France: Bénédicte de Bonnechose, the president of the French cement industry union (SFIC), says that country’s cement market is expected to grow by 3% in 2018. She made the comments whilst unveiling local CO₂ reduction targets by 2050, according to the Agence France Presse. The local industry recorded growth of 4% in 2017. She described 2018 as a ‘positive recovery’ with sustained growth following a good first half.

SFIC forecasts that new low-clinker cement products will enter the market by mid-2020. These products include EMC II / CM, EMC VI and LC3 types of cement. These should reduce the CO₂ emissions related to current sold cement products by 35%. Other CO₂ capture initiatives including Oxyfuel, Leiliac and calcium looping cleanker technologies were also mentioned.

Colombia: Falling sales at home have reduced Cementos Argos’ sales so far in 2018. Its revenue decreased by 1.8% year-on-year to US$1.99bn in the first nine months of 2018 from US$2.03bn in the same period in 2017. Its sales volumes of cement declined slightly to 12.1Mt. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6.1% to US$355m from US$330m.

“It´s been a year full of challenges and opportunities in which we have been focused on the strengthening of our value proposition, looking forward to be a strategic ally for our clients´ projects; improving the competitiveness of our operations through the execution of BEST, ensuring we have the financial flexibility to mitigate market risks, taking advantage of growth opportunities and becoming a leaner, more innovative and sustainable company for the years to come,” said Juan Esteban Calle, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cementos Argos.

By region, revenue fell by a little in the US and cement sales volumes remained stable. This was blamed, in part, on the negative effects of Hurricane Florence on its market in the Carolinas in the third quarter and on falling prices. Revenue and sales volumes were down in Colombia due to a poor market although this started to recover in the third quarter, notably with improving earnings. In the Caribbean and Central America region its revenue and sales volumes increased, lead by growth in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Eastern Caribbean. Despite this, EBITDA margin fell due to decreased despatches in Honduras and Panama.

Angola: Manuel Pacavira Júnior, the chairman of the Angolan Cement Industry Association (AICA) does not believe that the cement production utilisation rate in the country will reach 30% in 2018. Pacavira Júnior described the situation as one of ‘significant losses’ given that local producers are suffering from high operating costs, according to the Angola Press Agency. The country has a cement production capacity of 8.6Mt/yr but it only consumed 2.6Mt in 2017. This follows cement production of 3.87Mt in 2016, 5.2Mt in 2015 and 4.92Mt in 2.14. The five local producers are continuning to operate but at reduced levels due to the poor market. They are looking to build their export markets.

Burkina Faso: Cimasso has produced the first bag of cement at its new 2.6Mt/yr grinding plant at Bobo Dioulasso. The subsidiary of Cim Metal Group met the milestone in early November 2018, according to the Le Pays newspaper. The official inauguration of the unit is planned for the end of November 2018. It follows first production at Ciments de Côte d’Ivoire’s (Cimivoire) 3Mt/yr grinding plant in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast in September 2018. Cimivoire is another subsidiary of Cim Metal Group. The plant was built using loans from the West African Development Bank (BOAD).