Global Cement News

US: Thomas, Bennett & Hunter (TBH) has had a site plan to build a new ready-mixed concrete (RMX) plant in Hagerstown, Maryland approved by the Washington County Planning Commission. The concrete producer is moving its operations in the town to a new site, according to the Herald-Mail newspaper. It is hoped that the new RMX plant will be commissioned by the end of 2020.

Argentina: Loma Negra plans to close its Olavarría integrated cement plant. The unit has 45 employees who will be relocated elsewhere in the business, according to the Buenos Aires Económico newspaper. In recent years the plant has been operating solely as a grinding and bagging unit. The cost of upgrading the plant and the relative distance of its raw materials were factors in the decision to close it. The Olavarría cement plant was the first to be built in the country.

In September 2019 the subsidiary of Brazil’s interCement said it was converting its San Juan integrated cement plant to grinding and bagging only. Earlier in the year it came close to closing its Barker plant as it was unable to reach an agreement with the local union over staff redundancies. Alongside this it is building a new production line at its L'Amalí cement plant.

Argentina: Data from the Association of Portland Cement Manufacturers (AFCP) shows that cement consumption fell by 6% year-on-year to 8.5Mt in the first nine months of 2019 from 9Mt in the same period in 2018. Local despatches dropped by 5% to 8.5Mt to 8.9Mt, although exports rose slightly.

US: Lehigh Hanson has started construction work on a US$600m upgrade to its Mitchell cement plant. The groundbreaking ceremony follows approval of an air permit by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in July 2019, according to WBIW radio. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement is building a new production line to replace the existing three lines at the site. Start-up for the line is scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.

Germany: Data from the German Cement Works Association (VDZ) shows that cement consumption rose slightly to 29Mt in 2018. Imports were 1.5Mt and exports rose by 1.5% year-on-year to 6.3Mt. The association says that this shows the industry is in a stable phase that is expected to continue in 2019 and 2020.

"There has been an upward trend in the German cement market for four years now, thanks in particular to the positive development in the apartment block sector," said VDZ president Christian Knell. He added that annual growth in consumption had slowed but that this was ‘hardly surprising’ given the ‘tight’ capacities along the construction value chain.