Global Cement News

Pakistan: Attock Cement expects that its cement despatches will decline by 10% year-on-year in the 2025 financial year. During a corporate briefing it revealed that local despatches of cement had fallen by 20% year-on-year to 7.91Mt in the first quarter to 30 September 2024 from 9.87Mt in the same period in 2023, according to the Pakistan Press International news agency. The decrease was more pronounced in the south of the country than the north. Despite this, exports grew by 22% to 2.14Mt. The company’s turnover and profit also fell during the reporting period.

The company is currently investing US$4.5m in a 4.8MW wind power unit. The project is intended to reduce the company’s reliance on the local electricity grid and reduce power costs generally. It is expected to become operational from January 2025. The cement producer is also planning to increase its usage of alternative fuels to further bring down production costs.

Malaysia: Masiung Banah, the chair of Borneo Cement, has said that no forest clearance is taking place at the site of a proposed integrated cement plant in Tongod region. He explained that logging had taken place at the site before the project was proposed, according to the Star newspaper. The company added that it holds Environmental Impact Assessment approval to build a quarry and connecting road. It made a statement on the issue in response to the issue being raised by the Warisan Party at the Sabah state assembly in late November 2024.

Borneo Cement is a joint-venture between the Sabah state government and China-based Sinoma Industry. It plans to invest around US$270m in the project. Commissioning is scheduled from early 2026.

India: The cement sector in India is forecast to reach a market size of 509Mt/yr by the 2029 financial year. A report published by Infomerics Ratings made the prediction based on a market size of 382Mt in the 2023 financial year and a compound annual growth rate of 4.9%. The credit agency noted the cement sector’s mean growth rate of 5.37% over the last decade and the low cement consumption per capita compared to the global average. It also pointed out that the local cement sector “…faced significant pricing challenges, primarily due to weak demand across various regions.” Demand was reportedly low during the first half of the 2025 financial year leading to lower prices particularly in the south of the country.

Thailand/UK: Thailand-based Siam Cement Thung Song has joined the World Cement Association as a corporate member. The cement producer is a subsidiary of Siam Cement Group that operates an integrated plant in the south of the country.

India/US: Shares in Gautam Adani-led conglomerates fell by 20% on 21 November 2024 after prosecutors in the US filed bribery charges against Adani and his associates. They allege a US$250m payoff to Indian officials to secure solar power contracts. Adani, along with seven co-defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, is accused of paying the bribes to secure contracts for what would become India's largest solar power project, projected to generate US$2bn in profits over the next 20 years.

The companies affected in the share fall included the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which holds stakes in seven Adani companies, including ACC and Ambuja Cement, as well as Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, Adani Energy Solutions and Adani Total Gas.

Adani Group has denied the allegations, calling them ‘baseless.’