Pakistan: A new production line at Attock Cement’s Hub plant in Balochistan has started operation. The line has a cement production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr and it increases the company’s total production capacity to 3Mt/yr. The line was first announced in 2015 at a cost of US$120m. Loesche provided a cement mill for the project in 2017 under contract from the Hefei Cement Research & Design Institute.

Bangladesh: Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh has completed its purchase of Holcim Cement Bangladesh for US$60.2m. The deal includes three cement grinding mills with a total production capacity of 2.2Mt/yr. Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh, formerly known as Lafarge Surma Cement, is a joint venture between LafargeHolcim, Cementos Molins and other local partners.

Vietnam: The Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation’s (Vicem) cement sales rose by 3% year-on-year to 26.6Mt in 2017. 23.6Mt of cement and clinker were sold locally and 3Mt were exported, a drop of 3%, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. In 2018 the state-owned cement producer plans to produce 19.7Mt of clinker, a rise of 2%, and to sell over 28Mt of cement and clinker, a rise of 4%. The company intends to focus on ‘high-efficiency’ products to reach this target.

India: Ambuja Cement has been ranked seventh in the Construction Material category of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSJ) 2017. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim was invited to participate in the DJSI Emerging Markets Index and beat its score from 2016. Each year about 2500 global companies, listed on the stock exchange, belonging to about 59 economic sectors, are invited to participate in the DJSI.

Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d’Algérie’s (GICA) cement production rose by 11% year-on-year to 14Mt in 2017 from 12.6Mt in 2016. The cement producer beat its own forecast of 13.2Mt for the year, according to the L’Expression newspaper. Production rose in 2017 due to the opening of its Aïn El Kebira, Sétif cement plant in the first quarter. Local production capacity is forecast to reach 40.6Mt/yr by 2020 with 20Mt/yr supplied by GICA, 11.1Mt/yr supplied by LafargeHolcim and the remainder from other companies.

Uganda: Three new cement plants or upgrades to existing plants opening in 2018 are expected to dwarf local demand. Hima Cement, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, plans to open a new 1Mt/yr grinding plant at Nyakesi, Tororo Cement is expanding its plant to 3Mt/yr and Kenya's National Cement is building a plant at Mbale, according to the Ugandan Independent newspaper. Following completion of the three projects local production capacity will rise to 6.8Mt/yr from 3.6Mt/yr. Local demand is 2.4Mt/yr.

Cement industry executives are expecting growth in the construction industry as the government starts infrastructure projects in the oil and gas sector. The cement producers also expect export markets to support local production capacity growth, particularly in South Sudan, western Kenya and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Namibia: Famers have voiced their concerns that a new cement plant being built by Cheetah Cement will affect the water supply for their livestock. The fears have arisen following a notice by the company that it intends to start blasting at the construction site, according to the Namibian newspaper. The farmers have refused to take notice of eviction orders at the site by the Otjiwarongo municipality over risks that the water borehole will become contaminated. The cement plant is a joint venture between China’s Asia-Africa Business Management and Whale Rock Cement.

Pakistan: Cement sales rose by 12% year-on-year to 22.2Mt in the last six months of 2017 from 19.8Mt in the same period in 2016. Data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers' Association (APCMA) shows that domestic consumption rose by 17.4 % to 19.8Mt from 16.9Mt, according to the Express Tribune newspaper. However, exports continued to decline in the period by 17.3% to 2.9Mt from 2.4Mt. Exports fell in most parts of the country, particularly in the south, despite increases from plants in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The APCMA has blamed this on high industry costs, foreign imports and local legislation.

Colombia: Cemex Colombia has paid a US$25.3m fine to the Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC). The penalty follows an investigation into price fixing by Cemex, Cementos Argos, and Holcim and six senior managers, according to the El Economista newspaper. However Cemex plans to lodge an appeal with the Contentious Administrative Court to reverse the fine.

The fine covers behaviour by the companies between January 2010 and December 2012. SIC’s investigation discovered that collusion between the cement producers artificially increased the price of cement by 30% despite inflation being 9% during the period.

Germany: The former Portland-Zementwerke Gebr. Seibel’s cement plant at Erwitte in North Rhine-Westphalia has rebranded within the Thomas Gruppe. The name change follows the purchase of the plant and its limestone deposits by Thomas Gruppe in late 2017.