Taiwan/Turkey: Taiwan Cement plans to spend up to US$1.1bn on setting up a new joint venture with Turkey’s OYAK Cement. Through a new subsidiary, Dutch TCC Holdings, it intends to create a new business that will be 60% owned by OYAK Cement and 40% by Taiwan Cement. It will hold talks with OYAK Cement and if an agreement is reached the new company will operate OYAK Cement’s business in Turkey giving Taiwan Cement its first presence outside of Asia.

OYAK Cement is owned by Ordu Yardimlasma Kurumu (OYAK), the pension fund of the Turkish Armed Forces. It operates 13 integrated cement plants in Turkey with a production capacity of around 12Mt/yr. It holds a 16% market share. The plans with Taiwan Cement follow OYAK Cement’s purchase of InterCement’s operations in Portugal and Cape Verde.

Taiwan Cement hopes to gain access to the local market and the wider Mediterranean region. It said that, although it holds a production capacity of 75Mt/yr in the Greater China Region, government peak production limits and market saturation had forced it to expand internationally.

India: India Cements has entered into a share purchase agreement to buy Springway Mining for around US$25m. It says it has made the purchase to build a new cement plant in Madhya Pradesh. The cement producer plans to build a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant in East Nimar, according to the Hindu newspaper. Springway Mining operates a mining and quarrying business.

India: RCCPL, a subsidiary of Birla Corporation, has approved an expansion to its cement grinding plant at Kundanganj in Uttar Pradesh. A new 1.2Mt/yr third line at the unit will increase the plant’s total production capacity to 3.2Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. The upgrade is expected to cost around US$34m and be completed by the end of the 2020 – 2021 financial year. The cement producer is building the new production line to meet demand in central India.

Philippines: The Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) has rejected any move to impose tariffs on cement imports, as this will only increase construction costs. The PCA said that imposition of safeguard measures would ‘adversely’ affect customers, according to the Philippines News Agency. In a position paper it has argued that cement imports counteract alleged price rises from cartel-like behaviour. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) started an investigation into cement imports in September 2018 amid reports of declining revenue from local producers.

China: Anhui Conch Cement’s revenue rose by 55% year-on-year to US$11.2bn in the first nine months of 2018 from US$7.19bn in the same period in 2017. Its net profit nearly doubled to US$3.06bn from US$1.47bn.

Malaysia: Gebr. Pfeiffer has registered a company in Malaysia. The German engineering company originally opened an office in the country in 2016 and it has now established a private limited company to further support its clients in Southeast Asia. The new company held its official opening in early August 2018 and it has seven members of staff.

Gebr. Pfeiffer Malaysia will offer presales, technical and service support from its office in Kuala Lumpur. Gebr. Pfeiffer Malaysia will also maintain one of four global spare parts centres offering shorter delivery times for critical spare and wear parts.

Brazil/Portugal/Cape Verde/Turkey: Brazil’s InterCement has sold its operations in Portugal and Cape Verde to Turkey’s OYAK Cement for an undisclosed amount. The sale includes three integrated cement plants and two mills, with a total cement production capacity of 9.1Mt/yr, 46 concrete units, two dry mortar units, 17 quarries and a cement bagging plant. The completion of the agreement is dependent on regulatory approval.

InterCement, part of Camargo Corrêa group, purchased a majority stake in Portugal’s Cimpor in 2012, including assets in Portugal and Cape Verde. It says it will allocate a portion of the net proceeds from the sale to reduce its debts. Following completion of the transaction the Brazilian building materials company intends to focus its cement business in South America and Africa. In these regions it holds 39Mt/yr of installed production capacity at 35 cement plants.

Laos: The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has ordered regional departments of industry and commerce to stop issuing import licences for cement and steel. Instead, imports of these products will be regulated by customs officials at border crossings, according to the Vientiane Times newspaper. The move is intended to improve the efficiency of business operations in the country as part of an on-going import and export plan to 2020.

Nigeria: Domestic sales volumes of cement by Dangote Cement grew by 11.7% year-on-year to 10.8Mt in the first nine months of 2018, from 9.6Mt in the same period in 2017. However, sales in Sub-Saharan Africa grew slightly to 7Mt due to lower sales in Tanzania, disruptions due to civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction in exports from Nigeria to Ghana. This was mitigated by growing sales volumes in Zambia. Sierra Leone and the start-up of operations in the Republic of Congo. The cement company’s revenue rose by 13.5% to US$1.89bn from US$1.66bn and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 14.6% to US$928m from US$810m.

“Nigerian sales were affected by serious flooding in September 2018 and although Pan-African sales were flat, we will see soon increased sales from Tanzania, now that its gas turbines are installed, and from Ethiopia as local community issues are resolved. We have launched new products in Nigeria that we believe will help us improve our leadership position in Africa’s most exciting market for cement,” said Joe Makoju, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s net sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$667m in the first nine months of 2018 from US$610m in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 16.3% to US$199m from US$171m. It attributed the growth to building demand and rising prices in both the US and Mexico. Notable events in the third quarter of 2018 included: the operational integration of the Trident cement plant in Montana; completion of construction of the Rapid City, South Dakota plant expansion and start of the tie-in process; and reactivation of two idled kilns in Chihuahua to meet growing demand in the US and Mexico.