Displaying items by tag: trade

Uzbekistan: 488,700t of cement were exported from Uzbekistan into Kyrgyzstan in the first nine months of 2025, according to the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan is the main market for cement exports from Uzbekistan, accounting for 41% of the total 1.2Mt in the nine-month period. Other major consumers of cement from Uzbekistan included Kazakhstan (317,000t) and Afghanistan (273,000t).

Rwanda: Narendra Raval, Executive Chair and CEO of Devki Group, owner of Cimerwa, has announced an commitment to make Rwanda fully self-sufficient in terms of cement production ‘in the near future.’ Raval made the remarks on 14 November 2025 during a customer engagement meeting with stakeholders and distributors in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Cimerwa is Rwanda’s only integrated cement manufacturer, and is currently upgrading its facilities with a new US$190m clinker line.

Raval reported that Rwanda already makes 86% of the cement that it consumes, with imports falling from 360,000t/yr to just 72,000t/yr ‘in recent years.’ He said “I have promised myself, my staff and the country that by the next budget meeting, we will achieve a 100% import-free Rwanda.” The next Rwandan budget will run from 1 July 2026. Going further, Raval added “We will make Rwanda a net exporter of both clinker and cement within two years.”

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.

Asia: Three national sustainability certification providers have signed a tripartite mutual recognition agreement for harmonised green label criteria for cement products. Ecolabel Sri Lanka, the Singapore Green Labelling Scheme and Thai Green Label agreed to the mutual recognition of each other’s certification of cement. Through the collaboration, the bodies aim to enhance market access to environmentally preferable products across South and South East Asia, Daily FT News has reported.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Egypt met with representatives of the cement sector last week to discuss the local market. The key topics were prices, increased production capacity and restarting suspended production lines. Then this week it was revealed that the government was preparing to issue two new cement plant licences by the end of 2025. So, what’s been happening in the local sector?

Readers may recall that the Egyptian government tackled overcapacity issues by way of cement production quotas back in 2021. This solved the immediate problems at the time but, since then, there has been a growing problem with local producers focusing on export markets to the detriment of the domestic market. For example, there was a shortage of cement reported in mid-2024 due to a shortage of trucks. Large quantities of these were being used, it transpired, to transport cement to neighbouring Libya. For more on this read Global Cement Weekly #760.

The price of cement peaked earlier in 2025. At this point the government took action by limiting cement exports to no more than 30% of a company’s production volume and by abolishing the quota system. It later reviewed the status of eight idle production lines in an effort to get them running again. Prices subsequently eased according to local media reports. Before the changes, the Cement Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries said that the country had a production capacity of 76Mt/yr from 46 lines. Domestic consumption was estimated at 46Mt/yr and exports at 20Mt/yr giving a utilisation rate 87%. Note that this export figure is 30% of the total production of the country as a whole. For the first half of 2025, production increased by 24% year-on-year to 30.7Mt from 24Mt in the same period in 2024. Exports rose by 11.5% to 9.7Mt from 8.7Mt. However, data from Al Arabiya Business shows that exports fell by 25% in May and June 2025 following the government action. Production grew by 16%.

Vicat’s financial report for the first half of 2025 reported that export sales volumes in Egypt represented over 50% of the local subsidiary’s total sales volumes. It also noted that the domestic price surpassed the export price during the reporting period. Titan Group said that its local business had experienced an ‘impressive turnaround’ due to a construction boom in the country. It said that its plants operated at ‘high capacity’ with an alternative fuels (AF) thermal substitution rate of around 40%. It added that it was intending to expand storage capacity to support growing export volumes. By contrast, Cementir endured a tougher trading period due, in part, to less exports following technical problems related to the restart of a local production line.

A source quoted by Al Arabiya from the Export Council for Building Materials noted that there had been a ‘significant’ decline in exports to several major markets, including Libya, Lebanon, the US, Ivory Coast and Ghana. That anonymous source also warned that, if the problem with the domestic market could not be resolved quickly, then the sector risked losing export markets where reconstruction work was taking place. These comments were mirrored by Adam Khalil, a Building Materials Sector Analyst at Al Ahly Pharos Securities, who told local media this week that the anticipated reconstruction of Gaza presented benefits for Egypt-based construction and building materials companies. In particular, he noted the proximity of Sinai Cement to the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the latest ceasefire between Gaza and Israel appears to have been breached.

