China/India: Research organisation Fitch Ratings has forecast continued ‘steady’ growth of 6 – 8% year-on-year in cement demand in India in 2024. Meanwhile, it expects demand in China to remain ‘weak,’ amid low activity levels in the residential construction sector. Nonetheless, Fitch Ratings said that rising installed cement capacity will limit growth in producers’ profit margins in India, while producers’ profit margins will stabilise in China.

Türkiye: Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) has concluded an agreement to acquire an additional 20% stake in OYAK Denizli Çimento from OYAK Çimento. Reuters has reported that this will raise TCC’s stake in the company to 60%. The deal aligns with a previous memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two parent companies.

OYAK Denizli Çimento operates the 3Mt/yr Honaz cement plant in Denizli Province. It reportedly has an enterprise value of Euro1.4bn. OYAK Çimento bought the business from Eren Holding and Ireland-based CRH for US$400 – 450m in 2014.

Canada: Residents of Exshaw and Lac des Arcs, Alberta, near Lafarge Canada’s Exshaw cement plant, have filed a lawsuit over allegedly increasing dust emissions from the plant. Postmedia Breaking News has reported that law firm Napoli Shkolnik Canada said that dust spills occur ‘regularly.’ The plant’s operations allegedly also blacken snow on the ground in the area and have caused ‘severe’ odours and ‘violent’ tremors.

India: Ramco Cements has raised the clinker capacity of its Kolimigundla cement plant by 26%, to 3.15Mt/yr from 2.5Mt/yr. The Hindu newspaper has reported that Ramco Cements plans to invest US$192m in capital expenditure (CAPEX) during the 2024 financial year (1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024), and a further US$24 – 30m in on-going projects in the 2025 financial year. The producer said that its projects, involving its cement, concrete and energy operations, are proceeding ‘on track.’ These include an expansion of its Odisha grinding plant to double its capacity to 1.8Mt/yr.