Displaying items by tag: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: United Cement Group subsidiary Qizilqumsement says that it has awarded contracts for the upgrade of Lines 1 and 2 at its Qizilqum cement plant in Navoiy Region. Uzbekistan Newsline has reported that the producer has completed testing to ascertain the lines' parameters of operation, fuel and energy consumption and output. This will inform its decisions, with a view to reducing the cost of clinker production.

Qizilqumsement is currently in the process of building the Qizilqum plant's new 767,000t/yr Line 4, which will also increase its clinker capacity by 657,000t/yr. The producer expects this to lower the cost of its clinker production by 30%.

Russia/Uzbekistan: The US Department of State has imposed sanctions upon USM Holding including its subsidiaries Akkermann Cement and USM Cement in Russia, and Akhangarancement in Uzbekistan. The action is intended to target company owner Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov and his various business interests. Other USM companies in the iron, steel, copper, gold, telecommunications and real estate sectors are also affected.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control noted that Usmanov was, “one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, with vast holdings across multiple sectors of the Russian Federation economy as well as internationally.” It added that he was linked to multiple senior Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Dmitry Medvedev, current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former President and Prime Minister of Russia. Usmanov has also been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK.

These latest US sanctions are in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Companies on the sanction list are forbidden to conduct business transactions with any US citizens.

Akkermann Cement operates two cement plants and a network of 12 terminals in Russia. It acquired a majority stake in Uzbekistan-based Akhangarancement in early 2022.

China: Anhui Conch’s sales fell by 21% year-on-year to US$19.2bn in 2022 from US$24.4bn in 2021. Its net profit dropped by 52% to US$2.31bn from US$4.84bn. Sales volumes of cement and clinker decreased by 24% to 310Mt. It blamed the situation on weakening market demand and high energy costs.

New projects that started operation in 2022 included a capacity replacement scheme at its Anhui Chizhou Conch Cement subsidiary and two new clinker production lines at the Qarshi project in Uzbekistan. The group also completed its acquisition of Chongqing Duoji Renewable Resources, Naimanqi Hongji Cement and Chifeng Hahe Cement. By the end of 2022 its cement and concrete production capacities rose by 1% to 269Mt and 73% to 25.5Mm³. Its solar power capacity also more than doubled to 475MW.

Uzbekistan: A total of 14.6Mt of cement was produced in 2022, equivalent to 415kg/capita. The world average was 519kg/capita. Production rose by 69.3% between 2017 and 2022, in line with a 71.5% increase in construction rates.

China/Uzbekistan: Anhui Conch has released an update on some of its major development projects. Its new plant at Tashkent in Uzbekistan has an investment of around US$260m. The company reports that 30,000m² of equipment and materials have arrived, the rotary kiln supporting wheels have been hoisted in place, the main body installation of the coal mill has been completed, the structure of the dormitory building has been capped and the main factory area has begun to take shape. It is also building a plant at Brakbash District in Andijan State. Civil engineering and main engineering construction are reportedly underway. The company also has a third cement plant in the country. So far the group has built over 10 cement plants outside of China.

In China, Anhui Conch is building a CO₂ energy storage demonstration project at its Baimashan cement plant in Wuhu, Anhui province. The group says that, once complete, the project will be the world's first commercial demonstration project of a CO₂ energy storage system. It says that during the low power consumption period, the excess power will be used to compress CO₂ at normal temperature and pressure into a liquid. The heat energy generated during the compression process will be stored. The stored heat energy will then be used to heat the liquid CO₂ back into a gas, driving the turbine to generate electricity, reducing the cost of electricity. The demonstration project has an area of 40,000m².

The cement producer says it is working towards a model of ‘one base and five industries’ where cement production links to other industries such as new energy, new materials, environmental protection, the digital economy and the promotion of international trade.

Uzbekistan: The government has ordered a partial transition of industries, including cement, to coal fuel from natural gas. The Turan Information Agency has reported that the ordinance, entitled Accelerating the Introduction of Renewable Energy Sources and Energy-Saving Technologies, will create an additional coal demand of 1.63Mt/yr and reduce national gas consumption by 926Mm²/yr. From 1 April 2023, the government will halve tariffs on coal imports, while the construction of new gas pipes to industrial facilities will be banned from 1 May 2023.

Uzbekistan: Cement sales via the Uzbek Commodity Exchange fell by 24% year-on-year to 6.9Mt in 2022. Monthly sales hit a high of 0.82Mt in June 2022, according to Uzbekistan Newsline. Qizilqumcement retained a 40% share of sales but Akhangarancement’s share fell to 19% from 22% previously and Almalyk MMC’s share dropped to 12% from 23%.

By region Tashkent and the Tashkent region held a 25% market share, the Surkhandarya region a 13% share, the Bukhara region a 12% share, the Navoi and Kashkadarya regions a 10% share and the Samarkand and Jizzakh regions held a 8% share each. Data released by the national Agency of Statistics revealed that overall ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production fell by 3% to 11.4Mt in 2022 from 11.8Mt in 2021.

Kyrgyzstan: Cement producers exported 574,500t of cement during the first 10 months of 2022, down by 4.7% year-on-year from 10-month 2021 levels. Central Asia News has reported that cement prices fell by 13% to US$42/t. In value, exports fell by 17% to US$24.2m. Neighbouring Uzbekistan was the major recipient of Kyrgyz cement exports.

Uzbekistan: Turkey-based engineering company Deha Tech says that it is 95% of the way to completion of its construction of a new grinding plant in Tashkent. The supplier says that it expects to commission the new facility in late January 2023. It thanked employees and partners for all of their efforts towards helping it realise the project. Deha Tech secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the work in 2020.

Tajikistan: Cement production fell by 7% year-on-year to 2Mt in the first half of 2022 from 2.16Mt in the same period in 2021. The Avesta News Agency reports no reason for the decline but it noted that the construction sector had grown so far in 2022. The country’s cement industry exports around 1.5Mt/yr to neighbouring countries including Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.