International Cement Review articles tagged under : Market Reports
India: fast forward
India’s 425Mta cement industry, now in its 104th year of existence, plays a pivotal role not only in the country’s growth but also on the global stage. With an output of 280Mta in 2017, it is the world’s second-largest producer and supplies the second-most populous country. How does it view its future? By Ashutosh Saxena, National Council for Cement and Building Materials, India. The NC...
African aspirations
East Africa’s cement sector has remained resilient in recent years, despite oversupply and power shortages. ICR reviews the main east African markets as the battle to increase market shares intensifies and modernisat...
Emerging from the clouds?
Following the recession that significantly impacted the Brazilian cement industry, recent months have seen a more positive picture emerge as the domestic economy recovered. While political uncertainties continue to c...
Agents of change
Like the steel and automotive sectors, the cement landscape has experienced a far-reaching transformation over the last 30 years. In the mid-1980s, local players outgrew their local markets and seized the opportunity...
Vietnam’s dragon of growth
With strong economic growth fuelling infrastructure investment and China importing more clinker than ever, its not hard to see why Vietnam’s cement producers are enjoying a surge in demand. But the industry remains h...
Building the Balkans
While some of the Balkan states are among the youngest countries in Europe, their cement demand has remained relatively low since the global financial crisis of 2008. But this is expected to grow as improved infrastr...
Not out of the woods yet
As India’s cement industry recovers from demonetisation, the October-December 2017 quarter brought new tests of strength. While demand showed unusually-high growth, increased fuel and raw material prices combined wit...
Central America: ready to grow
Central America’s positive but weakening economic growth trend is expected to continue into the coming years, fuelled by the diverging economies of its constituent countries. ICR looks at the supply and demand variat...
Imbalances yet to surface in Trump’s US economy
ICR took a moment to talk to Ed Sullivan, Portland Cement Association’s vice president and chief economist of Market Intelligence, to understand more about how the US economy is faring and what factors might yet caus...
Going to Graceland
The 2018 IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference will be held between 6-10 May in Nashville, Tennessee. Therefore, the timing is right for ICR to visit Graceland and examine the recent developments in the n...
Russia’s new dawn
Growing construction activity, a recovering economy and stabilising cement production – 2017 marks something of a turn-around year for Russia after years of recession. But the situation is still fragile with much of ...
A banner year ahead
Following several challenging years with cement demand declining, the year ahead promises a turnaround of fortunes for China. With domestic cement consumption and export demand expected to rise and new supply to mode...
Central Asia: the Chinese way
Central Asia stands at the brink of an economic and trading revolution as China looks west and implements its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to reach across into Eurasia and Africa. To drive this transformation, ...
Israel: closing the gap
A stable economy and renewed commitment to infrastructure spending by the government bodes well for Israel’s cement producers, although rising cement imports are making for a more competitive environment that has cha...
Facing an oversupply challenge
Indonesia’s cement market saw a significant expansion in 2017 despite economic woes. While the country’s property market performs below par, cement producers are pinning their hopes on the government’s ambitious infr...
North Africa: mixed fortunes
ICR takes a look at the current economic and political challenges facing cement producers in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, and how they are responding to this rapidly-changing landscape. As Alger...