India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement’s revenue grew by 2.3% year-on-year to US$57.5m in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$56.2m in the same period in 2017. It made a loss of US$1.66m compared to a profit of US$1.87m previously. Its costs rose by 13% to US$62m from US$55m, in part due to the cost of raw materials.

Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo’s sales rose in 2018 due to higher sales to medium-sized companies, the self-construction sector and the public sector. The cement producer said that this was the first year it had reported growth after five years of ‘flat’ volumes. Its sales rose by 3.5% year-on-year to US$379m from US$366m. Cement production increased by 2.6% to 2.35Mt from 2.29Mt and clinker production increased by 4.7% to 1.72Mt from 1.64Mt. Its consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 14.7% to US$112 from US$97.2m.

UAE: Arkan Building Materials has sold the closed Emirates Cement plant for US$13.6m, according to Mubasher. The unit was originally closed in late 2016 on a temporary basis due to rising gas and electricity costs. It later decided to permanently close the plant. The company continues to run its Al Ain Cement plant.

US: Port Manatee in Florida has received its first shipment of raw materials for cement production. The Osprey I delivered 47,650t of raw materials from Europe as part of a deal with Carver Companies to renovate the port. As part of the agreement arranged in mid-2018, Carver has renovated a 7.5 hectare cargo facility with deep-water access, including the rehabilitation a 425m conveyor system on the leased site.

Georgia: Mamuka Bakhtadz, the prime minister of Georgia, has officially opened a US$100m upgrade to HeidelbergCement’s Kaspi cement plant. Work on the new dry production line at the site started in mid-2016. A filtration system and equipment for continuous emission control were installed to allow for online monitoring of the plant's dust and emission volumes. The project was supported by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund and Honeywell Partners.

Guinea: Germany’s Intercem has won an order to build a new 500t/day cement grinding plant for Les Cimenteries de la Basse-Guinée. Ground breaking is scheduled for the start of March 2019. Cement production is expected in mid-2020. No value for the contract has been disclosed.

The contract includes: a raw material storage with a capacity of 12,000t; a 70t/hr cement grinding plant with a vertical roller mill with four rollers and installed power of 1.25kW and a high efficiency separator; the transport to two 1000t cement silos; two truck loading stations for bulk cement; a packing plant with eight-spout rotary packer and two loading stations for bagged cement; the sub-systems; the electrical equipment; the complete engineering; the supervision of the erection; and the commissioning. All the equipment will be delivered from European manufacturers.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement’s revenue grew by 6% year-on-year to US$6.26bn in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$5.90bn in the same period in 2017. Its net profit rose by 5% to US$308m from US$294m. The cement producer said that domestic sales had been supported by railway infrastructure projects as well as domestic housing.

India: JSW Cement has completed a 1.2Mt/yr upgrade to its Dolvi plant in Maharashtra. The unit now has a cement production capacity of 2.2Mt/yr, according to the Hindu newspaper. The plant produces Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Concreel HD, a high early strength cement product. The company is aiming to increase its production capacity to 20Mt/yr with a number of on-going expansion projects.

India: India Cement has blamed poor quarterly results on ‘severe’ competition in the south of the country and bad weather. For the year to date, its revenue grew by 3% year-on-year to US$576m in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$561m in the same period in 2017. Its profit more than halved to US$3.62m from US$9.24m.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has renamed Holcim Indonesia as Solusi Bangun following its takeover. Semen Indonesia’s corporate secretary Agung Wiharto said that the acquisition was aimed at increasing the country's cement plant network and strengthening its supply chain, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper. He added that the purchase would also benefit the company’s ready-mix concrete business. Lowered distribution and raw material costs are also anticipated.