Bangladesh: Bashundhara Industrial Complex plans to spend US$53m towards upgrading its Mongola grinding plant to 3Mt/yr from 2.1Mt/yr at present. The upgrade is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020, according to the Daily Star newspaper. Bashundhara Group holds the second largest cement market share at 8.48% through its two brands, Bashundhara Cement and Meghna Cement. Once the upgrade at Mongola is completed is will have a total production capacity of 7.56Mt/yr.

Germany: ThyssenKrupp has announced the leadership structure of its two future companies: ThyssenKrupp Industrials and ThyssenKrupp Materials. At each company the number of board directorates will be reduced to three and central functions will be combined.

From 17 corporate and service functions at present, there will be 14 at ThyssenKrupp Industrials and 10 at ThyssenKrupp Materials. The current matrix structure will be dissolved. In the future there will be no regional structure besides the business areas at headquarters level. The tasks in the regions will be performed by the operating units or central functions. The shared service units will also be allocated according to business requirements and focused more closely.

“With the separation we will create strategic clarity and enable the businesses to develop more dynamically. The new leadership structures are key to this. The new set-up is tailored to business requirements and reflects the different market requirements. Both ThyssenKrupps will become leaner, faster and better,” said Guido Kerkhoff, chief executive officer (CEO) of ThyssenKrupp.

ThyssenKrupp Industrials will comprise the elevator, automotive, and plant engineering businesses, including manufacturing equipment for the cement sector. ThyssenKrupp Materials will operate in the materials sector.

ThyssenKrupp will take a final vote on the separation plans in January 2020. The composition of the two management teams will be decided in spring 2019. Details of the financial structure, brand identity and strategy of the two new companies will be announced in May 2019. Both companies are to commence operations at the start of the company’s next financial year on 1 October 2019.

China: Anhui Conch has chosen Conch New Materials, a fellow subsidiary of Conch Holdings, as one of its grinding aids suppliers for 2019 following an open tender process. The value of the deal is estimated to be worth no more than around US$125m for no more than 0.15Mt of cement grinding aids. Conch New Materials develops, produces and sells cement additives, concrete admixtures, related chemical products and technical services. The other supplier has not been named.

Thailand: Fitch Ratings forecasts that demand for cement will rise due to recovery in the private construction sector. It is expected to grow by over 5% in 2019, according to the Bangkok Post. Cement sales rose by 3.7% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, the first quarterly growth in 10 quarters. Data from the Office of Industrial Economics showed that this was followed by a rise of 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The forecast said that local cement producers were expanding regionally due to domestic oversupply and a profitability gap between domestic sales and exports. Government infrastructure projects are expected to continue to drive sales, with nearly US$100bn planned on projects from 2018 to 2026.