Global Cement News

Vietnam: Vietnamese cement producers increased their output of cement by 7.9% year-on-year to 96.5Mt in 2019. Volumes in December 2019 were 8.7Mt – up by 12% from 7.8Mt in December 2018, when the country produced 90.2Mt throughout the year. Vietnam News Brief Service has reported that in 2019, 34Mt of cement and clinker was exported from Vietnam – up by 6.3% year-on-year from 32.0Mt in 2018 – with a total value of US$1.39bn – up by 11% from US$1.25bn.

India: Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty has announced an infrastructure-spending plan consisting of US$102tn expenditure before 30 April 2025. Iran Daily has reported that this includes an investment of US$13.6tn in the 12 months to 30 April 2019 - up by 36% from US$10.0tn in the previous 12 months to 30 April 2018. 25% of the investment will go to the energy sector and 19% spent on roads, 16% on urban infrastructure, 13% on railways and 8% on rural infrastructure and innovation. The Business Standard newspaper has suggested that slow growth in domestic demand in late 2020 may cause cement production capacity utilisation to return to a level above 70%.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement has installed and commissioned a dry kiln to replace its reserve kiln at its plant in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. The new kiln is part of a Euro5.79m investment which will increase the current 3.1Mt/yr integrated plant’s capacity by over 40% to 4.4Mt/yr when commissioned in mid-2020. Oleg Lopatin, Kavkazcement director general, said “A significant increase in the plant’s workload was made possible by the high demand for our cements.”

Nepal: Cement produced by Hongshi-Shivam cement, a joint venture of Shivam Group and China’s Hongshi Cement, failed to meet the mandated 30-minute initial setting window in tests conducted by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM). Gulf Daily has reported that the NBSM will pursue legal action against the company.

Iceland: Iceland Cement has invested Euro0.1m in a specialised washboard for cement trucks. The installation includes strainers for both solids and oil. The company emphasised its social responsibility to keep the trucks, a ‘prominent feature’ in the local area, clean.