Germany: HeidelbergCement says it has made good progress with its ‘portfolio optimisation’ process. The company closed the divestment of its 50% share in Ciment Québec and its minority participation in Syria in December 2018. In addition, a former cement plant area near Cairo in Egypt has been auctioned, and the divestment of its Ukrainian business has been signed. The divestments in Egypt and Ukraine are expected to complete in 2019. Altogether these divestments will have a value of Euro150m and are expected to have a ‘slightly’ positive effect on operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2019.

“We deliver on our action plan and have accelerated our efforts to improve our portfolio and generate cash in order to speed up deleveraging,” said Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. The cement producer has a divestment target of Euro1.5bn by the end of 2020.

US: Cemex USA is preparing to expand its cement terminal at Port Tampa Bay in Florida. It wants to increase the size of its operations so it can process more cement, fly ash, slag, limestone and other materials, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The company also wants to build a ready-mx concrete plant at the site.

Egypt: France’s Vicat and its subsidiary Sinai Cement plan to invest Euro30m in the local market. Vicat Egypt’s chief executive officer (CEO), Tamer Magdy, said that the investment is intended to meet demand for cement, according to Mubasher. He added that the company would continue to invest in the Sinai Peninsula despite on-going security issues.

Iran: Abdul Reza Sheikhan, the secretary of the Cement Industry Association, has warned that an increase to maritime shipping rates is further restricting exports in conjunction with US-backed trade sanctions. He said that the country has a production capacity of 87.5Mt/yr, that 48Mt is consumed domestically and that less than 15% is exported, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. He also identified ‘negative’ competition between cement producers over exports has damaged the industry. To counter this, export teams in the east, west and south of the country have been formed.

The country exports cement to 17 countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, Bangladesh and countries in Africa. It is the sixth largest exporter in the world.