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Step forward UltraTech Cement into the vertical rumour mill! The Indian cement producer is the latest company reported as wanting to buy Jaypee Group's cement business in Gujarat. It follows Italcementi, Aditya Birla and CRH, who announced in October 2012 that negotiations had been 'terminated' as the parties had been unable to agree terms.

This time the asking price has risen, with Ultratech allegedly offering US$160-165/t and Jaypee holding out for US$180-185/t. Whilst UltraTech hasn't publicly confirmed the move, it pointedly hasn't denied it either. The Aditya Birla Group subsidiary only commented to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had not issued any press releases on the subject. Aditya Birla Group itself was reported in October 2012 as pursing interest at US$130/t for Jaypee's 9.8Mt/yr operations in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Given the number of rumours and cash-rich CRH's very public failure to strike a deal it seems likely that Jaypee has a specific price in mind and it's sticking to it. Prasad Baji of Edelweiss Securities stated in a television interview with CNBC-TV18 that he thought that the cement industry cycle was starting to look up. Crucially he predicted that India's capacity utilisation was set to rise from its current level of 78% to 82% despite price declines in the current quarter.

This is in sharp contrast with Fitch Ratings which rated the Indian cement industry with a negative outlook at the start of 2012 and reports in late May 2012 that capacity ultilisation had actually fallen from 76% to 71%. Since then ICRA Research reported in late September 2012 that it expected Indian capacity ultilisation to stick to 76% for 2012 with prices showing 'resistance' in some regions to cost increases due to rising input costs.

With all this in mind it seems likely that UltraTech will join the growing list of Jaypee's spurned buyers when it fails to reach terms or when the rumours simply fizzle out. However if UltraTech does strike a deal the Indian industry will be the one to watch in 2013. According to data in the Global Cement Directory 2013, an acquisition of nearly 10Mt/yr production capacity would boost UltraTech's capacity to 62Mt/yr making it the 12th largest cement company in the world.

Denmark: Danish cement plant manufacturer FLSmidth has announced that Jørgen Huno Rasmussen, aged 60, group chief executive officer (CEO) of FLSmidth since 2003 has decided to retire in the middle of 2013 after 10 years of service. Thomas Schulz will be appointed new group CEO of and is expected to take up his new position no later than 1 June 2013.

Schulz, aged 47, is a German citizen and has since 1998 been part of Sandvik (Svedala Industries), currently as President of Sandvik's Construction business area and member of Sandvik's Executive Management Group, based in Sweden. From 2005 to 2011 Schulz was based in Germany, Sweden and Singapore as president of Construction and senior vice president of Mining and Construction. Schulz holds a MSc and PhD in Engineering from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany with a dissertation in Mineral Mining and Quarrying.

"On behalf of the Board, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Jørgen Huno Rasmussen for his decisive contribution to the successful turnaround and development of the FLSmidth Group and for his dedicated leadership over 10 years. I am sure Thomas Schulz will prove to be a worthy successor and look forward to welcoming him to FLSmidth", commented chairman of the board of FLSmidth, Vagn Ove Sørensen.

Myanmar: Siam Cement Group (SCG), Thailand's largest cement company, has announced that it will build a plant in 2013 in Myanmar's Taninthayi region, according to country manager Soontornpol Veerapravati.

"SCG is planning to manufacture its main products in Myanmar and will open four retail stores in Yangon, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw and one other major city. It will also expand its outlets in other locations," said Soontornpol.

Cement is currently in short supply in Myanmar although the government is granting more permits for build cement plants. SCG exports at least 22Mt/yr to neighbouring countries, including Myanmar.

India: UltraTech Cement has reported to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has not issued any press releases concerning rumours in the Indian press that it is in talks to buy Jaypee Group's cement business in Gujarat. It added that the company does not comment on market speculation. Jaypee has not commented.

Indian press reported that UltraTech is planning to buy Jaypee Group's cement business in Ahmedabad for US$700- 890m by the end of 2012. UltraTech is allegedly 'keen' to buy Jaypee's 4.8Mt/yr Gujarat capacity at US$160- 165/t. Jaypee want to sell it at US$180-185/t.

Jaypee Group is the India's third largest cement maker with an installed capacity of 33.5Mt/yr. Jaiprakash Associates, the flagship company of the group, holds the majority of the cement business. However, operations in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, which have a total capacity of 9.8Mt/yr, are run by Jaypee Cement, which was hived off six months ago for monetising the asset. UltraTech Cement is a part of the US$24.5bn diversified Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group. The company, along with its subsidiaries, has a cement production capacity of 52Mt/yr.

Australia: Australian building materials producer Adelaide Brighton will buy a 30% stake in a Malaysian white clinker and white cement producer, Aalborg Portland Malaysia (APM) for US$29.7m. APM is owned by Aalborg Portland A/S, a subsidiary of Italian entity Cementir Holding. The deal also secures a 10 year supply agreement with APM and continues Adelaide Brighton's efforts to access raw material given its 'maxed-out' production capability.

