Cement News tagged: International
Disappointing trend continues in Japan
Japan cement sales shrank 5.5 per cent YoY in the first month of 2024, marking a continuing trend. Sales were 2.389Mt in January, down from 2.527Mt a year earlier, according to the Japan Cement Association (JCA). Since the mid-2010s sales have been in steady decline and contracted a further 5.6 per cent in 2023 to 35.377Mt from 37.488 in 2022. Lacklustre public sector and civil engineering wor...
Zimbabwe ends cement import licences
The Zimbabwean government has ended the issuance of cement imports. The licences were first introduced in October 2023 to help curb the artificial shortage of cement as prices spiralled out of control, reports The Chronicle. With the price of a 50kg bag of cement jumping from US$9 to US$20, the country’s largest infrastructure projects were in danger of significant delays. To address th...
Strong start to 2024 for Senegal cement
Domestic cement sales in Senegal grew 3.3 per cent YoY in January 2024, coming in at 0.666Mt compared to 0.645Mt in January 2023, according to the country’s national statistics office, DPEE. For 2023 as whole, cement sales rose nine per cent YoY to 7.044Mt, up from 6.46Mt in 2022. Strong population growth, which averaged 2.7 per cent YoY in the decade to 2023 (versus just 0.6 per cent in the ...
Scotland's MPA calls for mineral forum
Scotland’s economic development and drive for decarbonisation depend on domestically available mineral products, according to a new document from the Mineral Products Association Scotland (MPAS) that sets out a series of policy recommendations for the Scottish government. The document, ‘Priorities for Scotland’, highlights the role played by Scotland’s mineral production sector, which manufac...
Italian cement slips in 2023 with moderate 2024 forecast
Italian cement output expanded eight per cent YoY in December 2023, according to the Italian concrete association, Federbeton. This was largely driven by robust demand from local public sector works, which totaled EUR18.1bn in the year to December. However, cement output contracted two per cent for 2023 as a whole, weighed down by sluggish activity in the construction sector. Data from the ...
Colombian cement market contracts 4% in January
Cement dispatches in Colombia declined 4.2 per cent YoY to 0.891Mt in January 2024 when compared with 0.93Mt dispatched in January 2023, reports the country’s statistics office, DANE. The decrease was attributed by DANE to a drop in sales in Norte de Santander (-38.9 per cent YoY), Valle del Cauca (-11.7 per cent) and Atlántico (-12.4 per cent). Bagged cement sales declined by six per cent Y...
US and Puerto Rico cement consumption slips in 2023
Total US and Puerto Rican shipments of Portland and blended cement, including imports, remained stable at 7.1 per cent in December 2023, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Of total blended tonnage reported 3.7Mt, or 98 per cent, was estimated to be Portland limestone cement (Type IL). Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and North Carolina were the leading consuming states, accountin...
Pakistan cement dispatches down 19% YoY in February
Pakistan has reported total cement dispatches of 3.26Mt in February 2024, compared to 4.04Mt in the same period a year earlier. This marks a YoY decline of 19.2 per cent, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. Local dispatches in February this year came in at 2.86Mt, down 20.2 per cent on the same period a year ago, reports Bol News, while cement exports have seen ...
AfriSam annual budget discussion centres on sluggish construction sector
AfriSam recently gathered its stakeholders for its Annual Budget Breakdown event in Johannesburg, to hear insights on the construction sector and budget speech. Econometrix Chief Economist, Dr Azar Jammine, highlighted that the South African construction and building industries were still in the doldrums, with little sign of emerging from it soon. Dr Jammine pointed to the low economic g...
Cement performance aids Pakistan Stock Exchange's record 2023 profitability
Pakistan Stock Exchange saw record profitability in 2023 amid the cement performance. The profitability of the KSE-100 index continues to soar to new heights, posting a robust growth of 51 per cent YoY in 2023. According to AHL Research, the increase in profitability during the period was attributable to a surge of 82, 60, 55 and 47 per cent YoY growth in banks, E&Ps, power and fertilisers, r...
Azerbaijani exports up 14% in 2023
Cement and clinker exports from Azerbaijan to Georgia advanced by 13.9 per cent YoY to 814,803t in 2023. The value of the exports increased by 34.4 per cent YoY to US$46.562m. There are four cement producers in Azerbaijan: Norm Cement with its 2.1Mta Qizildas plant in Garadagh, Holcim (Azerbaijan) OJSC with its 1.7Mta Qaradag works in Baku, Gazakh Cement Plant LLC’s 1.5Mta unit in ...
Iranian cement consumption up 30% in January
Iran’s cement market expanded 30.4 per cent YoY to 5.27Mt in January 2024 from 4.04Mt in January 2023, according to the Iranian cement association. Domestic cement producers manufactured 5.78Mt of cement and 6.21Mt of clinker in the first month of 2024, representing an increase of 33.2 and 31.8 per cent, respectively, when compared with January 2023. A total of 1.18Mt of cement and clinker...
Vietnamese cement market expands 50% in January
Cement sales in Vietnam increased 50 per cent YoY but fell 22 per cent MoM to 4,109,509t in January 2024, reports the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA). Of this total VICEM sold 1,179,667t, up 35 per cent YoY, while other VNCA-affiliated companies reported a total volume of 799,842t, up 51 per cent YoY. Non-VNCA members increased their sales by 60 per cent YoY to 2.13Mt. Total expor...
Uzbek cement output surges in January 2023
Uzbekistan’s cement plants produced 627,000t of cement in January 2024, a 2.3-fold increase YoY, according to the country’s statistics agency. In 2023 output from Uzbek cement plants was 11.93Mt. In September 2023 a UZS3.8trn (US$312.6m) project was launched in Samarkand with assistance from CHINA Energy International Group. The new plant will produce M-400 and M-500 Portland cement at a rat...
Uganda approves mining licence for Karamoja cement plant
The Ugandan government has granted a 21-year large-scale mining licence to Sunbird Resources Ltd to build a cement plant in Moroto district, Karamojo region, northeastern Uganda. Sunbird will produce 6000tpd and 1Mta of cement at the plant. The licence will enable Sunbird Resources to mine 8000tpd of limestone in Rupa sub-county. Systematic exploration work had been carried out over six year...
Spain’s cement demand drops 4% in January
Cement consumption in Spain declined by 3.6 per cent to 1,029,258t in January 2024, according to the Spanish cement association, Oficemen. Furthermore, in January 2024 exports fell by 20.5 per cent, resulting in the seventh-consecutive month of decline. A total of 346,436t was exported, 89,076t less than in January 2023. “The future of our industry faces multiple challenges, which is why it...