Global Cement News

Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has recorded losses of US$16.2m in 2019, up by 0.6% from US$16.1m in 2018, in spite of sales growth over the period of 8.0% year-on-year to US$14.7 from US$13.6m. Reuters has reported that the company will not be paying its shareholders.

Tajikistan: Builders completed the construction of 1.36Mm² of multi-storey housing in Tajikistan in 2019, up by 24% from 1.10Mm² in 2018. Tajikistan Newsline has reported that all residential construction concrete comes from domestically produced cement. Tajikistan produced 4.2Mt of cement in 2019 - up by 11% from 1.8Mt in 2018 - exporting 1.5Mt. It imported 20,000t, primarily of white cement.

Germany: Siemens subsidiary Flender, which supplies couplings and gearboxes to the cement industry, has signed a partnership agreement for technological solutions with digital drive specialist Currax. The partnership aims to bring a comprehensive increase in efficiency to Flender’s business and a high level of flexibility for customers. Currax executive director Daniel Aßman said, “From customer acquisition to sales, from implementation to support, Currax is the contact for all matters relating to the Flender portfolio.”

Tanzania: Manyara Cement has shared plans for a 0.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Hanang district, for which it has already acquired limestone and pumice extraction licences for sites around Mount Hanang. The plant will use a vertical shaft kiln.

The plant will sell cement on the northern Tanzanian and southern Kenyan markets.

Colombia: In 2019 Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos’ sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$2.8bn from US$2.5bn in 2018 and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% year-on-year to US$0.5bn from US$0.4bn in 2018. Cement dispatches rose by 0.6% to 16Mt. In the US, its main market, the company sold 6.3Mt of cement, up by 9.5% from 5.8Mt in 2018.

Argos CEO Juan Estaban Calle praised the company’s successes in 2019, such as the completion of its Thermally Activated Clays (TAC) project at its 1.4Mt/yr integrated Cementos Rioclaro plant in Colombia. “This allows for production and distribution of green cement with a greatly reduced clinker factor, 38% lower CO₂ emissions and 30% of the energy consumption of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production,” he said.