China: Anhui Conch has signed a cement sale and purchase agreement with Jiangsu Conch Building Materials with a value of up to around US$230m. Subsidiaries of Anhui Conch based in east China will sell a total of 3.5Mt of cement products to Jiangsu Conch, a non-wholly owned subsidiary of Anhui Conch. The contract will last until the end of 2018.

The agreement has been setup for a relatively short time period as a pilot scheme to test the market. The intention is to allow the direct Anhui Conch subsidiaries to focus on production and to enable Jiangsu Conch to concentrate on using its ‘centralised sales advantage.’

India: High crude oil prices are forcing packaging costs to rise for cement producers. Data sourced from Capitaline shows that Ambuja Cements’ packaging material cost rose by 19% year-on-year in the 2018 financial year, according to the Mint business newspaper. Similarly, Shree Cement’s packaging costs rose by 9%. Both companies use high-density polyethylene bags, which are affected by the cost of oil. Crude oil prices have risen by around 24% to far in 2018 to above US$80/barrel.

Indonesia: China’s Anhui Conch is looking for finance to support a US$105m terminal it wants to build in Palembang. Yu Jun, a project manager at the cement producer said that the project will be able to import and export 0.4Mt/yr and it will have a berth for ships of 3000DWT, according to Inside International Industrials. The company hopes to secure funding by the end of February 2019.

Azerbaijan: LafargeHolcim has increased its stake in Holcim Azerbaijan to 76% from 66%. The move followed the decision by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to sell its 10% equity stake in the cement producer, according to ABZ News. Remaining shares in company are held by individual shareholders.