Russia’s Basic Element mulls purchase of plants in China

Russia’s Basic Element mulls purchase of plants in China
28 April 2008


BaselCement, which manages the cement business of Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element (BasEl), is considering the possibility of acquiring cement plants in China, said Douglas Land, the co-chief of the holding’s construction sector.
 
Cement production in China is much cheaper than in Russia and the purchase of a plant could help in resolving the issue of price, he said. It is more advantageous to ship prepared cement to Russia than it is to produce it here, he said.
 
The company is also considering other forms of cooperation with China, he said. BasEl has been buying Chinese equipment for the construction of the Serebryansky Cement Plant in the Ryazan region. A cooperation agreement has been signed with China’s Sinoma, which will provide BasEl with more than $100 million worth of equipment to produce cement.
 
BaselCement, formed in 2006, includes Achinsk Cement (Krasnoyarsk territory) and Sastobe Cement (southern Kazakhstan), and is building plants in Ryazan, Novgorod and Krasnoyarsk territory. The company also engages in extraction of basalt, granite chippings and sand.
Published under Cement News