Kenya: Cement consumption has fallen for the first time since 2000. It fell by 8.2% year-on-year to 6.2Mt in 2017 from 6.7Mt in 2016, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported on by the Daily Nation newspaper. Reduced demand for building materials in the construction sector occurred at the same time as a fall in the value of building plans approved in 2017.

Colombia: Cement production fell by 3.3% year-on-year to 2.9Mt in the first quarter of 2018 from 3Mt in the same period in 2017. Local despatches fell by 5.45 to 2.84Mt from 3Mt, according to data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).

France: ArcelorMittal plans to increase its stake in Ecocem France to 49% from 30% by the end of May 2018. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Irish Competition Authority. The French subsidiary of Ireland’s Ecocem was set up in 2007 by ArcelorMittal and Ecocem Materials.

Ecocem produces slag cement from ground granulated blast furnace slag. Ecocem France operates a 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant at Fos-sur-Mer near to an ArcelorMittal plant. It plans to open a second 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant at Dunkirk in May 2018. The new plant is intended to target western and northern France as well as export markets in the UK and Belgium.

Czech Republic: Cement Hranice’s cement sales rose by nearly 9% year-on-year in 2017 due to despatches to fellow subsidiaries of Buzzi Unicem in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Its overall sales rose by 6.3% to Euro61.5m from Euro57.9m, according to the Czech News Agency. Board member Roman Michalcik said that the local construction sector had grown in 2017 due to good weather towards the end of the period and large local infrastructure projects.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 21.6% year-on-year to US$114m in the nine month of its financial year to the end of March 2018 from US$145m in the same period in 2016. It noted that its cost of sales rose by 16.9% due to rising coal and other fuel prices. Its gross revenue rose by 7.1% to US$439m from US$410m. Cement production rose by 11.1% to 5.79Mt from 5.2Mt.

The cement producer added that it is expanding production at its Pezu plant by 2.6Mt/yr due to delays with its expansion plans elsewhere in the north of the country. Approvals from the government have been secured. The US$152m upgrade project is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2019. It is also building a US$109m integrated cement plant at Samawah in Iraq. The joint-venture project with a local partner will have a cement production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr when operational. Commercial production is currently scheduled for end of 2019.

India: Dalmia Bharat has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Tourism to maintain the Red Fort heritage monument for US$0.75m/yr. The deal is part of the government’s ‘Adopt a Heritage project’ initiative to persuade private companies to look after the operations and maintenance of national monuments.

Peru: UNACEM’s cement despatches for the first quarter of 2018 have fallen slightly due to a contraction in the construction market, delayed infrastructure projects and political instability leading to lower private investment. The cement producer’s income rose by 8.9% year-on-year to US$147m in the first quarter of 2018 from US$135m in the same period in 2017. Its clinker production fell by 12.9% to 1Mt and its cement production fell by 0.6% to 1.2Mt. It attributed the fall in production to a scheduled maintenance shutdown of its Atocongo plant. However, clinker exports through the Port of Conchán increased to 0.28Mt in the period.

Russia: An investment deal has been signed between the Government of Bashkortostan, the Sichuan-Sibay Industrial Park and Jiunghe Sichuan Environmental Protection Company to build a 1.8Mt/yr cement plant in Sibay. The project has a cost of Euro168m, according to the RBC News Agency. Once operational the unit is expected to create around 200 jobs. The project as orignally scheduled to open in 2018 but construction work at the site has not started yet. Further repoting by the Russian Construction trade magazine says that the general contractor for the project will be Sinoma.

China: China National Building Materials' operating revenue rose by 40% year-on-year to US$394m in the first quarter of 2018 from US$281m in the same period of 2017. Its net profit more than doubled to US$77.4m from US$23.6m.

France: The French government reportedly asked the US not to target Lafarge Syria’s Jalabiya cement plant during military operations in 2014. Emails seen and reported upon by Reuters suggest that France's Syria envoy, Franck Gellet, asked the French Foreign Ministry to protect the cement plant while it was in Islamic State controlled territory. The request to ‘not to do anything about this site without checking with us first’ was then passed to US officials. Neither the French Foreign Ministry nor LafargeHolcim commented on the emails when asked by Reuters.

LafargeHolcim is being investigated in France over claims that Lafarge Syria had paid extremist groups to keep a cement plant operational after the outbreak of war in Syria. Six former Lafarge executives have been charged so far with financing a terrorist organisation.