Displaying items by tag: Middle East and Africa

Egypt: Titan Egypt, a subsidiary of Greece-based Titan Group, plans to invest US$63.5m over the next two years to expand production capacity and increase the use of alternative fuels to reduce costs, according to CEO Amr Reda.

The company operates two cement plants in Beni Suef and Alexandria with a combined capacity of 4.5Mt/yr, which will rise to 5.5Mt/yr following the planned expansions. Titan Egypt currently exports 30% of its production. Exports were 550,000t in 2024, with targets of 850,000t by the end of 2025 and 1Mt in 2026. Key export markets include Libya, Syria, Europe, the US and West Africa, alongside reconstruction projects in Gaza and Sudan.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement recorded a net loss of US$17m in the first nine months of 2025, marking a 130% increase from US$7.4m in the same period of 2024. Revenues for the period rose by 6% to US$51.3m, up from US$48.4m a year earlier, according to the company’s financial statements.

In the third quarter of 2025, the company’s net loss widened by 112% year-on-year to US$6.7m, compared to US$3.2m in the third quarter of 2024. Quarterly revenues fell by 6% to US$14.5m from US$15.4m in the same period of 2024. Compared to the second quarter of 2025, net losses increased by 7%, while revenues declined by 21% from US$18.5m to US$14.6m.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales rose by 7% year-on-year and 8% month-on-month to reach 5.24Mt in October 2025, the highest monthly figure since March 2021, according to a research note from Al Rajhi Capital.

All producers recorded month-on-month volume growth except Yamama Cement, which nevertheless strengthened its market leadership with a 15% share, up from 12% in the 2024 financial year. Saudi Cement followed with a 13% share, compared to 12.5% the previous year. Regionally, the Eastern Province led growth with a 17% year-on-year increase in sales, followed by the Central Region at 16%. The Northern, Western and Southern regions saw declines of 3%, 2% and 0.8%, respectively. Clinker inventories stood at 44.1Mt at the end of October 2025, down by 0.2% month-on-month.

Iraq: Operations have officially commenced at the VAN Cement Plant, according to Van Company for Industrial Investment and General Trading. The facility has a clinker production capacity of 7000t/yr and produces a range of cement types, including sulphate-resistant cement, ordinary Portland cement and CEM II. The plant will reportedly help to meet Iraq’s growing domestic demand for cement.

Morocco: Cement deliveries reached 12.3Mt at the end of October 2025, up by 11% from 11.2Mt in the same period of 2024, according to the Ministry of National Territorial Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and Urban Policy. The growth was driven by the performance of members of the Professional Association of Cement Manufacturers (APC), including Asment Temara, Ciments de l’Atlas, Ciments du Maroc, LafargeHolcim Maroc and Novacim. In October 2025, APC members recorded deliveries of 1.5Mt, up 16% year-on-year from 1.3Mt in October 2024.

Egypt: Cement production rose to 17.6Mt between January and April 2025, up from 13.4Mt in the same period of 2024, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt. Cement sales also grew to 14.1Mt, a year-on-year increase of 17%. The Cement Producers Division reports that 19 companies are operating in Egypt, with total investments exceeding US$4.8bn.

Cement exports reportedly reached US$770m in 2023, up by 14%, and US$780m in the first 10 months of 2024, up by 12%. The Export Council for Building Materials said that Egyptian cement was exported to 95 countries, led by African markets.

Egypt: The Maritime Transport Sector has reported that Egyptian ports will receive 170,000t of coal, out of a total of 500,000t of clean dry bulk cargo being delivered on the week commencing 3 November 2025.

Shipments include 60,000t of US coal for the National Cement Company at Beni Suef via Alexandria Port, 50,000t of Turkish coal for the National Cement Company at East Port Said, and a further 60,000t of US coal for Heidelberg Materials Suez Cement.

France: The Lafarge group and several former senior officials will stand trial in Paris from 4 November 2025, accused of historically financing terrorist organisations, including Islamic State (IS). The aim of the alleged payments was to maintain operations at a cement plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria. The defendants include former CEO Bruno Lafont, five former managers and two Syrian intermediaries. They face charges of financing a terrorist enterprise and, for some, breaching international financial sanctions.

Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), the group’s Syrian subsidiary, is suspected of paying several million Euros between 2013 and 2014 to jihadi groups IS and Jabhat al-Nusra to secure raw materials and allow the movement of employees and goods. The €680m Jalabiya plant, completed in 2010, continued operating until IS took control in September 2014, two years after most other multinationals had left Syria.

An internal investigation in 2017 found ‘violations of Lafarge’s business code of conduct.’ Lafarge, which merged with Holcim in 2015, has said the events predated the merger.  In October 2022, Lafarge pleaded guilty in the US to paying IS and Jabhat al-Nusra nearly US$6m and agreed to pay a US$778m penalty.

Former CEO Lafont has denied knowledge of the payments. His lawyers argue that the US plea “is a blatant attack on the presumption of innocence” and aimed to “preserve the economic interests of a large group.”

So far, 241 civil parties have joined the case. “More than ten years after the events, the former Syrian employees will finally be able to testify about what they endured: the checkpoint crossings, the kidnappings and the constant threat hanging over their lives,” said Sherpa legal officer Anna Kiefer. Lafarge faces a fine of up to €1.125m for financing terrorism, while penalties for violating the embargo could reach ten times the value of the offence. A separate investigation into alleged complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq remains ongoing.

Saudi Arabia: City Cement recorded a 6% year-on-year fall in net profit to US$25.8m in the first nine months of 2025, down from US$27.5m in 2024. This was despite a 7% rise in revenues to US$103m from US$96.5m.

In the third quarter of 2025, the company’s net profit dropped by 74% year-on-year to US$2.3m from US$9m, while revenues fell by 26% to US$25.8m from US$34.8m. Quarter-on-quarter, profit declined by 76% from US$9.7m in the second quarter of 2025, with revenues down by 31% from US$37.3m.

Kenya: Cement production rose to 920,000t in August 2025, up by 1% month-on-month from 907,000t in July 2025, keeping pace with rising demand. Consumption also reached a record 907,000t, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

The rebound follows the release of US$487m by the Treasury earlier in 2025 to clear unpaid bills to contractors, which allowed hundreds of stalled road and infrastructure projects to resume. The sector had previously contracted by 3% in the quarter ending June 2025 due to budget cuts, high material costs and reduced private lending.