovery in the United States and stabilisation in Europe.

"In the fourth quarter we saw much more positive operational trends, accelerating compared to the third quarter, while exchange rates continued to be adverse," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge, Bruno Lafont.

Sales volumes of cement for the 2013 financial year fell by 3% year-on-year to 137Mt from 141Mt. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 9% to Euro3.10bn from Euro3.42bn.

By region, sales volumes of cement fell in North America by 12% in 2013 to 11.3Mt from 12.8Mt but the residential sector in the US recovered. In Western Europe they fell by 14% to 14Mt from 16.4Mt but the French construction market was described as 'resilient' and sales rose in the UK. In Central and Eastern Europe they fell by 6% to 12.5Mt from 13.2Mt, with particular problems in Poland and Romania. In Middle East and Africa they fell by 2% to 44.4Mt from 45.2Mt with problems noted in Egypt, Morocco and Kenya. In Latin America they fell by 4% to 8.8Mt from 9.2Mt affected by 'subdued' growth in Brazil. Although on like-for-like basis they rose by 1%. In Asia cement sales rose by 3% to 45.8Mt from 44.3Mt led by a strong market in the Philippines despite Typhoon Haiyan.

For its outlook Lafarge expects to sees cement growth in its markets of between 2 to 5% in 2014 versus 2013 with markets benefiting from recovery in the US, stabilisation in Europe and on-going growth in emerging markets.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem has agreed to sell its 0.3Mt/yr cement plant in Cadola, Italy, to a subsidiary of Wietersdorfer for Euro22m. Under the terms of the agreement, Austria's Wietersdorfer will be also entitled to buy, within five years and without additional payment, Buzzi Unicem's Travesio 0.4Mt/yr cement plant.

Italian cement producer Buzzi Unicem has also agreed to buy 25% in two Wietersdorfer facilities. In particular, the company will acquire shares in W&P Cementi and Salonit Anhovo Gradbeni Materiali for Euro22m. W&P Cementi currently has a grinding plant in Pordenone, Italy with a production capacity of 0.3Mt/yr. Salonit owns an integrated cement plantin Slovenia with a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr.

With these transactions, Buzzi Unicem expects to strengthen its production and sales structure by improving its procurement logistics, it said adding that the deals will result in technological integration between the two companies aiming to develop new products. The transactions are expected to close on 30 June 2014.

Zambia: Dangote Cement plans to commission a US$400m cement plant in the city of Ndola in July 2014 with a production capacity of 3000t/day.

The company expects to produce 1.0 - 1.2Mt/yr of cement when it is commissioned, which will increase Zambia's total cement production to 2.5 - 2.7Mt/yr. Zambia currently has a cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr from Lafarge's plants in Lusaka and Ndola and Zambezi Portland's plant in Ndola.

Senior general manager for Dangote Projects, Anand Kameshwar said that installation of major equipment at the plant by China's Sinoma Engineering was nearly complete. "Most of the major equipment has been installed and the project is on course and should be complete by July 2014," Kameshwar said, adding that Dangote would contribute significantly in mitigating cement shortages that have resulted from high cement demand due to construction activities. Once operational, the cement factory will create 700 new jobs.

Dangote is also constructing a 30MW power sub-station that is expected to commission in May 2014. "This facility will provide electricity to the cement plant, which is expected to consume 25MW of power per day," Kameshwar said. The cement factory will also open up other avenues for Dangote to increase its investments in Zambia.

Tunisia: Geometrica has released details of bulk-storage structures built for Carthage Cement at its Djebel Ressas cement plant in 2013. The dome and space frame structure builder supplied three storage buildings for additives, coal and limestone. The additives and coal longitudinal buildings are 200m and 300m long respectively with a span of 50m. The limestone building is a 90m circular dome.

Carthage Cement contracted FLSmidth to supply machinery and engineering at the 5800t/day cement plant. Turkish contractor, EKON, was FLSmidth's partner for the civil works, including civil design, supply of structural steel and plate work, site preparation, plant erection. Construction at the plant started in late 2010 and was completed in 2013.

China: The demolition of 17 more cement plants in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, began on 17 February 2014, two months after the first batch of demolitions to improve air quality.

