Displaying items by tag: Plant

Benin: France-based Chovet is reportedly preparing to support the construction of a 2Mt/yr integrated cement plant. Preparatory studies have been completed and construction is ready to start, according to 24 Heures au Bénin. The engineering company will be responsible for supervising all work, providing project management assistance and monitoring the quality of the installed infrastructure. The project was originally mandated at a meeting of the government’s Council of Ministers in late 2022.

Vietnam: The Ministry of Construction has reported a cement surplus to the Prime Minister, blaming a supply-demand imbalance. The country has 92 cement production lines with a capacity of over 122Mt/yr, according to the Việt Nam News newspaper. However, cement and clinker consumption was 95Mt in 2024, with 65Mt used domestically and 30Mt exported.

Planning regulations governing cement plants were relaxed in 2017. Subsequently, local authorities approved 13 new units that added 35Mt/yr in capacity. The Ministry of Construction proposed a national building materials strategy capping total cement production at 125Mt/yr by 2025 and 150Mt/yr by 2030. The ministry has also urged provincial governments to limit new cement projects to prevent excessive supply. It has proposed tightening the planning laws on building new cement plants.

The Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) has highlighted weak market demand and production constraints as major challenges to the sector. It has lobbied the government to promote housing, infrastructure and road projects to grow the cement market.

Cameroon: Cameroon will increase its cement production capacity by 4.3Mt to 12.7Mt/yr by the end of 2025 with the addition of three new plants in Édéa, according to Business in Cameroon. The new facilities will help meet local demand and support exports.

The first plant, Sino Africaine (Sinafcim) is under construction and will have a 1Mt/yr capacity. It is set to begin production in April 2025. It will employ 200 workers and 90% will be Cameroonian. The second, Central Africa Cement (CAC), has been operational for several months with a 1.5Mt/yr capacity. It currently employs 100 people and aims to reach 200. The third, Yousheng Cement, is being built near Douala and will have a 1.8Mt/yr capacity. National demand in Cameroon is reportedly around 8Mt.

Nigeria: Dangote Group has resumed construction of a 6Mt/yr cement plant in Itori, Ogun State, according to Business Insider Africa. Itori is 10km from Ewekoro, the site of a 3.9Mt/yr plant owned by Lafarge Africa. Construction of the plant is expected to be completed by November 2026. The company will also build ‘Nigeria’s largest seaport’ at the Olokola Free Trade Zone, also in Ogun State. The plant will have two lines and sits on 533 hectares of land.

Ogun State is already home to the 12Mt/yr Dangote Cement Plant in Ibese. Upon completion of the Itori project, the state’s total cement production capacity will reach 18Mt/yr. Dangote Cement reportedly has a production capacity of 52Mt/yr across Africa, with 70% of production in Nigeria.

Aliko Dangote said “We earlier on abandoned our vision of investing in the Olokola Free Trade Zone but, because of governor Dapo Abiodun’s policies and investor-friendly environment, we are back and will work with the government to return to Olokola. Plans are underway to construct the largest port in the country.”

He said that the nearly US$800m Itori cement plant should have been completed earlier, but was delayed due to opposition from former governor Ibikunle Amosun.

Vietnam: Xuan Son Group held the launch ceremony for Xuan Son Cement at the Xuan Son cement plant in Hoa Binh province on 21 February 2025. The plant spans 40 hectares, with a US$196m investment and a production capacity of 3.5Mt/yr. The plant integrates Polysius grinding technology, Flender transmission systems, Haver & Boecker automated packaging technology and electrical equipment and motors from Pfeiffer, Vacuum and ABB. Heat consumption is below 680kCal/kg of clinker, and electricity consumption is under 71kW/t of cement, according to the company. The plant uses refuse-derived fuel in the kiln, as well as waste heat recovery to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. It aims for zero NO_x and CO₂ emissions.

There are two new cement plant stories to note in Nigeria this week. Firstly, the Kebbi State Government has signed an agreement with MSM Cement to build a 3Mt/yr plant. Secondly, drilling work has started on a forthcoming 10Mt/yr plant to be built by Resident Cement in Bauchi State.

The project in Kebbi State appears to be a new one, although the government has been looking for investors for a while. The state government and a subsidiary of MSM Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) supporting the US$2.4bn initiative, according to local press. Alhaji Muazzam Mairawani, the chair of MSN Group, said that his company intends to develop the plant in four stages, each worth US$600m. The first stage has a schedule of production by early 2027. MSN Group started out in the fertiliser business and has since expanded into the oil and gas, shipping and agricultural sectors.

