Global Cement News

Poland: Cement production in Poland increased by 1.3% year-on-year to to 1.58Mt in September 2015, while sales edged up by 0.1% to 1.66Mt, according to Poland's Cement Producer Association. In the first nine months of 2015, production grew by 1.4% year-on-year to 11.9Mt and sales were up by 1.8% to 12.2Mt.

Dominican Republic/Haiti: Cementos Andino, based in the Dominican Republic, has reported that it will register extra costs of US$44,189/month due to a Haitian ban on cement entering the country overland. Nelson Bello, president of Cementos Andino, explained that maritime transport will increase costs, due to unloading and handling services at ports, among other activities.

Cementos Andino exported 458,818t of cement between 2006 and August 2015, generating US$48.4m. Panama and Haiti were the main destinations.

Pakistan: Listed cement producers in Pakistan continued to deliver double digit profitability growth in the 2015 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2015. Their collective profits grew by 13% year-on-year to US$446m, with the improvement in profits caused by volume growth and lower energy costs.

Local cement demand remained strong, rising by 8.2% to 28.3Mt. This was due to higher public and private sector. The growth in profits was also supported by declining financial charges and falling selling and distribution expenses.

However, not all results were encouraging. Exports fell by 11.7% year-on-year to 7.2Mt due to weak demand from the Afghan market coupled with anti-dumping duty imposed by South Africa on Pakistani cement manufacturers.

Total industry dispatches are expected to grow by 8.8% to 38.6Mt in the fiscal year to 30 June 2016, primarily due to strong local demand expected from higher infrastructure spending and mega-projects including the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Analysts expect that manufacturing costs for the coming fiscal year will remain 'benign' for the industry and will be led by lower energy costs. Lower electricity charges and shift to more efficient sources like waste heat recovery will lead to further decrease in power and fuel costs for manufacturers. Moreover, imported coal prices are expected to remain at lower levels, owing to slowdown in China's growth, which will further drive up margins of cement manufacturers.

Vietnam: Consumption of cement in Vietnam between 1 January 2015 to 30 September 2015 rose by 3% year-on-year to 52.1Mt compared to the same period of 2014, according to the Ministry of Construction. The ministry's Building Material Department said 40.3Mt of cement were sold on the domestic market, a year-on-year increase of 8%, while export volumes fell by 12% to 11.9Mt.

Despite the rise in the first nine months, cement consumption in September 2015 fell by 9% to 5.4Mt. 4.3Mt went to the domestic market, 11% less than in August 2015. The reduction in total consumption volume of cement in September 2015 was stated to be due to the impact of the rains and the 'ghost month' when people often avoid starting construction projects.

Experts expect cement consumption on the domestic market to be better by the year-end when the construction season begins. However, the cement industry will find it difficult to export cement by the year-end because other cement exporters in the region are set to increase their volumes.

Le Van Toi, Head of the Building Material Department, said that the enterprises should promote domestic consumption of cement and then improve competitive ability of cement products for exports.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed two new Regional Chief Executive Officers (RCEOs). Arvind Pathak has been appointed as the new regional Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria and Vivek Chawla will serve as the new Regional CEO for West and Central Africa. Chawla was appointed on 17 August 2015.

Chawla has over 30 years of experience working in the cement industry. Previous to working for Dangote he was the President of Hindalco Industries, part of the Aditya Birla Group. Chawla also worked as Chief Executive Officer, East Region of ACC Limited.