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Rwanda: PPC says its 600,000t/yr Cimerwa cement plant in Bugarama, Rusizi will reach full production by mid-2018. The greenfield plant is part of its strategy to make 40% of its turnover from outside of South Africa by 2018, according to Business Daily. At present the plant is running at about 60% of its production capacity.
Cimerwa sales volumes have exceeded 100,000t from commissioning to February 2016. Further sales, marketing, and distribution efforts are expected to improve this. The plant sells cement domestically in Kigali and it exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
PPC is growing cement production capacity in Africa with plants being built in the DRC, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Capacity is expected to reach 12.7Mt/yr in 2018 from 8.6Mt/yr in 2015.
South Korea: Eugene Group intends to increase its stake in Tongyang up to 25%. The South Korean conglomerate has expressed its interest in leading Tongyang, including its cement subsidiary, according to Maeil Business.
“Tongyang has tens of thousands of shareholders without a significant major shareholder after its workout program,” said Chung Jin-hak, head in charge of construction materials unit of Eugene Group. “As of late last year, among 34,000 shareholders, only four companies including Eugene Group and Pine Tree Investment and Management own more than 1% stake each.”
Tongyang’s largest shareholder Eugene Group holds a 10.01% stake in the company, followed by the 9.74% owned by Pine Tree Investment and Management. Eugene Group plans to buy shares through all possible measures such as purchasing shares directly from major shareholders, in a block trade or in the market. Eugene Group has highlighted potential synergies between its own concrete business and Tongyang.
Grupo Corripio buys Cementos Andino Dominicanos 21 March 2016
Dominican Republic: Grupo Corripio has acquired the majority of the shares of Cementos Andino Dominicanos in Cabo Rojo, according to the country’s President Danilo Medina. The previous owners will retain a stake in the company.
All current employees will receive their wages in the first two weeks of April 2016. In addition, between 300 and 400 new jobs will be created. Dominican business José Luis Corripio Estrada and owner of Grupo Corripio added that it will increase the company’s cement production capacity and potentially increase the number of workers to 700.
US: The GCC (Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua) Dacotah cement plant in Rapid City has started a US$90m upgrade. The project will include new kiln equipment, provision for co-processing alternative fuels and improvements to the plant’s shipping operations, according to the Rapid City Journal. The upgrade will increase the plant’s cement production capacity to 1.3Mt/yr.
The plant was founded by the South Dakota state in the 1920s and sold into private ownership in 2001. It employs 130 full-time employees. The upgrade is expected to create 13 new full-time jobs.
Uganda: Excise duty on cement is set to be doubled in the 2016 – 2017 budget as part of a set of measures designed to increase government expenditure. The excise duty charged on a 50kg bag of cement is to be raised to US$0.29 from US$0.15. Industry commentators in local press have warned that this could raise market prices, depress consumer demand and discourage new investments. Other commodities affected by the increased duties include petrol and vehicle lubricants.
“Cement is a very price sensitive product among retail buyers and the proposed tax increase could suffocate demand patterns. This situation has partly resulted in relatively small margins of about $0.05 earned per bag among local dealers. I feel the excise duty rate on cement should have been kept stable to allow producers and agents to remain afloat under difficult economic conditions,” said Joseph Kitone, a hardware dealer quoted by the East African newspaper.