US: Martin Marietta Materials posted lower revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a slowdown in the housing market and bad weather in Texas reduced shipments of materials, especially concrete. While the company reported a net income for the fourth quarter of US$184m, a 17% rise year-on-year compared with US$157m in the fourth quarter of 2021, its revenue fell to US$1.48bn from US$1.50bn. This was partly due to a 1.7% fall in building material revenues. Cement shipments fell by 11%, mostly due to wet and cold weather in Texas, though prices rose by 21%. Ready-mixed concrete revenue fell by 35% due to the sale of the company's Colorado and Central Texas ready-mixed concrete business.

Nigeria: Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for governor of Ebonyi State, has pledged to revive the Nigeria Cement Factory at Nkalagu if elected in the forthcoming election. Odii said the successive administrations promised to revive the factory but failed to do so. Elections will be held on 11 March 2023.

Odii said, “As a governor, I will make sure the cement factory works, because many have promised to revamp the Nkalagu cement factory, but they failed. They failed because they lack the capacity. They failed because they are not entrepreneurs. I’m going to turn things around in Ebonyi state.”

Puerto Rico: Cement sales were 46,750t in January 2023, a 3.8% rise year-on-year compared to January 2022. Cement production in the territory came to 31,930t in January 2023, a 58% rise. This means that imports fell to 14,820t, 32% of all cement consumed. In January 2022 there were 24,842t of imports, representing 55% of all cement consumed in Puerto Rico.

Kenya: Five cement producers are opposing an increase in import taxes on clinker that has been championed by National Cement owner Narendra Raval Guru. They claim that he has ‘been given the ear’ of the country’s current administration and is using his position as a domestic clinker manufacturer to disadvantage cement companies that grind imported clinker. The company is reportedly seeking an increase on the duty from 10% to 25%.

The five cement companies - Rai Cement, Bamburi Cement, Savannah Cement, Ndovu Cement and Riftcot – argue that this would create an unfair playing field in the local cement sector. The say that two manufacturers, National Cement and Mombasa Cement, would dominate due to their clinker manufacturing plants. Mombasa Cement has not stated a position in the dispute.