Displaying items by tag: bagged cement

The Gambia: Minister for Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, Baboucar Ousmaila Joof, clarified in a parliamentary session that The Gambia has not increased taxes on cement imported from Senegal. The excise tax applies uniformly to all imported bagged cement to support local manufacturing. Despite challenges in penetrating the Senegalese market due to protectionist policies, The Gambia continues to promote regional trade through a trade liberalization scheme, enabling duty-free access across member states. The scheme has seen rising imports from Senegal, growing significantly from US$11.3m in 2018 to over US$44m in 2022. The minister emphasised the critical role of government support in sustaining the industry amidst challenges such as smuggling and high production costs.

The Minister said “Past studies of the manufacturing sector in the country found that more than 80% of the manufacturing units were operating less than 50% of their installed capacity due to high cost of energy, taxation and limited market space. To spur growth in the industry, the government has decided to support the industry by imposing an excise tax on the importation of bagged cement.”

UK: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials has introduced customers and investors to Heidelberg Materials UK, its UK subsidiary formerly known as Hanson UK. The latest rebrand signifies increasing collaboration across the group’s geographies as a global business with one voice. Heidelberg Materials UK will launch rebranded packaging for its cement and other products in early 2024 and transition its branding across its sites and vehicles by October 2025.

Heidelberg Materials UK CEO Simon Willis said “The construction sector faces global challenges such as climate change and the digitalisation of our industry; challenges we are better placed to meet as a strong, united group. Having a single brand name and identity sends a clear and consistent message to our increasingly global customers.” Willis added “It will allow us to work together to lead the field in driving down carbon emissions; promote the circular economy by recycling and reusing construction waste; develop digital solutions to provide added value to our customers and develop sustainable and innovative building materials.”

Jamaica: Caribbean Cement plans to increase its exports of its cement. The Gleaner newspaper has reported that the company announced its successful despatch of a 3400t shipment of cement to Turks and Caicos on 16 September 2023. The shipment consisted of 2267 jumbo bags of its higher early strength cement.

Managing director Yago Castro reassured Jamaicans that Caribbean Cement would continue to prioritise the domestic market. He continued “However, there is a market out there for us. We will actively look for opportunities to reallocate the spare capacity to the export market."

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has applied to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to use the product name Roadcem for its CEM-II Portland limestone cement (PLC) when sold in bulk. The Nigeria Tribune newspaper has reported that Lafarge Africa supplies PLC in bulk for use as a soil stabiliser in roadbuilding. It sells supplies the product bagged to retailers as Classic PLC.

SON certified Lafarge Africa's PLC under its Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme.

France: Cem'In'Eu has launched FUSIOCIM, a CEM II/C pozzolan cement, that offers a 43% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). FUSIOCIM has specific CO₂ emissions of 506kg/t. It is suitable for various concrete applications and comes in 25kg bags.

Cem’In’Eu general manager Fabien Charbonnel said "We created Cem’In’Eu with the ambition of reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry. And we are proving it today with a low-carbon offer that easily replaces traditional cements, without any change for construction professionals. We are convinced that this transition can only be done with pragmatism and taking into account the needs of users.”

Myanmar: The new port of Sittwe in Rakhine State, which opened on 9 May 2023, has received a shipment of 20,000 bags of Indian cement. Press Trust of India News has reported that the shipment left Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata, West Bengal, in May 2023.

Hungary: The government has enacted an 'architecture law' which will increase its role in decision making within the Hungarian cement industry. When it enters force in July 2023, the law will let the government set producers' cement volumes and prices. It will also require the companies to sell their products to the market-leading retail network, and will give the government a right of first refusal over future divestments.

Der Spiegel News has reported that the government previously enacted decrees that further regulated limestone production, imposed 90% 'additional mining levies' and required producers to obtain special permits to export their cement abroad. Duna-Dráva Cement, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials and Schwenk Zement, reportedly began making losses on its bagged cement sales due to the new rules. Both Germany-based owners separately received letters inviting them to sell a stake in Duna-Dráva Cement, and thanking them for their cooperation, in 2022. The sender identified themself as the owner of an 'intensively expanding group of companies' with a 'dominant position in the Hungarian building materials industry.' Anti-corruption organisation Transparency International identified the correspondent as a friend of Hungarian President Viktor Orbán.

Regarding the incoming change to the law, a representative of Heidelberg Materials said "These regulations are a total violation of all the rules of the European internal market. It is obvious that the government wants to pressure foreign cement manufacturers to sell.”

Nigeria: BUA Cement's gross earnings rose by 31% year-on-year to US$1.29bn in 2022 from US$981m in 2021. Meanwhile, the producer's net profit rose by 2.2% year-on-year to US$193m. The group said that increased bagged cement sales volumes offset the impacts of inflation and currency effects. BUA Cement's full-year finance costs were US$23m, up by a factor of six year-on-year.

Indonesia: Germany-based Beumer Group says that it has secured a contract with Semen Tonasa to supply its 40 - 50kg bag palletising system for the producer's Celukan Bawang cement plant in Bali. The system's multi-programme interface offers custom adjustment between all common packing patterns. Commissioning is scheduled for mid-late 2023.

Beumer Group said "Global influences such as delivery bottlenecks, shortages of raw materials and logistics problems continue to massively disrupt the supply chains. Nevertheless, the system provider will be able to send the machine to the customer in seven months. The target is to install and commission the machine in the third quarter of 2022."

Nepal: Palpa Cement Industries has exported cement produced at its 3000t/day Sunwal cement plant to India. Indo-Asian News Service has reported that the shipment consisted of 3000 bags of the company’s Tansen brand cement. The producer says that it will continue with daily despatches to India, subject to demand.

The Nepal government offers 8% subsidies to cement exporters which use Nepali raw materials.