Global Cement News

China: China Tianrui Group Cement says that it has secured a loan worth US$14.4m. Reuters has reported that a Chinese bank granted the loan, which will support capital expenditure projects in the current fiscal year.

US: Mexico-based Cemex supplied 15,000t of cement to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, for the construction of a 3770m runway and taxiway by McCarthy Improvement Company. Replacing an existing runway, the new runway is the longest at Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport.

Cemex USA president Jaime Muguiro said, “Infrastructure in the US needs improvements and updates so that Americans can remain connected and get where they need to go quickly, safely and efficiently. At Cemex, we are proud to securely support essential infrastructure projects that help achieve those goals and provide products that will enhance the experiences of travellers for years to come.”

South Africa: PPC has said that it may issue a rights offer for US$68.7m-worth of shares in order to raise funds to ‘repay and restructure debt locally and in other African markets, and to refinance after the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.’ Pretoria News has reported that PPC has forecasted a 20% year-on-year drop in earnings in the year to 31 March 2020 due to ‘a slump in domestic demand and an influx of cheaper Chinese imports, even prior to lockdown.’

India: Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement said that it will spend US$200m in capital expenditure (CAPEX) during the 2021 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2021. The plans consist of a capacity expansion to 118Mt/yr from 115Mt/yr, including the completion of the 4.0Mt/yr Bara grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh and 1.2Mt/yr-worth of brownfield projects in Bihar and West Bengal. Solar and wind power capacity will increase to 350MW from 95MW, while waste heat recovery (WHR) capacity will increase to 185MW from 118MW.

Chair Kumar Birla said, “While 2021 will be a challenging year, Birla remains confident that the economy will revert to the 6 - 8% growth trajectory in 2022.”

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement produced 0.89Mt of cement in the first seven months of 2020, up by 10% year-on-year from the corresponding period of 2019. General director Nikolay Muradov said, “Despite the difficult epidemiological situation in the region and in the country, Kavkazcement ensured the stability of production processes and increased production. This was made possible by product quality control and systematic work aimed at increasing efficiency at all stages of production, introducing advanced technologies and the high-quality servicing of equipment.”