Global Cement News

Bolivia: Itacamba Cement intends to build a 0.85Mt/yr cement plant costing US$180m at Yacuses near Puerto Suarez, Santa Cruz. According to Bolivian local media, the project will start once President Evo Morales approves state-owned oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos to install a gas line. Itacamba intends the new cement plant to reduce its reliance on imported clinker from Brazil.

Currently based in the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia and established in 1991, Itacamba operates a cement grinding plant. It is majority owned by Votorantim (66%) and other entities including Bolivia's Tumpar Group. The new plant is expected to create 540 jobs when it is opened.

Australia: Cement Australia and Cement Australia (Kandos) (CA Kandos) have been fined a total of US$172,843 for the death of Colin David Fuller at the Kandos cement plant in 2009. Fuller was fatally injured when he was crushed between two hydraulic rams while working at the factory on 13 September 2009, according to the Mudgee Guardian.

The North South Wales (NSW) Industrial Relations Commission found that CA Kandos and Cement Australia had breached the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, by failing to install fixed guarding along the entire length of a feeder and conveyor system as required by Australian safety standards and failing to provide adequate supervision and instruction to Fuller. In the judgement Commissioner J Backman found that the systems in place at the time of Fuller's death were comprehensive but defective in a number of respects.

Japan: Taiheiyo's sales revenue rose by 12% year-on-year to US$1.91bn for the first quarter of the 2012 - 2013 Japanese financial year that ended on 30 June 2013. In the quarter ending on 31 March 2012 it was US$1.70bn. The Japanese cement producer attributed the increase to rebuilding following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, increased private sector construction investment in urban areas and favourable policies by the Japanese government.

The company returned to a net profit, making US$20.8m from a loss of US$54.8m in the same period as the prior year. For Taiheiyo's cement business sales of cement to external customers rose by 10% to US$1.20bn from US$1.09bn.

Tajikistan: A new 1Mt/yr cement plant in the Yovon district, Khatlon province is expected to start operation in late August 2013, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industry (MoEI). The US$100m project has been built by the Tajikistan-China joint venture Huaxin Gayur Cement.

"The construction of the plant has practically been completed and it just remains to complete the commissioning process," said an official source at a MoEI. It added that the plant will create 1000 new jobs. The Yovon cement plant will be powered by coal which will be delivered to the plant from the Fon-Yaghnob and Ziddi coalfields.

Huaxin Gayur Cement was established by Huaxin Zhongya Investment (Wuhan), a subsidiary of Huaxin Cement, and Gayur Limited Liability Company. Huaxin Zhongya Investment (Wuhan) holds 75% of the ownership and Gayur holds the remaining 25%.

According to the data from the MoEI, eight cement plants with a total cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr now operate in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's largest cement plant is OJSC Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant) with rated capacity of 1.1Mt/yr. However, this plant has not been in operation since January 2013 due to a lack of natural gas. Tajikistan's annual requirements in cement have sharply increased in connection with construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant, highways and other national infrastructure projects.

Bangladesh/India: India's Star Cement has started exporting clinker to Bangladesh by river. According to a report by the Times of India, the cement producer aims to export over 50,000t/month of clinker to Bangladesh by this route.

"Exporting clinker to Bangladesh by the river will give an edge to the company to encounter the stiff competition it is likely to face from manufacturers of Southeast Asian countries, all of whom cater to 99% clinker requirement of this country," said a Star Cement official.

In a pilot project in 2012 Star Cement had started clinker exports to Bangladesh by road. The company has deals with several leading cement producers in Bangladesh to meet their clinker requirements and is planning more.