"The high dollar, rising power costs, the carbon tax and increasing labour costs make building a new plant in Australia too high in terms of capital expenditure costs," said Adelaide Brighton's chief financial officer Michael Kelly. He added that Adelaide Brighton needs to secure imports and that the acquisition provides a strategic position in Asia for the company.

APM is also considering a US$18.6m expansion of the plant to increase white clinker production capacity from about 2015. Imports of cementitious products, including grey and white clinker, cement and blast furnace slag are expected to increase from approximately 1.6Mt/yr in 2012 to more than 2Mt/yr in 2016.

Egypt: Ezzeldin Abu Awad, head of the Cement Traders Society, has said that the current strikes and protests in Egypt have decreased cement production by about 50%.

In comments to the Al-Ahram newspaper he added that the actual demand for cement under the infrastructure project agreements between the Egyptian government and construction firms stands at only 40%. Abu Awad attributed suspended sales to speculations on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) due to the current political tension.

Elsewhere in the Egyptian industry, Sinai Cement disclosed to the EGX that a rocket propelled grenade attack on 27 November 2012 that was attributed to one of its factories actually hit the Sinai White Cement Company not Sinai Cement's factory.

Russia: Eurocement Group expects cement product consumption to grow by 12% in Russia in 2012 and by 8% - 10% in 2013, according to its president Mikhail Skorokhod.

"We expect cement product consumption to reach 64Mt this year, compared to 56Mt in 2011. There will be growth of over 12%. This is very significant growth and all construction complex needs in Russia are covered by high quality cement from Russian manufacturers," he said. The forecast for the rise in cement consumption in 2013 is 8%-10%, to around 70Mt, this highest output in the post-Soviet period, according to Skorokhod. The production capacity of cement plants in Russia has grown by around 20Mt/yr since 2009.

Skorokhod estimated that the rise in cement prices over the 'past few years' was comparable to the rise in the cost of natural monopoly services and tariffs, from 7% to 15% per year. He predicted that the price of cement would also fall by this range as new capacity comes on line.

Eurocement announced its plans to invest US$388m in a 1.3Mt/yr plant Sverdlovsk plant on 3 December 2012. The Russian construction materials group has 16 cement plants in Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan with a combined production capacity of 39.2Mt/yr of cement.

Pakistan: Iranian cement is being sold informally in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan at below the price of locally-produced cement. A cement producer quoted by the Pakistani newspaper Dawn said that Iranian cement was selling up to 30% below the price of locally-produced cement.

The producer added that cement smuggled from Iran started arriving in Pakistan in early November 2012. The local industry pays US$15.5/t of cement on federal excise duty and sales tax. No duties are paid on the illegally-imported cement from Iran.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) chairman Aizaz Mansoor Sheikh said that his members are performing quality check on Iranian cement. The APCMA also intends to raise the issue with the Pakistan government.

Keeping in view the production capacity of local cement manufacturers, he said the APCMA would take up the matter with the government besides suggesting imposition of import duty to safeguard the local industry.

Iraq and Afghanistan are two principal markets for cement export from Pakistan, constituting 50% of the country's total exports of 9Mt/yr. Annual exports to South Africa and India are 800,000t/yr and 600,000t/yr respectively. Due to US sanctions on Iran and devaluation of Iranian currency, surplus Iranian capacity has posed direct threat to Pakistani cement in these two markets.

At the inauguration of a cement plant in the Esfahan's Na'in Township on 4 December 2012 Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad placed his country's cement production capacity at 86Mt/yr. Iran produced 66Mt in 2011 and after international economic sanctions its local capacity utilisation is estimated to be 50%. Iran plans to export 12Mt of cement in the current calendar year.

Bulgaria: Italian cement group Italcimenti will install a new 4000t/day cement production line at its Bulgarian subsidiary Denya Cement. The company is investing Euro160m and the completion date is scheduled to be 2015.

Brazil: Demand for cement rose by 8.5% year-on-year to 45.2Mt in the January to August 2012. The demand has been attributed to brickwork made from cement blocks and cement walls in booming social housing projects.

Cement demand in Brazil rose by 8% year-on-year in 2011 to 65Mt. Industry experts estimate that the use of cement systems may grow from its current level of 22% to 50%. Subsequently, cement producers are increasing their capacity. Brazil's cement capacity was estimated at 78Mt/yr at the end of 2011 and is forecast to rise by 40% to 111Mt/yr in 2016.

Meanwhile, Holcim is spending US$710m to increase its capacity from 1.2Mt/yr to 3.6Mt/yr. Queiroz Galvao is currently building a cement plant in São Luis in collaboration with the Cornelio Brennand group and is said to be planning five more plants.