Global Cement News

Indonesia: Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, plans to open a new 1Mt/yr terminal at Palembang in South Sumatra in the first quarter of 2018. The unit is in the final stage of construction and scheduled for commissioning in March 2018, according to Kontan News. The new unit will allow the cement producer to sell bulk cement and it is expected to increase its presence in Sumatra.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement’s turnover fell by 12% year-on-year to US$72.8 in 2017 from US$82.6m in 2016. Clinker production dropped by 17% to 1.3Mt and cement production by 12% to 1.4Mt. Local sales of cement decreased by 2% to US$52.7m and exports by 80% to US$1.9m. The cement producer blamed its poor sales on a decline in the export market.

Ghana: Cement producers are lobbying the government to build new roads using concrete in order to use surplus cement. The country has a production capacity of 12Mt/yr but it only uses 8Mt/yr, according to Citi Business. The producers are calling on the president to make good on a previous statement on the matter.

Bolivia: Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia’s (Ecebol) new plant at Caracollo in Oruro is set to open by the end of 2018. Government minister Eugenio Rojas said that the 1.3Mt/yr plant would start testing in September 2018, according to La Jornada newspaper. The project had a budget of US$244m.

Venezuela: A cement plant at Valencia in Carabobo is only using 25% of its production capacity due to a lack of government investments. The plant was nationalised in 2017, according to the El Carabobeno newspaper. Reportedly it is the only plant out of four in the local area that is still operating.