Bangladesh: Cement producers are warning of price rises due to a ‘significant’ rise in international freight rates. The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has expressed concern about the situation, according to the New Nation newspaper. Freight rates to transport clinker from Indonesia, Vietnam or the Middle-East have increased by up to 30% in the last few months. The BCMA has called on the government to cut import duties to keep consumer prices low.
Federal Trade Commission challenges Lehigh Cement’s Keystone Cement acquisition
US: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an administrative complaint and authorised a legal suit against Lehigh Cement’s acquisition of Keystone Cement. The HeidelbergCement subsidiary acquired the subsidiary of Mexico-based Elementia in September 2019. The commission said that the acquisition may be harmful to competition in the grey cement market in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as it reduces the number of competitors to three from four and enlarges the largest. It added that Keystone Cement’s aggressive pricing had previously caused Lehigh Cement to lower its prices.
The case will go to trial at administrative court in November 2021.
OPGC dispatches fly ash to ACC
India: Power company OPGC has dispatched its first shipment of fly ash to ACC’s Jhinkpani cement plant in West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. The Pioneer newspaper has reported that the shipment consists of 3450t of fly ash from its Ib power plant. The power plant has fly ash storage facilities with a capacity of 6900t. It previously supplied ash to a Star Cement cement plant in Assam.
Former Iranian minister calls for cement to be added to commodities exchange
Iran: Hossein Modares Khyabani, the former head of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, has called for cement to be traded on the Mercantile Exchange, a commodities exchange based in Tehran. He hoped that the move would enable cement producers to upgrade plants and increase exports, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. The aim is to have producers generate mhigher profits and build infrastructure development.
Local cement production grew by 13% year-on-year to 68Mt in the Iranian calendar year to March 2021. However, gas, electricity and transportation costs all grew significantly during the period.
