Global Cement News

Canada: Sparta Manufacturing has appointed Terri Ward as Vice President of Business Development. Ward brings nearly three decades of industry experience to the role having previously worked for SSI Shredding Systems. Sparta Manufacturing is an integrated engineering and manufacturing company specialising in recycling system design and development.

US/China: The Office of the US Trade Representative has proposed placing a 10% tariff on mineral and other products from China including cement. The list includes over 600 items and it will come into force following a period for public comment in August 2018.

Mineral products affected by the proposed tariffs of interest to the cement industry include limestone flux, quicklime, slaked lime, gypsum, anhydrite, clinkers of Portland, aluminous, slag, supersulfate and similar hydraulic cements, white Portland cement, Portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, refractory cements, additives for cement, cement based building materials and more.

The inclusion of additional products to a tariff list follows an earlier decision by the US government to tax imports from China worth US$34bn that came into force in early July 2018.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement’s turnover rose by 23% year-on-year to US$30.8m in the first half of 2018 from US$25m in the same period in 2017. Its cement sales volumes rose by 14% to 0.74Mt from 0.65Mt. The company said that the cement market in Kazakhstan increased by 7% during the first half of 2018. However, overall cement shipments from local companies increased by 15%, imports rose by 30% and exports doubled to 0.9Mt from 0.45Mt. Steppe Cement's local market share increased slightly to 16% in the first half of 2018 from 15% in the same period of 2017 and it exported 12% of its sales compared with 11% in 2017. The company estimates that local cement consumption will reach 9.4Mt in 2018.

Pakistan: The Supreme Court has stopped cement producers near Katas Raj from using drinking water supplies. The order follows a ruling in May 2018 to stop the producers using water linked to a pond near to a Hindu heritage site, according to the Pakistan Today newspaper. However, the ruling was not followed. The senior judge presiding over the hearing said that local plants had been using water without paying for it.

Algeria: China Triumph International Engineering (CTIE) is set to start procuring equipment for a US$211m production line at STG Engineering and Real Estate Development’s plant at Adrar. The line will be the second production line at the site and it will have a production capacity of 4200t/day of marine cement, according to Inside International Industrials. CTIE is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project and its subsidiary Beijing Triumph International Engineering will manage the engineering design work.