Pakistan: Overall cement sales in Pakistan fell by 2% year-on-year to 7Mt in the first two months of the current fiscal year, which began on 1 July 2018. Domestic sales dropped by 5.3% to 5.9Mt, while exports increased by 21.5% to 1.1Mt.

A spokesperson from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said that the industry had been expecting slower growth at home but had not expected a contraction. He added that in July 2018 overall sales had grown by 5% but they fell by 8% in August 2018.

Nigeria: BUA Group has announced that it will commence core drilling in Ebonyi State, prior to establishing a greenfield cement plant there. Speaking in the state capital Abakalik on 5 September 2018, BUA’s Managing Director Kabiru Rabiu said that he was surprised there was no cement plant already in the state, despite there being enormous limestone deposits. Ibeto Cement is in the process of setting up two integrated cement plants in the state.

"We are here because the state is blessed,” said Rabiu. “It has a huge deposit of limestone that is very high in quality. The state also has coal, which is necessary for cement production. The state is strategically located; it is close to Enugu, close to Cross River State and close to the Middle Belt.”

Argentina: Both the sale and consumption of cement grew by 17% in August 2018 compared to July 2018, according to the national government. With sales of 1.1Mt, August 2018 also grew 0.1% compared to August 2017.

"The August figures are very positive in this economic context, which shows that construction, public and private, continues to advance,” said Guillermo Dietrich, Minister of Transportation. “The sale of cement maintains the same values as in August 2017, setting a historical record. We are facing the most ambitious infrastructure plan in history and that does not stop."

Iran: Cement exports from Iran registered growth of 32% during the first four months of the country’s current fiscal year (20 March 2018 – 22 July 2018), according to the Islamic Republic’s Customs Administration data.

The country exported US$107m worth of cement during the period. The volume rose to 2.7Mt, 24% more than in the comparable period of the previous fiscal year. The country also exported 2.2Mt of clinker worth US$60m in the same period of time.

Iran exported cement to 27 countries across the world in the period, including Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, with exports to Oman and Kuwait growing strongly.

The latest data of the Iranian Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade says that the country’s total cement output amounted to 13.36Mt during the same first quarter period, a year-on-year fall of 5.7%.