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Thailand: Siam City Cement has deployed pervasive network infrastructure and plant-wide wireless connectivity at its Plant 3 in Saraburi as part of its ‘Digital Connected Plant’ plan. Cisco supplied the hardware and Fujitsu helped with the system integration, according to the Nation newspaper. The upgrade is part of the cement producer’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) strategy where it intends to track employees, contractors and assets in real time to raise productivity and safety.
Philippines: Two cement importers have asked the Regional Trial Court of Makati to issue a temporary restraining order against a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) order restricting imports of cement. Fortem Cement and Cohaco Merchandising and Development allege that the Administrative Order 17-02 prevents imports of cement into the country, with the exception of importers operating integrated cement plants, according to the Manilla Bulletin newspaper. The importers say that the legislation will destroy their business. They also allege that the new rules violate anti-competition rules.
The DTI has defended its legislation, although it recognises the freedom of the importers to challenge it through the legal process. The government department says it issued the revised order to help safeguard the safety of consumers by requiring the strict conduct of standards compliance tests on cement imports. The order requires the application of the Philippine Standards licenses on foreign producers of cement imports, Import Commodity Clearance on cement imports and a minimum capitalisation level for importers to prevent smaller importers.
Philippines: Republic Cement & Building Materials has approved a five-year capital expenditure programme to increase its clinker and cement production capacity to meet local demand. One of the cement producer’s owners, Aboitiz Group, announced that it was making the investment to take advantage of infrastructure development plants by the Duterte administration, according to the Philippines Star newspaper. The upgrade is expected to increase the company’s production capacity by 1Mt/yr from its current level of 7Mt/yr. The investment will be spent on both production efficiency improvements at existing plants and by building a new kiln.
Colombia: Cementos Argos reported net losses of US$15.6m in the first quarter of 2017, in contrast with a US$340m profit in the first quarter of 2016. The losses were influenced by the company's operations in Colombia, currency exchange losses and non-recurring expenses associated with implementing an efficiency plan, along with a depreciation of its assets in the United States.
The company's operating revenues also fell by 6% year-on-year to US$719m by the end of March 2017, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 35% to US$93.8m.
Vietnam: Vietnam exported 6.72Mt of cement and clinker worth US$235m in the first four months of 2017. This represents a 12.8% increase in volume terms compared to the first four months of 2016, but only a 7.9% in value terms.
In April 2017 the country’s clinker and cement exports rose by 6.7% month-on-month in volume terms and by 7.6% in value to 1.92Mt at a value of US$67.4m, according to the latest data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
Bangladesh, the Philippines, Peru, Mozambique, Malaysia and Taiwan remained the biggest importers of Vietnamese cement and clinker in the four-month period.
At present, Vietnam has become the fifth biggest cement producer and consumer in the world after China, India, Iran and the United States. The country now has 76 cement production lines with a combined output of 82Mt/yr. It is predicted to face a glut of between 25-35Mt/yr of cement by 2020 as domestic production has outstripped the real demand and local firms have failed to compete with other exporters in the region.