Global Cement News

Spain: French cement multinational Lafarge has reportedly withdrawn from talks that it was having regarding the acquisition of a Catalonian cement plant from the Spanish sector player Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV). The decision was attributed to Lafarge's merger project with Swiss cement maker Holcim, which will most probably lead to the sale of assets in European countries, including Spain.

Lafarge had been negotiating the acquisition of the Vallcarca plant for several months. The plant has a cement capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. Lafarge previously placed a Euro20m offer for the facility, which was rejected by CPV.

China: Huaxin Cement Co Ltd has announced that it anticipates its net profit for the first quarter of 2014 to grow by 350-400% year-on-year, compared to a profit of US$4.14m in the corresponding period of 2013. The Hubei Province-based company attributes its forecasted profit growth to increasing cement product sales and prices.

China: The government of Tianjin in northern China has said that it will not approve any new cement, steel or non-ferrous metals plants in a bid to fight pollution, according to state media. The statement follows a central government plan from 2013 to restrict new manufacturing in key industrial centres.

China has identified the region that includes Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin as one of the key targets of a programme to reduce the emissions of 'heavy' industries including cement, steel and thermal power, according to reports from Reuters. It has promised in policy documents released since 2012 to block the construction of new industrial plants in three major 'low-emission' regions, including Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin, the Yangtze river delta region centring on Shanghai and the Pearl river delta region in southern Guangdong Province. China's environment ministry has said that these regions are responsible for 40% of the country's total cement output despite covering just 8% of the country's total area.

Tajikistan: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was expected to give the green light for the construction of 0.5Mt/yr cement plant in Vahdat on Wednesday 16 April 2014. The Ministry of Industry and New technologies of Tajikistan (MoINT) says that an estimated budget for construction of the plant is US$81.5m. It will be built by China-based Beijing Uni-Construction Group, which will deliver the plant to Tajik firm Vahdat Cement on a turnkey basis.

Egypt: Arabian Cement Company has announced that its initial public offering (IPO) is expected to take place before the end of the second quarter of 2014, with trading on the Egyptian Stock Exchange to start around 21 May 2014. The company plans to sell a 22.5% stake.

Arabian Cement Company has also invested US$35m to shift from using 100% natural gas to 70% coal and 30% alternative fuels. It expects to use coal within the next three to four months once the government issues the company with the necessary license. The company produced 4Mt of cement in the 2013 fiscal year from a capacity of 5Mt/yr. It expects no growth in the 2014 fiscal year on the back of energy shortages.