Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement’s revenue rose by 20% year-on-year to US$65.6m in 2017 from US$54.9m in 2016. Its sales volumes of cement rose by 4% to 1.63Mt from 1.57Mt. The cement producer says that its market share remained at 17% in the reporting period. Overall the country consumed 9Mt of cement in 2017. Steppe Cement’s exports doubled to 146,000t from 73,000t. Kazakhstan imported 0.7Mt of cement in 2017 compared to 0.5Mt in 2016. It exported 0.9Mt in 2017 compared to 0.4Mt in 2016.
Arabian Cement to increase exports
Egypt: Arabian Cement plans to increase its exports to Africa and Asia. A senior official said the cement producer is considering international expansion amidst strong competition at home, according to Daily News Egypt. At present the company has exported cement to Libya, Yemen, Kenya, Madagascar and Somalia.
Arabian Cement is a joint venture between Spain’s Grupo Cementos La Unión, the majority shareholder, and a group of local investors. It operates a 5Mt/yr cement plant in Suez governorate.
JSW Cement to bid for Binani Cement
India: JSW Cement plans to bid for Binani Cement. Managing director Parth Jindal said that the cement producer would partner with a private equity fund to make the offer, according to the Economic Times newspaper. He added that the company is looking for acquisitions in the cement sector. It has also made a bid for Kalyanpur Cement that has a cement production capacity of 1Mt/yr in Bihar. The company aims to reach a production capacity of 20Mt/yr by 2020.
Raysut Cement’s revenue falls by 22% to US$187m in 2017
Oman: Raysut Cement’s revenue fell by 22% year-on-year to US$187m in 2017 from US$240m in 2016. Its profit after tax fell by 66.6% to US$18m from US$53.8m. In November 2017 the cement producer blamed its falling profit on lower sales due to competition locally and in export markets, disruption to its export market in Yemen resulting from the on-going civil war and increased energy prices.