The other part of the government action has been focusing on increasing AF substitution rates. At the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister this month the stated aim was to reduce production cuts. To this end, a report on the number of waste recycling plants was reviewed and compared to the requirements of each cement plant. The government intends to set up ‘practical implementation mechanisms’ to maximise the usage of AF. Energy sources have been a particular bugbear for the cement sector in Egypt historically as the government has encouraged producers to switch fuels from time to time.

The wider economy in Egypt continues to face headwinds. Cementir, for example, in its half year report said that the country’s economy was “...being held back by high inflation, devaluation, rising energy costs, pressure on manufacturing industries and a revision of the state budget with the suspension of infrastructure projects.” However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its growth forecast for Egypt in 2025 and 2026 in mid-October 2025. The decision by the government to cap exports of cement and cut the production quota marks a serious change since 2021. It is clearly watching the situation closely. The timing from roughly in the middle of the year should make the effects clear to see in the annual reports in early 2026. We will wait until then.

India: Ambuja Cements has placed a US$100m order for seven 19,000dwt bulk carriers from China-based Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the vessels will serve logistics operations at the company’s 6.1Mt/yr Sanghi Cement plant in Gujarat.

Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan: The head of Kazakhstan’s Cement and Concrete Producers Association (QazCem), Erbol Akimbayev, has claimed that Uzbekistan’s Cabinet of Ministers issued a confidential order in July 2025 that disrupted cement exports from Kazakhstan, ‘severely impacting’ bilateral trade.

Akimbayev alleged that the document requires Kazakh exporters to declare cement at a price 10 times higher than normal and pay taxes accordingly, making exports unprofitable, according to local press.

Akimbayev said “As a result, in August 2025, imports of Kazakh cement to Uzbekistan dropped to zero for the first time in seven years. At that price, no one in Uzbekistan will buy it. But if Uzbekistan acts this way, Kazakhstan has every right to introduce reciprocal measures.”

He added that the association is in discussions with government bodies and industry partners, warning that reciprocal measures could lead to a fall in imports from Uzbekistan. He suggested that Uzbekistan is seeking to protect its domestic producers amid market oversupply ‘by any means necessary.’

Spain: Maritime traffic between the ports managed by the Valencia Port Authority - Valencia, Sagunto and Gandia - and Israel rose by 25% in 2024. The ports of Valencia and Sagunto maintain a direct connection with Ashdod, 40km south of Tel Aviv. Since the start of the conflict in Gaza and until September 2025, Israel has imported more than 165,000t of white cement from the Port of Valencia, compared to virtually none in 2023, according to official data from the Port of Valencia via the El Diario newspaper. Up to 15 ships carrying white cement from Çimsa Cementos’ Buñol plant have reportedly departed from Sagunto for Ashdod. Industry experts said these exports represent around 12% of Buñol’s 700,000t/yr capacity. For comparison, Holcim’s Sagunto plant produces 110,000t/yr of white cement.

Philippines: The Tariff Commission (TC) has recommended the imposition of a US$1.24/t safeguard duty on cement imports to protect the domestic industry from rising competition.

The commission said domestic cement qualifies as a ‘like product’ and directly competes with imports, which have been arriving in increased volumes. It concluded that the increase in imports had caused serious injury to local producers.

The proposed safeguard covers ordinary Portland cement type 1 and blended cement. It is designed as a temporary measure to provide relief and allow the local industry time to adjust to import pressures. The impact is expected to be greater on lower-priced shipments, as the equivalent ad valorem rate will depend on the import value. Cement imports from developing countries with de minimis volumes, including Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand will be exempt. The Department of Trade and Industry will determine whether new exporting countries qualify under this exemption. The commission also clarified that the safeguard is temporary and will be gradually liberalised, allowing competition to normalise over time.

Mauritania/Algeria: Ciment du Nord has signed a supply agreement with Algeria’s state-owned Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algérie (GICA). The deal marks the first direct partnership between the two companies and will set clinker export volumes to Mauritania, with pricing terms still reportedly under negotiation.

“Thanks to this agreement, we will import the raw materials needed to manufacture cement directly from Algeria. The Mauritanian market is important, and this partnership will have a positive impact,” said Mohamed Abdallah Ould Zein, CEO of Ciment du Nord. Ould Zein added that the agreement is expected to strengthen Mauritania’s cement industry by securing direct clinker supply from Algeria and reducing reliance on intermediaries.