Paraguay: Local press is querying why state-owned cement company Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has signed a petcoke contract with Sanfil-GT consortium. A delivery of 12,000t of petcoke has been delayed for logistic reasons, according to the ABC newspaper. The consignment is part of a US$6.5m contract to supply 24,000t of petcoke. In 2018 INC awarded a tender to buy US$6m of Turkish-produced clinker from Sanfil-GT Scientific. However, the manufacturer, Cemco Cement Trading, later warned that neither Sanfil SA nor GT Scientific SA were authorised to market the commodity.
Huaxin Cement to build 1.2Mt/yr plant in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan: China’s Huaxin Cement plans to build a new 1.2Mt/yr cement plant in the Zafarabad district of Jizzakh region for US$150m. The unit will be commissioned in December 2019, according to the Trend News Agency. It intends to export about 0.12Mt of cement during the first stage of production. As part of the project, Huaxin Cement’s local subsidiary, Huaxin Cement Jizzakh, has been temporarily exempted from paying various tariffs, including income, property, custom and added taxes.
PPC’s sales volumes fall by 3% in nine months to December 2018
South Africa: PPC’s sales volume of cement fell by 2 – 3% year-on-year in the nine months to December 2018. The cement producer said that, although prices had risen, the market had shrunk by up to 5%. Imports grew by 80% year-on-year for the January to November 2018 period. It added that its Sure Range product line had continued to gain market share against Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and blended products. Outside of South Africa the company said that growth had been low in Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo due to local market conditions. Better performance was noted in Rwanda and Ethiopia.
Freyssinet discusses new cement plant for Uzbekistan Railways
Uzbekistan: Representatives of France’s Freyssinet, a civil engineering company, have met with Uzbekistan Railways to discuss building a new 1Mt/yr cement plant in the Pakhtachi district of Samarkand. The unit will be used to provide cement and related products to the railway company. The construction of new infrastructure projects - including railway lines, subway lines and bridges – was also talked about at the meeting.
