India: Dubai-based Synergy Metals has made an offer and sought the permission of the Competition Commission of India to acquire a minority stake in JSW Group subsidiary JSW Cement. The New Indian Express has reported that JSW Group is seeking to reduce its stake ahead of an initial public offer (IPO) for the producer. The company is valued at over US$2.0bn and is seeking to sell US$200m-worth of stakes.

Spain: Tudela Veguín says that an upgrade to a conveyor belt connecting its Aboño cement plant in Asturias to a terminal at the Port of El Musel will allow it to dispatch 5% more cement. The increase represents more than 100,000t/yr-worth of additional cement shipments, according to the La Nueva España newspaper. Ship loading time has also been reduced by nearly half. The Euro532,000 conveyor was completed in 2020. The El Musel terminal has shipped cement for export to several new countries, including most recently the US.

Vietnam: State-owned Vicem’s cement and clinker sales grew by 8% year-on-year to 12.7Mt in the first half of 2021. The Viet Nam News newspaper has reported that the company recorded cement and clinker production volumes of 14.8Mt, up by 7%. Its 2021 full-year production targets are 30Mt of cement and clinker sales, up by 5%, and production of 26Mt of cement, up by 8%, and 22Mt of clinker, up by 1%. The producer recorded sales of US$709m in the first half of 2021, up by 5%. Its profit before tax rose by 23% to US$54.4m.

Hungary: The government has imposed a 90% tax on the excess profits of some building materials producers to prevent rising prices. It applies to companies that produce cement, lime, gypsum, chalk, gravel, sand and clay that had an annual revenue over Euro8.4m in 2019, according to the MTI news agency. Producers will be liable for a 90% ‘mining allowance’ on the difference between revenue generated using their own prices and threshold prices set in the decree. The threshold price for cement has been set at Euro56/t.

The government has also ordered that companies report the export of ‘strategic’ construction materials including cement, gypsum wallboard, gravel and steel products. The related decree also gives the state pre-emption rights for the materials that have been reported at a price "in line with their current market value." Failure to comply with the reporting obligation may result in seizure of the construction materials and fines up to Euro14,000.