The project in Bauchi State has progressed further along and is bigger. The state government signed an MOU worth US$1.5bn with Resident Cement in mid-2024. The deal also includes a 100MW power plant, a dam and other amenities for the local community. Before the main announcement of the MOU, local press reported that Sinoma Nigeria Company was investing in the project. Subsequently, Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi State, said that the state owns a 10% stake in the plant.

These two new project stories follow the release of the annual reports for 2024 in recent weeks by the main cement producers in Nigeria. Global Cement Weekly touched upon this last week in its coverage of the results of major multinational building materials companies including Dangote Cement. That company’s sales revenue and earnings were boosted by growing sales volumes of cement in Nigeria. This was particularly impressive given that the country continues to face economic problems including high inflation and negative currency exchange effects. Dangote Cement said it managed to overcome these problems through “increased promotional activities and improved route to market solutions” thereby upping the market presence of its products. The company also managed to grow its exports to a record amount. It shipped 0.91Mt of clinker to Cameroon and Ghana out of a total export volume of 1.2Mt.

Graph 1: Sales revenue for large cement producers in Nigeria, 2023 - 2024. Source: Company financial reports.

It was a similar story from the two other large domestic cement companies. Lafarge Africa’s net sales grew at a similar rate to Dangote Cement in 2024 and it increased its profit after tax faster. Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, the CEO of Lafarge Africa, attributed this to the company’s “strong market positioning, operational efficiency, cost management and dedication to value creation.” BUA Cement grew its sales faster than the other two. Starting production on new production lines at its Sokoto and Obu plants is likely to have contributed to this. However, the company’s net profits rose at a lower rate than its competitors in 2024. This has been blamed on the poor market at the start of the year and negative currency exchange effects related to the loans that the company took out for its new lines.

Lafarge Africa ending on a high with its 2024 results is not surprising given that the company is currently being sold by Holcim to Huaxin Cement. The transaction is expected to close at some point in 2025. Huaxin Cement issued an update at the end of February 2025 saying that its accountants had been auditing the financial statements of Lafarge Africa. It also noted the depreciation of the Nigerian Naira in 2023 and 2024. This is all fairly standard stuff but check back later in the year to see how the sale has progressed.

The cement market in Nigeria is looking positive. New plants are on the way, the large cement producers are doing relatively well and the general economy may be improving. New entrants are also entering the market. However, consumers and legislators have increasingly questioned why the price of cement has remained so high in recent years. This continues to present a tricky situation to the market as it develops.

Sierra Leone: MACCEM will build a 0.56Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Hastings, Freetown, on a 4.4-hectare site near the Hastings Airstrip and the Jui-Masiaka Highway, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The site already houses the producer’s cement bagging plant, with civil works for the grinding plant underway. Site clearing and levelling were completed in July 2024. The remaining construction is expected to take 12-15 months.

Clinker for the plant will be imported and transported by road from the Queen Elizabeth II Quay at the Port of Freetown. The IFC is considering a debt financing package of up to US$24m.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement (JKLC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Assam government at the Advantage Assam 2.0 Investment and Infrastructure Summit.

JKLC will invest US$1.2bn over the next seven to eight years to build a greenfield cement plant.

Nigeria: The Kebbi State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with MSM Cement to build a cement plant with a production capacity of 3Mt/yr. MSM Cement has pledged to create approximately 45,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities through the project.

According to The Nation Online newspaper, the cement plant will be developed in four phases, with each cluster attracting over US$600m in investment. The chair of MSM Group, Alhaji Muazzam Mairawani, said that production will commence within two years, adding that MSM plans to expand to other states after Kebbi. The strategic location of the plant near the border allows it to take advantage of exports under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Nigeria: Bauchi State Government, in partnership with Resident Cement, has commenced work on a US$1.5bn cement plant in Diji Village, Gwana District, Alkaleri Local Government Area, according to Arise News.

Resident Cement Group Chairman Abbas Junaid stated that limestone deposits in the area are sufficient to sustain a 10Mt/yr capacity plant for 100 years. The company has begun drilling and will deploy four rigs to complete the project within two months, with full construction of the plant to begin in three months.