Global Cement News

Egypt: Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Eng. Hatem Saleh has said that the ministry is considering imposing of a levy on cement exports due to 'unjustifiable' increases in cement prices on the local market. In a press statement the Saleh added that cement prices had increased by 66% due to a 'remarkable' deficit in cement quantities.

Saleh pointed out that the 'exaggerated' price rises were 'inconsistent' with the recent increase of energy prices for cement plants imposed by the government. He said that the energy rise only represented up to 18% of the price increase seen. Saleh stressed that the Egyptian government will not ignore any manipulation of prices that add further burdens for consumers.

Chile: Chilean cement-and-concrete firm Melon reported a 15.6% rise in revenue to US$458m in 2012. The Grupo Brescia subsidiary saw its profits rise by 3.13% to US$9.19m despite high electricity costs. The cement sector in Chile grew by 11% in 2012.

India: UltraTech Cement announced on 1 March 2013 that it had temporarily shut down its 3.6Mt/yr Awarpur plant in Maharashtra due to workers' unrest. UltraTech reinforced that the closure would not substantially effect the company's financial performance.

Kenya: Bamburi Cement has posted a 15% drop in pretax profit to US$83.3m in 2012. The figure was hit by lower gains on its foreign currency holdings the Kenyan based Lafarge subsidiary reported to Reuters. Turnover rose by 4% to US$437m, but higher costs drove operating profit down by 14%.

"The group anticipates underlying cement demand to continue growing in the region despite a slow start in Kenya influenced by the election period, supported by improved political stability in the inland Africa export markets," said Bamburi in a statement.

The Kenyan Shilling was stable against the US Dollar during 2012, having weakened sharply in the previous period, thus accounting for the lower gains on foreign exchange holdings by the firm.

China: German cement industry supplier Loesche GmbH has signed a contract to provide five mills to Shanxi Biological Cement Co. in China. The Shanghai division of Loesche has taken an order for two raw material mills and three clinker mills with complete mill key parts, housings and frames. The components are scheduled for delivery in 2013 with commissioning planned for mid-2013.

Shanxi Biological Cement is the daughter company of Shanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co. It has merged two local cement companies with just under 1Mt/yr cement production capacity. It is building two 4500t/day clinker production lines in FuPing and a 1.8Mt/yr ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) production line in Gaoling. Another 1Mt/yr clinker grinding station plant in HuangLing is being planned. Following all of this production, Shanxi Biological Cement Co intends to become the top cement producer in Western China with a capacity of 10Mt/yr.