Oman: Raysut Cement has launched the use of SAP S4/HANA and SAP Success Factors as part of a change to its human resource (HR) digital business processes. SAP S4/HANA is a resource-planning package and SAP Success Factors is used to manage HR functions. The project has been supported by Fujitsui International. The implementation phase is intended to run until mid-2019.

China: Anhui Conch has continued a cement sale and purchase agreement with Jiangsu Conch Building Materials by entering into a new contract worth US$364m. Subsidiaries of Anhui Conch based in east China will sell a total of 7.5Mt of cement products to Jiangsu Conch, a non-wholly owned subsidiary of Anhui Conch, in 2019. Additionally, three of Anhui Conch’s subsidiaries in Shanghai region will procure 0.13Mt of fly ash and 70,000t of flue gas desulphurisation gypsum from Jiangsu Conch Building Materials in 2019 for a value of around US$3m. The deals follow a similar arrangement for Anhui Conch to sell cement to Jiangsu Conch in 2018.

Iraq: China’s Sinoma International Engineering has signed a contract to build a 6000t/day clinker production line for Iraqi Cement near Samawah in the Al Muthanna Governorate. The deal has a value of US$246m. The contract includes the entire production process from quarry to finished packaging of cement products. Once the contract is finalised and the customer’s credit secured then the project is expected to take 37 months to be completed.

Vietnam: Xie Guozhen, the head of the Vietnam office of Nanjing C-HOPE Cement Engineering Group, says that the company is planning to build a new production line at the Lien Khe plant in Haiphong. The Chinese engineering firm has previously built five cement production lines in the country, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper.