Displaying items by tag: Roads

India: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has asked the government to restart home and road building to help cement producers. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that all construction work has stalled since 25 March 2020 due to the coronavirus lockdown. The FICCI believes that Indian cement demand is currently set to decline by 10-12% year-on-year. To relieve the sector, the FICCI urged the Indian government to lift the lockdown in metropolitan areas in order to allow the continuation of residential construction, which accounts for 60-65% of cement demand.

To protect domestic producers from any import dumping post-crisis, the FICCI has suggested that Indian cement sales should be subsidised. It also requested a ‘relaxation of environmental emission norms’ until mid-2022 ‘to save the industry from additional capex expenses.’

Colombia: Mexico-based Cemex has announced the resumption of operations at its 2.8Mt/yr Caracolito plant in Ibagué, Tolima Department on 13 April 2020. Noticias Financieras News has reported that Cemex Colombia will resume the supply of its products to ‘infrastructure and public works that cannot be suspended, as well as for emergency care projects and road projects.

Cemex will have to wait for the Colombian government to lift its coronavirus lockdown to restart supplies to customers.

Russia: Russian producers sold 2.4Mt of cement in January 2020, up by 9.6% from 2.2Mt in January 2019. This is in line with Unioncement’s optimistic forecast of 6% year-on-year demand growth. The coming construction season promises sustained growth due to the planned renovation of housing stock, the implementation of integrated development projects and an increased share of roads built using cement concrete, in line with the country’s 2020 Housing and Urban Environment programme and President Putin’s social initiatives.

UK: CemFree cement-free concrete has been applied volumetrically for the first time in a 52m3 repair to the Woodford West Viaduct on the M25 London ordbital motorway in Essex. The reason behind the choice of method was the unavailability of batching plants at night, which was the only time that a team of Jackson, DB Group and Axtell employees working on behalf of Connect Plus were permitted to perform the work on the UK’s busiest road. CemFree said that 9.4t of CO2 emissions were cut by comparison to the same project undertaken with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Jackson director of highways Paul Watson said, “We hope this marks a turning point on the M25 and the wider Highways sector for using low carbon alternatives.”

Cemfree uses 95% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and a 5% alkali activator, removing the need for cement. This gave CO2 emissions of 114kg/t, which the company says is 77% lower than conventional (OPC).

Russia: Siberian Cement’s production increased by 3.0% year-on-year to 3.2Mt in 2019 from 3.1Mt in 2018. The company estimated that demand over the period in Siberia, Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal region grew by 4.4% year-on-year to 5.3Mt/yr from below 5.1Mt/yr in 2018. Siberian Cement owner Sibtsem Holding Company’s first vice president Gennady Rasskazov suggested mining and metallurgical projects, the bridging of the River Ob and infrastructure development for the World Youth Hockey Championship 2023 as factors contributing to the rise in demand.

Germany: Buzzi-Unicem subsidiary Dyckerhoff has paved the 3700m2 of road outside the limestone quarry at its 0.4Mt/yr integrated Geseke plant in North Rhine-Westphalia. It used a concrete blend containing PKZ Doppel N cement produced at the Geseke plant, which it applied to a thickness of 20cm over an asphalt base. Dyckerhoff made the decision to pave the road ‘to minimise dust emissions, especially in prolonged dry spells.’ It says the concrete’s low water content and good compression give the road a strength rating of 50N/mm2.

India: Market researcher Fortune Business Insights has forecasted market growth of 5.2% in the cement industry to US$463bn in 2026 from US$313bn in 2019. It conjectured that global improvements in road quality and investments in high-grade products will drive growing demand. The industry will meet this demand through advances in cement production and a reduction in the number of companies consolidating operations.

In India, the government’s ‘Housing for All by 2020’ scheme is set to kick-start consumption.

China: Cement or asphalt roads will connect every settlement in China by 31 December 2019, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Transport. Sichaun province is the last part of the country to receive fully paved roads, which were yet to reach one town and one village as of 15 December 2019. Xinhua’s China Economic Information Service has reported that China has invested US$87.5bn in the construction of 6.34 million km of auxiliary roads since it began construction of the system in 2003.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has responded positively to the government’s announcement that it will be subdividing its annual contracts for road maintenance between new concessionaries besides CMS’s 51% subsidiary PPES Works in 2020. “Competition in any market naturally breads competitive efficiency. This can only be good for the public and road users,” said CMS Group Managing Director Isaac Lugun. “We maintain the lion’s share,” he added.

Colombia: Cementos Argos Colombia supplied around 220,000m³ of concrete and over 8000t of cement for the constriction of the Oriente Tunnel. The road infrastructure project near Medellín in Antioquia is scheduled to be commissioned in mid-August 2019. Work on the project started in 2015. The tunnel had an investment of around US$300m and it will be the longest operational road tunnel in South America when it opens.