Global Cement News

Greece: Titan Group’s turnover rose by 10% to Euro785m in the first half of 2019 from Euro713m in the same period in 2018. The building materials producer attributed this to improving markets in Greece and Southeastern Europe, as well as continued ‘strong’ performance in the US.

Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained stable at Euro122m but its net profit fell by 46% to Euro13.3m from Euro24.8m. In its Eastern Mediterranean region the group described market conditions as ‘challenging’ with falling demand in Egypt and Turkey. In Brazil it said that cement sales volumes were stable but that revenue had risen due to an improving market.

India: Wonder Cement has launched the third production line at its Nimbahera plant at Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. The new 2Mt/yr integrated line had an investment of US$159m, according to the Hindu newspaper. The unit at Nimbahera now has a total production capacity of 9Mt/yr and the company also operates a 2Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Dhule in Maharashtra.

Sanjay Joshi, the executive director of Wonder Cement, said that he expected domestic cement demand to grow by 8% year-on-year in the 2019 – 2020 financial year. He added that, although the market was crowed, he thought that a new company could stand out if it delivered quality products.

India: Data from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry shows that cement production rose by 6.3% year-on-year to 178Mt in the first half of 2019 from 167Mt in the same period in 2018. On a month-on-month basis production fell by 1.5% to 28.3Mt in June 2019 from 28.8Mt in June 2018. June 2019 was the first month since October 2017 that cement production had fallen in this way.

Egypt: Arabian Cement has signed a 0.3Mt/yr petcoke supply deal with the Egyptian Refining Company. Sergio Alcantarilla, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Arabian Cement said that the agreement was part of the company’s plans to reduce its production costs and improve operational performance by diversifying its energy sources, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. The company operates a 5Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Ain Sokhna in the Suez Governorate.

Russia: Siberian Cement is spending around Euro4m on upgrading the automated process control system (APCS) at its cement plants. The project, which is about half way along, is scheduled for completion in 2023.