Displaying items by tag: Iraq

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales have risen by 13% year-on-year to US$514m for the six months to 31 December 2016 from US$454m in the same period in 2015. Its profit after tax rose by 14% to US$83m from US$73m. It attributed the increase in revenue on rising sales volumes and its cost of sales fell due to lower fuel costs.

Its cement sales volumes rose by 5.4% to 3.5Mt from 3.3Mt, although exports fell by 16.3% to 0.75Mt from 0.9Mt. Overall the cement producer reported that its market share in Pakistan grew slightly to 18.8% due to an increase in its share of domestic sales.

The cement producer reported that construction at its Punjab cement plant project is awaiting governmental approvals and that it is expected to start in June 2017. A waste heat recovery unit at its Pezu plant is planned to finish commissioning and start operation by the end of January 2017. A joint-venture 1.18Mt/yr plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo started commercial operation in December 2016 and a 0.87Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Iraq is expected to come online in August 2017.

Iraq: FLSmidth has signed a contract worth more than US$200m with Iraq Cement Co. to build a 6000t/day production line in the Al Muthana region. The contract is a full engineering, procurement and construction order, comprising engineering, all FLSmidth equipment supplies, erection and construction, as well as commissioning and training once completed.

"By signing the contract, Iraq Cement Co. is making the first step in raising financing for the project, which is an important milestone in its pursuit to realise the project. We are pleased to have been selected to support it on that journey. FLSmidth has a long history in Iraq and the Middle East and is maintaining its leading role in serving the rapidly-expanding cement market. The growing economy and increasing infrastructure investments in the region continue to offer business opportunities," said Group Executive Vice President of the Cement Division, Per Mejnert Kristensen.

Iraq: China Machinery Engineering Corporation has signed a US$250m deal to build a cement plant at Qarachog. Once operational the unit will produce 6000t/day of clinker. The scope of the contract includes project design, supply, civil construction, installation, training and commissioning. Once construction starts the project will take 22 months to complete.

Iraq: Lafarge Iraq has signed an agreement with Iraq's General Company for Land Transportation (GCLT) for the transportation of cement. The contract is the largest in the history of the GCLT, which is owned by Iraq's Ministry for Transport. The deal will run for one year, and may be further extended for five years. Lafarge Iraq operates three cement plants: Bazian and Tasluja cement plants located in Sulaimania, in the Iraqi Federal Region of Kurdistan, and the Karbala Cement Plant located close to Karbala province.

Iraq: LafargeHolcim's subsidiary in Iraq has signed an agreement with the General Company for Land Transport to transport 0.5Mt/yr of cement in 2016. If successful the deal could be extended for five years, according to local press. The contract is the largest in the General Company for Land Transport's history.

Iran: Shahryar Geravandi, the manager of Saman Cement at Kermanshah in western Iran, has warned that Iraq's high import tariffs on cement has put the Iranian cement industry in crisis. Geravandi said that Iranian cement plants now face overcapacity, according to the Tasnim News Agency. He added that finding new markets for the surplus cement would be hampered by high transport costs.

Iraq: Iraq intends to remove a ban on import of Iranian cement according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, the secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. In comments reported by the Fars News Agency, Sheikhan said that Iranian and Iraqi officials had held several meetings on the issue.

He added that Iraq had banned cement imports due to security problems in the country and the falling oil price. Iraq’s cement demand is currently met by its own domestic production. Previously, Iraq took 60% of Iran’s exports of cement. However, in the last year Iraq increased its import tax on Iranian cement to US$13/t from US$4/t.

Iran: Iran cement exports fell by 20% year-on-year to 18.5Mt in the financial year that ended on 20 March 2016 according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. In comments to the Islamic Republic News Agency Sheikhan blamed the fall in exports on security problems in the region including Iran’s main export market in Iraq. In the previous financial year Iraq represented 60% of Iran’s export market for cement.

Sheikhan noted that Iraq increased its tariffs on imports of cement to US$13/t from US$4/t in the previous year and raised tariffs to US$72/t in the latest financial year. He added that Azerbaijan had increased its cement production capacity that had also reduced its reliance on Iranian cement exports.

Iran: Iran produced roughly 60Mt of cement in the last Iranian calendar year, which started on 21 March 2014. Of the total, 18Mt was exported, of which 80% went to Iraq, according to Shahriar Geravandi, a member of Iran's Cement Industries Association Board of Directors. He added that Iran is seeking new export markets. According to Geravandi, there are 68 cement plants in Iran.

Iraq/Pakistan: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved Attock Cement Pakistan Limited's (ACPL) request to establish a cement production unit in Iraq.

The ECC meeting, chaired by finance minister Ishaq Dar, approved the proposal to allow Attock Cement Pakistan Limited (ACPL) to remit US$24m for the establishment of a grinding plant in Basra, starting from March 2015 onwards. The proposed investment venture is expected to bring foreign exchange through dividends repatriation and growth in clinker exports. As ACPL intends to hire 50% of its labour force from outside Iraq, the venture is expected to create employment opportunities for Pakistanis.