"After the second batch of demolitions is finished in March 2014, we can meet the target of reducing excess capacity three years ahead of schedule, reducing production capacity by 40%," said Wang Liang, the mayor of Shijiazhuang. Hebei was hit by many smoggy days in February 2014, causing serious pollution. On 17 February 2014 the air quality index exceeded 200, classed as 'very unhealthy' by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The demolition of 18 cement grinders and 377 storage bins at the 17 plants will be completed by the end of March 2014, reducing production capacity by 9.1Mt/yr.

To control pollution, the provincial government has announced goals for cutting excess capacity in high-polluting industries, including cement production, in every city. Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, must dismantle 15Mt/yr of cement production capacity by 2017.

The two batches of demolitions have targeted 35 plants, resulting in direct economic losses of US$180m and affecting 3780 workers. "We may suffer slow economic growth in the short term, but this will work in upgrading the economic structure and will result in a good living environment for our people, so it is worthwhile," said Sun Ruibin, Party chief of Shijiazhuang.

Wang Jiangtao, marketing manager at Yuancheng Construction Material Co, one of plants being demolished in the city of Luquan, said, "We will follow the government project and want to control air pollution as well so we agreed to close the plant. But it's still sad to see the plants being demolished," he said, adding that the company had invested more than US$4.94m in a new system in 2011. "We have not made enough money to cover the expenses up to now." Under government compensation plans, the plant may get US$1.65m and will receive other support for its future business, including preferential policies and tax relief, Wang added.

Two of Jinyu Dingxing Cement Co's plants were among the first batch of demolitions in December 2013, but so far new projects have not been decided on, said Feng Jinmin, a manager at one of the two plants that were closed. "Of the US$2.47m in compensation expected from the government, we have received half and are still awaiting government guidance on our future business," he said, adding that this may take years.

Vietnam: Authorities in Vietnam's central province of Quang Tri have decided to withdraw the investment license of a US$47m cement plant due to its sluggish implementation without legitimate reasons.

The plant, named Roli-Quang Tri, is located in Cam Tuyen commune, Cam Lo district and is the largest project in the province. Construction of the plant, which has a planned cement production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr, commenced in June 2009. Construction was subsequently delayed as the company is unable to continue the project, said Nguyen Duc Cuong, chairman of People's Committee of Quang Tri province.

Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung earlier approved a proposal by the Vietnam Building Material Association to cancel nine cement projects with a total capacity of 2500t/day in order to keep in line with market demand. The prime minister also agreed to extend the deadline for the construction of seven other projects, including He Duong II, My Duc, Thanh Son, Tan Thang, Do Luong, Tan Phu Xuan and Nam Dong, until after 2015.

Currently, local cement makers have faced many difficulties due to having a huge inventory and low domestic demand, caused by the frozen real estate market. In addition, high production costs, high lending interest rates and rising input costs have also put heavy burden on local cement producers.

Vietnam's cement sales are predicted to rise by 1.5% to 3% year-on-year to between 62Mt and 63Mt in 2014, including 48.5Mt to 49Mt of domestic sales and 13.5Mt to 14Mt of exports.

Finland: Refractory solutions firm Calderys, subsidiary of Imerys, has announced that it has acquired Termorak Group in Finland, a company that specialises in refractory services that include lining design, refractory material sourcing, installation work and inspections for a range of industries, including cement.

Through the acquisition Calderys will expand its position in the petrochemical and pulp and paper industries, as well as in the power business in Finland, Russia, the Baltic countries and in south eastern Asia.

Markus Larkimo, managing director of Calderys Finland OY stated that, "Calderys has been present in the Finnish market for over 80 years of service to the iron and steel, ferrous foundry and boiler industries. Termorak's world-class people, expertise and services fit perfectly in our portfolio and will enable us to offer a wider range of refractory solutions to all our customers."

Saudi Arabia: The minister of Commerce and Industry, Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, has approved the establishment of Riyadh-based Baha Cement Company as a closed joint stock company with capital of US$107m.
 The capital is split into shares and the company shares have been subscribed 50% by partners and the other 50% will be offered for public subscription.

The minister's approval comes within the framework of the state's policy to enhance economic activities in various sectors.