Global Cement News

Spain: Mexican cement company Cemex is currently preparing a second downsizing plan for its workforce in Spain. Over the 30 days to 28 February 2012 the company is expected to negotiate with the trade unions the dismissal of up to 156 employees out of a total of 1077 employees in Spain.

The move is in line with the flagging demand as well as with Cemex's strategic plan to adapt its production capacity. At the end of 2012 Cemex cut 290 jobs in Spain in a first round of job-cuts.

Iran: In January 2013 the seasonal decline of cement demand in Iran led to large stocks of clinker in some plants. For example: ShahreCord Cement currently has around 0.45Mt of clinker, Momtazan Cement has a clinker stock of 0.37Mt, NeizarGhom Cement has 0.2Mt of clinker, Hormozgan Cement has 0.39Mt, Naein Cement has 0.36Mt and Lamerd Cement has 0.19Mt of clinker.

Iran: Iran's Bank of Industry & Mine has allocated around Euro400m to complete 15 cement projects since 2010. The bank has financed 38% of Iran's cement projects, according to the IRNA News Agency.

The Bank of Industry and Mine is an Iranian government owned specialised bank located in Tehran, Iran. It aims to increase economic growth through the development of industry and mining. It is estimated that the bank has created some 4500 direct job opportunities.

In December 2012 Deputy Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister, Vajiollah Jafari, said that by reaching a cement production capacity of 115Mt/yr Iran will become world's third largest cement producer. Iran's cement output will reach 75Mt by the end of current Iranian calendar year on 19 March 2013. Iran plans to increase its cement output up to 85Mt by the end of the next Iranian Calendar year on 19 March 2014.

Iranian cement production surpassed 49Mt in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on 20 March 2012, an increase of 6% compared to the same period in 2011. Iran exported over 9.38Mt of cement and clinker in the same period, an increase of 30%. This comprised 8.25Mt of cement and 1.14Mt of clinker. Iraq, Central Asia, United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan were the main targets for the exported cement and clinker. Iran's cement production capacity is currently 86Mt/yr.

Namibia: The Namibian attorney general has decided to refer a dispute about the legality of the import duty that is supposed to serve as an infant industry protection measure for cement manufacturer Ohorongo Cement to the Supreme Court. The settlement agreement was reached between lawyers representing Jack's Trading CC, a Chinese-owned cement importer, and the minister of finance and commissioner for customs and excise and was made a court order over objections from senior counsel Raymond Heathcote, representing Ohorongo Cement.

Heathcote tried in vain to persuade the court to first allow Ohorongo Cement to intervene in the latest case between Jack's Trading and the Minister of finance.

In light of the agreement Jack's Trading CC withdrew its latest urgent application in which it was asking the High Court to declare the cement import duty, as decided and announced by the minister of finance, invalid and unlawful and to set the import tax aside.

Zambia: Dangote Cement is set to open another US400m cement plant in Lusaka in 2014, bringing its total investment in Zambia to US$800m according to executive director Monica Musonda.

"The opening of the Dangote Ndola plant, which is situated in Masaiti, will make Dangote the biggest cement producer in the country producing 3000t/day," said Musonda. "The local cement production scenario will never be the same again with the coming of Dangote, which has now entered the Zambian market." She added that plans to open another 1.5Mt/yr capacity plant in the capital city after the completion of the Ndola plant in 2014 have reached an advanced stage.

China's Sinoma International Engineering has been hired to build the new Dangote plant. The chosen contractor would be announced once the construction process takes off. Musonda said, that like the Dangote Ndola plant, the Lusaka plant would be constructed using the latest, environmentally-friendly technologies that are commonly available in Europe and the United States.

Dangote's regional commercial manager Venkie Srinivasan said in an interview that his company expected a 40-45% share of the Zambian cement market after the opening of the Ndola plant in the third quarter of 2014. Srinivasan said that Dangote Industries in Zambia was set to meet the demand on the local construction and mining sector. He added that any excess cement would be able to compete favourably in the regional export market, including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Elsewhere, Zambia's Southern Province permanent secretary Chileshe Mulenga announced that a consortium of Indian investors are planning to invest US$10bn in various industries in the region including the construction of a new cement plant.