Global Cement News

Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Jean Lucien Bussa Tongba has extended a measure restricting imports of grey cement, clinkers (and selected other commodities) in the western part of the country for 12 months, effective 3 September 2018.

The extension of this measure comes after an evaluation meeting with the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC). It is part of the protection of local industries against smuggling, fraud and other illicit transactions that characterise imports of these products.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, offenders will be exposed to the law given the necessary provisions made for its application in all of its rigour. For its part, the FEC, in a letter addressed to the Minister of State for Commerce, thanked the government for safeguarding the industries of the country. The employers believe that this decision will contribute to the development of local industries and strengthen a frank collaboration between the Congolese government and the FEC.

Namibia: Ohorongo Cement officially inaugurated its 5MW photovoltaic solar plant this week at its head offices at Farm Sargber near Otavi in the Otjozondjupa Region.

Speaking at the opening, Tom Alweendo, Minister of Mines and Energy said that solar electricity generation had grown so exponentially in Namibia since the inception of the Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff programme in 2014.

Bolivia: The cement producer Fancesa has started legal action against transport industry leaders Oscar Reynolds and Macguiver Rosales over threats and criminal association, after they stopped transporting its cement. Fancesa earlier reduced the rate paid to hauliers to transport cement from its plant to Santa Cruz by 13.7% to US$1.88/bag (50kg), prompting hauliers to stop transporting its cement.

Brazil: Italy’s Buzzi Unicem has announced that it has reached an agreement to buy a 50% stake in the Brazilian company BCPAR from Grupo Ricardo Brennand for Euro150m. BCPAR operates two integrated cement plants, one in the north east state of Paraíba and one in the south east state of Minas Gerais. The Minas Gerais plant started operations in May 2011 and has an annual production capacity of 2.4Mt/yr of cement. The Paraíba plant was commissioned in August 2015 and it has a capacity of 1.7Mt/yr. Buzzi Unicem will retain the right to buy the remaining 50% of BCPAR from Ricardo Brennand until 1 January 2025.

Buzzi Unicem said in a press release that the agreement reached allows it to extend its industrial operations to the largest economy in South America and improve the geographical diversification of its regional presence. Buzzi Unicem believes that the current downturn in the Brazilian economy, and in particular of the local cement industry, can be positively resolved, starting from 2019. It adds that Brazil's key macroeconomic data concerning cement production are encouraging. The population is expected to grow at an average rate of 1.1%/yr and per capita cement consumption is currently at its lowest levels in years.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge and PPC are reported to be ‘scrambling’ to contain cement shortages in Zimbabwe. Capacity is down owing to maintenance and operational issues and there have been problems importing some raw materials due to a lack of foreign currency. Shortages of cement and related products have hit the country in the past week, with wholesalers, supermarkets and other retailers running out of stock.

PPC Zimbabwe’s managing director, Kelibone Masiyane, said that the ‘current cement shortage is temporary’ and Lafarge has authorisation to import up to 5000t. Some of this had reportedly come in from Mozambique over the Forbes border crossing.