Global Cement News

India: Dalmia Bharat Group has announced its promotion of Gaurav Rajput to the role of deputy general manager finance and accounts. Rajput joined Dalmia Bharat Group from IT company IBM in 2023. He previously worked for LafargeHolcim India and ACC.

US: Monarch Cement announced vice president of cement manufacturing Kenny Miller’s retirement in a posting published on OTC Markets on 15 January 2024. Miller had held his position since April 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Friends University, Kansas.

India: Ambuja Cements has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Telangana for the construction of a new cement facility in the state. The News Minute has reported that the producer plans to invest US$168m in the project. The MoU is part of an agreement between parent company Adani Group and the state of Telangana covering investments worth US$1.49bn. Other projects include an MoU with Adani Group’s renewables subsidiary Adani Green Energy for the construction of a total of 1350MW of energy storage capacity.

Bangladesh: Crown Cement (formerly MI Cement Factory) officially commenced production from its Munshiganj grinding plant’s new Unit 6 on 14 January 2024. The Daily Star newspaper has reported that the new unit increases the Munshiganj plant’s capacity by 72% to 5.7Mt/yr. MI Cement Factory previously signed a US$22.8m syndicated loan facility for the expansion with Eastern Bank Limited on 28 May 2023. The producer said that delays with suppliers and currency crises postponed its delivery of the project. It first postponed the expansion – at that time valued at US$54.6m – due to domestic overcapacity amid the Covid-19 outbreak in October 2020.

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has informed investors via a posting on the Saudi Exchange that it expects its cost of sales to rise by 13%. This is due to an increase in the price of fuels by its supplier Saudi Aramco. The cement producer noted that the waste heat recovery (WHR) system installed at its Najran cement plant has partly reduced the anticipated impacts on costs.

Najran Cement said “The company will work during the coming period to explore ways to reduce the financial impact of this adjustment on the company’s profits and will continue to implement its plans to reduce costs and improve production and operating efficiency. It will also work with government agencies to explore ways to diversify energy sources.”