Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Cement has been granted permission by the government to resume operations at its Claxton Bay integrated plant. It closed production in early April 2020 due to coronavirus-related government advice. General manager Guillermo Rojo said that the subsidiary of Cemex has implemented multiple protocols, including temperature testing at all access points and the activation of a local Rapid Response team.

Kenya: Bamburi Cement’s profit before tax grew by 17% year-on-year to US$6.9m in 2019 from US$5.8m in 2018. It attributed the result to cost cutting and an optimisation initiative under its ‘Building for Growth’ plan. It said that this was achieved in spite of a decline in the Kenyan cement market and lower selling prices.

“Despite market challenges, including the absence of sales to Rwanda through Hima Cement, the shelving of major infrastructural projects such as Phase 2B of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project in Kenya, contraction of the Kenyan market and price erosion fuelled by aggressive competitive pressure, both Bamburi Cement and Hima Cement grew share while sustaining respective market leadership,” said Bamburi Cement’s Group Managing Director Seddiq Hassani. He added that Bamburi Cement and Hima Cement remained resilient despite ‘challenging’ economic conditions.

The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim reported an increase in finance costs due to debt related to a capacity expansion project commissioned by Hima Cement in 2018. An impairment of assets in Rwanda was caused by its Hima Cement subsidiary in Uganda being unable to ‘access’ the market in Rwanda. The closure of the border between Uganda and Rwanda in February 2019 also further negatively impacted growth.

In Kenya, overall sales were negatively affected by the shift of volumes previously exported to Uganda from Bamburi Cement, following the commissioning of Hima Cement capacity expansion project in 2018, further reducing despatches from Bamburi Cement. In Uganda, although overall sales were negatively impacted by the inability to access the Rwanda market, Hima Cement domestic volumes grew.

Gabon: Data from the Directorate General of Economy and Tax Policy shows that national cement production rise by 10.6% year-on-year to 0.54Mt in 2019. The improving trend has been attributed to better use of existing manufacturing equipment and the resumption of activity at the CimGabon plant in Ntoum, according to the L’Union newspaper. Clinker imports also grew, by 14.6% to 0.44Mt. Overall cement sales increased by 8.5% to 0.53Mt.

Morocco: Ciments du Maroc has completed its acquisition of Atlantic Ciment and Cimsud from the Anouar Invest Group following an agreement originally signed in July 2019. The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement now owns 100% of the capital of the companies. Atlantic Ciment is building an integrated cement production plant in the province of Settat and Cimsud operates a grinding unit in Laâyoune with a capacity of 0.5Mt/yr. The cement producer said that the acquisition was part of its strategy to develop its cement, aggregates, and ready-mix concrete activities in Morocco.

India: Tata Chemicals has resumed full production of salt and sodium bicarbonate at its Mithapur site in Gujarat. It said that production levels have been matched to market demand for soda ash and cement. The 1500t/day integrated cement plant at the industrial complex manufactures two varieties of cement under the brand name Tata Shudh. Tata Chemicals has also resumed the operations at its chemical plants at Mambattu-Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu). Operations at the company’s various production sites were scaled down in late march 2020 in response to the Indian coronavirus lockdown.

Vietnam: Data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows that cement exports fell by 9.7% year-on-year to 7.73Mt in the first quarter of 2020. The value of these exports declined by 17.4% to US$301m, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. Exports to China dropped by 5.4% to 2.73Mt, exports to the Philippines dropped by 27.5% to 1.47Mt, exports to Bangladesh dropped by 5.5% to 1.34Mt and exports to Taiwan dropped by 7% to 0.46Mt.

Democratic Republic of Congo: China-based Sinoma International Engineering has announced the construction of a 1.0Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement plant in Lubudi Territory, Lualaba Province. Dow Jones Newswire has reported that the cost of the plant, which includes a lime production line, will be US$236m.

Philippines: LafargeHolcim’s sale of its 86% stake in Holcim Philippines to San Miguel Corporation for US$2.15bn has fallen through after the Philippines Competition Authority (PCC) failed to approve the deal within 12 months of its conclusion. Reuters News has reported that the agreement, dated 10 May 2020, covered the exchange of four integrated plants and one grinding plant. LafargeHolcim has been divesting assets to pay off debt. The sale of its Holcim Philippines stake would have completed its withdrawal from the South-East Asia market, where its operations across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines had been valued at US$4.90bn.

LafargeHolcim has said that three of its four integrated Philippines cement plants have been able to resume operations following the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. It says that it will ‘focus on strengthening operations in the Philippines.’

Vietnam: Vietnam Cement Association (VCA) chair Nguyễn Quang Cung has announced the suspension of all cement plant projects scheduled to begin in 2020. Cung said that oversupply and a lack of financial liquidity have made it unfeasible for cement producers to finish cement plant projects, according to Vietnam News Brief Service. The average cost of an integrated cement plant in Vietnam is US$194m.

Two projects - the 2.5Mt/yr Tan Thanh cement plant and 2.3Mt/yr Long Son cement plant - will be completed in 2020, bringing the domestic integrated production capacity of Vietnam to 106Mt/yr across 86 plants.

UK: The government has encouraged construction work to resume from 11 May 2020. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “Those who can’t work from home - thinking particularly the construction and manufacturing sectors - we are encouraging to go back to work now.” The advice follows the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s speech of 10 May 2020, in which he announced the easing of the nation’s coronavirus lockdown as it moves into its second phase. Johnson said that a second spike in infections would lead to a return to full lockdown.