Ukraine: The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICIT) has introduced anti-dumping duties of 33 - 51% on cement imports from Turkey for five years. The rates are variable depending on the specific manufacturer and exporter, according to the Ukrainian News Agency. This follows an investigation that was launched in September 2020 following complaints by local producers including Buzzi-Unicem subsidiary Dyckerhoff, HeidelbergCement subsidiary Kryvyi Rih Cement and CRH subsidiary Podilsky Cement. ICIT concluded that there was the threat of causing ‘significant’ harm to local cement producers due to growing exports from Turkey, large amounts of idle production capacity in Turkey, lowered domestic consumption in Turkey and a pivot of Turkish manufacturers towards export markets.

Belarus: State-owned utilities provider Beltopgaz is targeting national peat production of 11Mt in the five-year period ending on 31 December 2025. BelTA News has reported that the new target is an outcome of an on-going comprehensive modernisation of peat production in the country. The 2021 peat season ended on 1 September 2021. During the year, Belarus produced 1.5Mt of peat, 14% of the five-year target.

The cement industry currently consumes 300,000 peat briquettes per year, 43% of the total produced nationally.

Asia: France-based Fives says it has commissioned a Pillard Novaflam Evolution burner for an unnamed cement plant in East Asia. Due to the travel restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, the commissioning was carried out remotely with the cooperation of the customer. A 143MW coal and petcoke burner with oil as a start-up fuel was supplied as a replacement for an old burner. The aim of this replacement was to increase the kiln capacity to 9000t/day without impacting its NO_x emissions whilst maintaining a good clinker quality despite a high sulphur content in the petcoke. The installation is now in production and an intervention is planned in the coming weeks to further optimise the operation.

Austria: Germany-based Claudius Peters has supplied a conveyor and silos for Schretter & Cie’s integrated Vils Cement plant in Tirol. In the first part of the project Claudius Peters Projects delivered an aeroslide conveying system from the cement mill to the existing silos, including silo bottom aeration systems. For the second part, it built a silo group consisting of three 3500m³ units with expansion chamber technology equipped with truck loading facilities. Each of the silos can be operated at a loading capacity of 250t/hr by a mobile loader with a travelling range of 10m.

Oman: Oman Cement plans to upgrade its 4.2Mt/yr Rusayl cement plant. Reuters News has reported that the producers’ plans consist of a 25% capacity expansion of Line 3 of the plant to 5000t/day from 4000t/day and the construction of a new 10,000t/day Line 4. Lines 1 and 2 will subsequently shut down. Thus, the upgrade will increase the plant’s nominal clinker capacity to 15,000t/day from 8700t/day.

Kenya: Simba Cement plans to begin building a cement plant in West Pokot in 2022. The Star newspaper has reported that the Devki Group subsidiary believes the producer will complete the project 18 months after the start of construction.

Devki Group chair Narendra Raval said “The firm is currently holding public participation and consultative forums with residents and leaders of the area. We want to make sure the community makes the best out of this project.”

Brazil: Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) Cimentos plans to resume its initial public offering (IPO) of shares in mid-October 2021. The producer is aiming to raise at least US$478m. It will conclude the offering before 1 January 2022. Parent company CSN previously suspended the IPO in July 2021 due to unfavourable market conditions.

UK: 200 Hanson truck drivers began voting on proposed strike action on 10 September 2021. Building Design Online News has reported that the drivers’ union, Unite, has proposed the measure in response to a ‘hefty pay cut.’ The HeidelbergCement subsidiary offered a 2.5% pay rise to truck drivers for 2022. The union said that UK inflation was currently at 3.9%. It added that a strike would lead to a cement shortage affecting some of the country’s largest projects, including the HS2 high-speed railway. Voting will conclude on 24 September 2021.

Turkey: 120,000 members of the Construction Contractors Confederation (IMKON) downed tools on 9 September 2021 in protest against high cement prices. Emerging Market Watch News has reported that the strike will last until 21 September 2021 or until ‘satisfactory developments.’

The Ministry of Trade has tightened procedural restrictions on exporting clinker. Trade Minister Mehmet Mus is in talks with construction and cement industry representatives.

Libya: Ahmed Abuhisa, the Minister of Industry and Minerals, has laid the foundation stone for a new cement plant at Al-Shahba. Al-Shahba Cement and National Mining Corporation have signed a deal to build the 1Mt/yr plant in Cyrenaica region, according to the Libya Herald newspaper. The project is part of the ministry’s plan to localise industry in the country, provide job opportunities for young people and drive development. Al-Shahba, which is 100km from the city of Tobruk, is without paved roads and suffers from water scarcity, limited electricity access and the loss of public services.