Displaying items by tag: Import

The Hillhead Quarrying, Construction and Recycling Show is in full flow this week, taking place near Buxton in Derbyshire. As one delegate marvelled on the panoramic minibus journey down to the quarry, “It’s like a music festival without the music and… other stuff.” Indeed. Of course what one doesn’t find at Glastonbury and the like is a near comprehensive range of suppliers, over 600 of them, to the industry all in one place… in a quarry! Where else can one get up close and see the new hydrogen-powered generators and excavating vehicles that are being piloted? The official attendance figures don’t get released until after the event but on the ground it looks as busy as ever. It’s truly the place to be this week.

The show gives us a reason to take a look at the UK cement sector. Like many other countries around the world it is an election year in the UK, with a General Election scheduled for 4 July 2024. The result of this should determine the next Prime Minister and the ruling party. So, naturally, the MPA, the trade association for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and industrial sand industries, is taking the opportunity to remind the political parties what its priorities are. The quick version is: support for decarbonisation; a streamlined planning system; and better delivery of projects. This sounds familiar to priorities in other countries but one British spin on this includes the UK’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).

Graph 1: Domestic cement sales and imports in the UK, 2017 – 2022. Source: MPA.

Edwin Trout’s feature on the UK cement sector in the June 2024 issue of Global Cement Magazine presents a good overview of the last 12 months. The general UK economy has faced shocks in recent years such as Brexit, Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine. However, this has been further compounded by a downturn and high interest rates since late 2022 when the then Prime Minister Liz Truss caused market turbulence in the wake of a badly received government financial statement. As Trout relates, sales of heavy building materials have been in relative decline since mid-2022 with more of the same expected in 2024. Production of cement in 2023 is currently uncertain given the reporting time lag from the MPA but up until 2022 domestic cement sales fell somewhat but imports grew. This has created a situation where overall cement sales in 2022 were 12Mt, not far behind the annual level in the early 2000s. However, the share of imports has nearly doubled since then. More recent MPA data on mortar and ready-mixed concrete sales throughout the first nine months of 2023 suggest that market activity has decreased and poor weather at the start of 2024 looks set to have made this worse.

Despite the apparent slowdown in building materials sales the cement companies have been conducting smaller-scale maintenance and upgrade projects at their facilities and supply chain schemes such as the cement storage unit for deep sea shipping lines that Aggregate Industries said in February 2024 it was going to build at the Port of Southampton. The news the cement companies want to show off has been a steady stream of information about ongoing decarbonisation projects in the cement sector. C-Capture started a carbon capture trial at Heidelberg Materials’ Ketton cement works in Rutland in May 2024, Capsol Technologies said in March 2024 that it had been selected to conduct a study on its carbon capture technology at Aggregate Industries Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire, Heidelberg Materials' Ribblesdale cement plant in Lancashire announced in March 2024 that it was taking part in a study to assess the use of ammonia as a hydrogen source for fuelling cement kilns and Heidelberg Materials awarded Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) a front end engineering design contract for a carbon capture installation at its Padeswood cement plant in Flintshire in February 2024. Finally, on the divestment front, CRH completed the sale of its UK-based lime business to SigmaRoc for €155m in March 2024. The business operates from sites in Tunstead and Hindlow with five permitted lime kilns.

That’s it for this short recap on the UK for now. For a longer look at the UK cement sector read Edwin Trout’s feature in June 2024 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

Hillhead 2024 runs until 27 June 2024

Uganda: Richard Todwong, leader of the National Resistance Movement party, launched his Karamoja mobilisation tour at the clinker cement plant in Moroto District on 24 June 2024. The plant is owned by West International Holding, a subsidiary of China West Cement, and is currently under construction. Once operational in 2025, it will produce about 6000t/day of clinker and cement, according to New Vision. The project is valued at US$300m, spanning 81 hectares and employing over 1000 people in the Karamoja sub-region. Uganda imports over 50% of its clinker supply and this project will reportedly support the government’s import substitution initiative by allowing for local manufacture of clinker.

Bolivia: Cement exports from Bolivia have dropped significantly, falling from US$10.5m in 2017 to just US$0.2m in 2023, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE). Bolivia’s main export market is Paraguay, with over 95% of cement exports heading there. The decline reportedly began when the Paraguayan government started to protect its local industry by limiting imports, according to CE NoticiasFinancieras.

The Gambia: The Gambia police force has withheld permission for the Cement Importers and Traders Association to march, citing security concerns due to the upcoming Tobaski festival. This incident marks the second denial of a permit for a peaceful protest by the association.

