Global Cement News

Tajikistan: Tajikistan exported nearly 0.62Mt of cement in the first five months of 2019, with average monthly cement of around 0.124Mt. This represents a significant increase compared to the recent past. In 2015 monthly exports typically averaged 42,000t.

Between 1 January and 31 May 2019, Tajikistan exported 0.346Mt of cement to Uzbekistan, 0.247Mt to Afghanistan and 27,000t to Kyrgyzstan, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies. Over the same five-month period, Tajikistan made more than 0.1Mt more cement than in the same period of 2018.

Tajikistan now has 18 cement plants with a total production capacity of about 5Mt/yr, with Huaxin Gayur Cement, Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement accounting for more than 85% of the overall volume made in the first five months of 2019.

The country exported

Singapore: The Singapore Exchange has blocked the International Cement Group’s (ICG) proposed acquisition of Schwenk Namibia. It said that the transaction did not meet the requirements of a very substantial acquisition (VSA) because the target business was not profitable and because the buyer did not have sufficient cash resources to fund the purchase.

In order to approve the acquisition in the future the exchange requires: that ICG commissions implement anti-money laundering measures on any potential funds for the transaction; that it put into place ‘adequate’ internal controls and risk management systems for any of its operations in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Namibia and any other developing country; and that the audit committee uses external auditors.

ICG announced in March 2019 that it had arranged to buy a 100% stake in Schwenk Namibia for US$104m. Schwenk Namibia owns a 69.8% share of Ohorongo Cement.

France: Cem’In’Eu has ordered a 0.25Mt/yr grinding unit from Fives for its Portes les Valence plant in Drôme. The plant has an investment of Euro24m and it is scheduled to open in the second half of 2020. The scope of supply includes raw materials loading, clinker, limestone and gypsum hoppers, a 34t/hrt CEM II A/L FCB B-mill (ball mill) operating in a closed circuit with a FCB TSV dynamic classifier. The Portes les Valence project follows the opening of Cem’In’Eu’s grinding plant at Aliénor in Tonneins in 2018.

Azerbaijan: Norm Cement plans to increase its clinker production in order to expand its export markets. It intends to export 1Mt in 2019, according to the Trend News Agency. In 2018 it exported 10,000t to Georgia. In 2019 it hopes to send 0.1Mt to Kazakhstan.

Vietnam: Xuan Khiem Group is seeking government approval to build a US$214m cement plant in Hoa Binh province. The Xuan Son plant will have a production capacity of 2.3Mt/yr and it is scheduled to be completed in 2020, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The People’s Committee of Hoa Binh province and Xuan Khiem Group signed a memorandum of understanding to build the plant in late 2018.