Global Cement News

India: HeidelbergCement India has completed the sale and transfer of its cement grinding facility situated at Raigad, Maharashtra to JSW Steel, in accordance with the Business Transfer Agreement executed between the company and JSW Steel on 5 October 2013. The sale and transfer took effect from 3 January 2014.

South Africa: ARM Cement Ltd has yet to receive its directors' approval for a plan to construct a plant in South Africa.

"We have not approved any budget or plans at our board yet," said Pradeep Paunrana, managing director of ARM Cement. Mafikeng Cement, in which ARM has a 70% stake, plans to build a 3000t/day plant in South Africa.

ARM Cement is considering selling Eurobonds to help fund a planned US$300m expansion programme that will double cement production within four years, according to Paunrana.

African nations are investing heavily in the construction of ports, railways and power generation projects that will help to accelerate economic growth. Kenya's cement consumption has surged by 60% to 85.7kg/capita since 2009, while South Africa's has increased to 300kg/capita and Egypt's has reached 500kg/capita.

China: Fujian Cement Inc sold 12m shares in Industrial Bank Co Ltd between 30 - 31 December 2013. Fujian Cement will earn US$14.5m from the deal and continues to hold 50.4m shares in the Industrial Bank.

Iran: Iran plans to boost cement production to 75Mt by March 2014 and 85Mt by the end of the next Iranian calendar year, which starts on 21 March 2014.

"Iran, with a cement capacity of 70Mt/yr, is the world's fourth largest producer of cement after China, India and the United States," said Abdolreza Sheikhan, secretary of the Union of Cement Industry Employers, at the Sixth International Cement, Concrete and Construction Technology Exhibition in Tehran. He added that Iran will become the world's third-largest cement producer if its 75Mt nominal capacity becomes its actual production level.

Late in November 2013, Sheikhan said the country's cement output hit 44.6Mt in the first 7 months of the Iranian calendar year (21 March to 20 October 2013), a 2% growth compared to the same period in 2012. Iran's cleaner production hit 43.4Mt during the same period with 4% growth compared to the same period in 2012. He added Iran's cement and cleaner production reached 6.19Mt and 5.89Mt respectively in October 2013.

India: A consumer court has asked a cement company to compensate a farmer for the cost of house construction as the quality of its cement was not found up to the necessary standards.

Rahimbhai Sherasiya started construction at his farm in Dhuva village with 200 bags of Hathi brand cement that he bought from Saurashtra Cement Ltd in December 2012 for US$871. As construction proceeded he found that the cement was of very poor quality. It could not hold construction material and further construction was not possible.

Sherasiya complained to the company and the authorised dealer but did not get a proper reply. Through company officials he sent samples of the cement to the laboratory of the Gujarat Engineering Research Institute (GERI) to get the cement tested for quality. GERI's report revealed that the cement was not as per the Indian Standard.

When the company refused to pay heed to his complaint, Sherasiya moved the Rajkot Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and demanded compensation. This included the amount he had invested in paying for transportation and labour and purchasing construction material. The company denied all charges and claimed that GERI is not a government-approved agency and that its report was misleading.