Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie (GICA) subsidiaries Société des Ciments de Hamma Bouziane (SCHB) and Société des Ciments de Ain El Kebira (SCAEK) are planning to export 50,000t of cement to West Africa. The L’Expression newspaper has reported that SCHB will supply 35,000t of the cement, and SCAEK will supply the remainder. SCHB produced 0.8Mt of cement in 2020.

Nigeria: The National Association of Block Moulders of Nigeria (NABMON) has warned that its members are struggling to continue their trade due to the high price of cement. The Daily Independent newspaper has attributed the price rise to post-coronavirus shutdown maintenance challenges in the cement industry, increased exports, logistical disruptions and an unseasonably high demand for cement. The association is lobbying government to put in place and enforce competition laws to help return the price to a more ‘stable’ level.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia subsidiary Semen Padang’s cement and clinker exports totalled 1.6Mt in 2020. Indonesia Government News has reported that the company said that it exported 0.2Mt of cement and 1.4Mt of clinker throughout the year. The main markets for its products were Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Australia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Semen Indonesia group senior export sales manager Fifit Abriyanto said, “There are two types of cement that we export, namely ordinary Portland cement (OPC) Type I grade 52.5N and OPC Type I grade 42.5N."

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has built a new distribution centre in Campos Novos, Santa Catarina. When it opens in January 2021, the facility will supply a ‘complete portfolio for the civil construction market’ in Santa Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. It will receive goods from six cement and building materials plants in the company’s South Brazil region.

Regional commercial general manager Tony Noritake said, “We invested in this distribution centre to better meet customer demand in the South, expand our presence and optimise costs."