Global Cement News

India: Sanghi Cement plans to upgrade its production capacity to 8.1Mt/yr from 4.1Mt/yr. The expansion plan will consist of a 3.3Mt/yr upgrade to its cement plant at Sanghipuram in Gujarat and a 2Mt/yr upgrade to its satellite grinding plant. In addition the cement producer plans to build a 65MW thermal power plant at the main plant. The cost of the project will be US$197m and this will be mostly funded from borrowing.

India: The deadline for bidding for Binani Cement has been extended until 15 January 2018 as the cement company takes potential buyers on a tour of its grinding plant in Dubai. The Rajasthan-based cement producer is being sold following bankruptcy proceedings, according to the Daily News & Analysis newspaper. The family-owned company with cement plants in Indian, China and the UAE has attracted a high level of interest from both international and local cement companies.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia forecasts that domestic cement consumption will grow at a rate of 5 – 7% year-on-year in 2018, a lower rate than the level of 7.8% recorded for the first 11 months of 2017. Semen Indonesia corporate secretary Agung Wiharto said that the prediction was based on continued demand for cement from government infrastructure projects, according to the Jakarta Post. The company also took other factors - such as inflation, political stability and market confidence - into account in its sales projection. Indocement has also forecast a cement consumption growth rate of 5 – 6% in 2018. Both companies reported reduced earnings in the third quarter of 2017.

China: Clinker imports more than quadrupled to 184,600t in the first 11 months of 2017. Data published by the Chinese Cement Association suggests that rising domestic cement prices encouraged the import market, according to Caixin Media. Most of the imports were purchased from Vietnam by companies based in Hainan, Shangdong, Zhejiang and Beijing.

India: The credit agency ICRA forecasts that rising energy and freight costs due to higher pet coke, coal and diesel prices during the first half of 2017 – 2018 financial year may hit the profits of cement producers. Petcoke prices grew by 32% year-on-year in the first half of the year and coal prices rose by 44%, according to the Press Trust of India. Sabyasachi Majumdar, an analyst at ICRA, said that higher power, fuel and freight costs were likely to continue. He added that the ability of cement companies to raise their prices was crucial to maintaining profit levels.