The Trade Ministry and Jah Oil are accused of perpetuating misinformation to justify a ‘significant’ increase in cement import duties, which has affected small-scale importers and led to increased cement prices across the country, according to The Point Newspaper. This policy has reportedly benefited large-scale importers while excluding smaller ones from importing from certain foreign markets. The association criticises the government's selective enforcement of import bans and duties, which they argue supports a monopolistic agenda favouring Jah Oil, despite widespread economic and consumer impacts.

UK: The UK cement industry has welcomed the government's proposal for a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) but urged for its implementation by 2026 to align with the EU CBAM and avoid competitive disadvantages. The Mineral Products Association (MPA) and UK Concrete responded to the government’s consultation, highlighting the need to level the carbon-cost playing field between domestic production and imports, as well as to prevent high-emission cement imports from impacting the UK market. It emphasised the urgency of introducing CBAM in 2026 rather than the proposed 2027, to prevent import diversion from the EU.

The MPA is calling for accurate measurement and reporting of embodied emissions by importers, clear calculation of CBAM rates, improved transparency in UK trade data and strict enforcement procedures with high penalties for non-compliance.

MPA executive director for energy and climate change Diana Casey said "The UK has a great opportunity to accelerate the transition to net zero while securing domestic cement supply for priority construction like housing and infrastructure. A well-designed CBAM is vital to maintain the level playing field and ensuring competitiveness of domestic cement production while it continues its transition to net zero.’

The Gambia: The Gambian government has released over 300 truckloads of imported cement held at the Senegal border at Farafenni. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment described the move as a one-time measure intended to alleviate the backlog caused by a rise in import duties, by a factor of six, to US$2.66/bag. The Cement Importers and Traders Association (CITA) welcomed the release of the cement, citing concerns over a possible shortage.

Russia: Belarusian Cement has concluded a deal with the Moscow regional government to build a logistics facility in the region at Naro-Fominsk. Prime Press News has reported that the facility will cost US$22.5m. It will be equipped with ready-mix concrete, precast concrete and dry mix plants, as well as a rail terminal, storage areas and loading zones for despatches by road.

Director General Alexander Dovgalo said "This investment will not only bolster our logistics capabilities but also enhance our service quality for Russian partners and extend our market reach within Russia and the CIS member states."

France: Cem’in’log has surpassed 1Mt of clinker processed at the Sète site since its inception over four years ago, encouraging parent company Cem’in’EU to continue investments there. Since 2019, the Port of Sète has served as a key entry point for Cem’in’EU’s clinker imports, mainly from North Africa. The site's storage capacity was expanded to 300,000t/yr in 2023. A new warehouse set to increase capacity to 500,000t/yr will begin construction in summer 2024 with a €5m budget. Cem’in’log will also boost its equipment, expecting to operate six rail services weekly by the end of 2024, supporting future expansion.

General manager Jean-Yves Apard said "We are currently dispatching four to five trains per week from Sète, loaded with 1850t of clinker. By the end of 2024, with a second locomotive provided by Regiorail and handled at the port by Viia, we will increase to six trains per week."

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is enforcing stricter measures against non-compliant cement importers to protect the local market from substandard products. The DTI Bureau of Philippine Standards recently made a suspension after it conducted a market surveillance in Iloilo as part of its intensified monitoring of cement imports entering the country. The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) praised the recent actions of the DTI against cement importers, arguing that there has been ‘excessive’ and ‘unfairly priced’ volume of imported cement in the country to the detriment of local manufacturers, according to The Philippine Star.

CeMAP said “This recent action of the DTI-BPS sends a resounding message that non-compliance and unfair trade practices will not be tolerated. The impact of the DTI’s actions extend beyond the cement industry itself. A strong and competitive local cement sector is vital in supporting the Philippines’ continued infrastructure development and economic growth.”

Tanzania: Fortune Cement Co has initiated white cement production at its new plant in Mkuranga District, Coast Region, aiming to meet both domestic and international demand. The plant, which produces 200t/day of white cement, will bolster employment and increase revenue through exports under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Exaud Kigahe, said “The Ministry will collaborate to ensure that the products manufactured in this plant cross national borders and reach even the African free market.” He also noted that the new production capacity will reduce imports and create job opportunities for Tanzanian youth while enhancing foreign exchange earnings. Currently, over 50% of the raw materials for the plant are sourced locally, excluding white clinker, which is imported.