Global Cement News

Egypt: Medhat Istafanos, the head of the Cement Division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), says that the market is only supporting 40% of local production. He blamed this on a slowdown in building activity and a lack of government-backed infrastructure projects to make up the shortfall, according to the Al-Ahram newspaper. Noha Bakr, an executive director at the cement division of the FEI, also blamed a construction ban on agricultural land.

The country’s 24 cement plants have a production capacity of 85Mt/yr but only 48Mt were sold in 2018. Cement sales have fallen since 2017 and are expected to reach 49Mt in 2019.

Producers are exploring options to increase cement exports. Walid Gamaleddin, the president of the Export Council for Building Materials and the Metallurgical Industries, has called for the government to support industry exports. The minister of trade and industry discussed a programme for cement-export subsidies with officials from the sector in late July 2019 that would include encouraging agreements to export cement to the African countries. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has also instructed the banking sector to support cement companies that needed to restructure their debts. The merger of smaller companies to form larger conglomerates has also been encouraged.

However, growing exports of Egyptian cement is challenged by its relative high cost compared to other countries. Istafanos said that Egyptian cement is US$12/t higher than its competitors.

Spain: The Association of Cement Manufacturers of Andalusia (AFCA) has lobbied the Regional Government of Andalusia to invest more in infrastructure projects. At a meeting the cement producers asked the local government to support the sector, according to Europa Press. The region’s consumption of cement grew by 8.5% year-on-year to 2.5Mt in 2018 but it is still at a historically low level. Exports fell by 30% to 1.6Mt in 2018 due to rising costs associated with the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and high local electricity costs.

Mexico: Cemex Mexico has launched a new website to sell concrete. It is intended to serve builders, contractors, small business owners, architects, construction entrepreneurs and the general public for any size of project from 1m³ upwards.

The site includes an online calculator to help customers work out the amount of concrete required for a project and technical support to aid the transaction. It also supports scheduling delivery at a specific time and date, as well as having visibility and tracking of the order in real time. The company says it is the first conle concrete sales channel in the country with ‘express’ service and full coverage.

US: Mississippi Lime has completed its acquisition of Southern Lime, the lime business of Covia based in Calera, Alabama. The purchase increases Mississippi Lime’s production facilities to nine locations, supported by a network of distribution sites throughout the country. The Southern Lime business and its Calera plant will be fully integrated into Mississippi Lime. No value for the transaction was disclosed.

Greece: Titan Group’s turnover rose by 10% to Euro785m in the first half of 2019 from Euro713m in the same period in 2018. The building materials producer attributed this to improving markets in Greece and Southeastern Europe, as well as continued ‘strong’ performance in the US.

Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained stable at Euro122m but its net profit fell by 46% to Euro13.3m from Euro24.8m. In its Eastern Mediterranean region the group described market conditions as ‘challenging’ with falling demand in Egypt and Turkey. In Brazil it said that cement sales volumes were stable but that revenue had risen due to an improving market.