Cement News tagged: International
Colombian cement dispatches fall to 12.9Mt in 2023
Cement dispatches in Colombia slipped by 2.6 per cent to 1.093Mt in December 2023 from 1.122Mt in December 2022, according to the country’s statistics agency, DANE. Of this total, bulk deliveries declined by 5.2 per cent while bagged cement dispatches were down 1.4 per cent. While retail sales increased 2.5 per cent YoY in December 2023, ready-mix concrete companies and the construction and ...
India's CMA welcomes Interim Budget 2024-25
India’s cement producers have applauded the country’s government for its sustained focus on infrastructure development in its latest Interim Budget 2024-25. Under the budget plan, investment in infrastructure will increase by 11.1 per cent YoY in 2024-25, equivalent to 3.4 per cent of GDP. Three major economic railway corridor programmes, namely the energy, mineral and cement corridor, ...
MPA survey reveals deteriorating markets
The UK-based Mineral Products Association (MPA) has released the results of its latest industry sales survey, revealing a second consecutive annual drop in sales volumes of heavy-side building materials in Great Britain. The deteriorating market for aggregates, concrete, asphalt and mortar has unfolded against a backdrop of unfavourable economic conditions, escalating costs, rising interest r...
Congolese government raises cement price
Following requests from domestic cement producers, the government of the Republic of Congo has increased the prices of wholesale cement per tonne and retail cement per 50kg bag. The price of cement has increased by more than 50 per cent compared to the approved price as production costs have soared. Type 42.5N cement is now sold in Brazzaville at XAF90,000/t (US$147.78/t) and XAF4900/50kg ba...
Ghana introduces new cement regulation
Ghana has introduced a new regulation designed to protect both the quality and safety of cement products in the country, According to BNN, The Ghana Standards Authority (Manufacture of Cement) Regulation, 2023 (L.I. 2480) follows concerns raised by players in the country’s construction industry regarding the quality of cement and its impact on the durability and safety of structures. Th...
Nigerian cement prices rise by 30%
Cement prices in Nigeria have risen by 30 per cent in the last few days, reaching NGN6500 (US$5.44)/bag in some regions, reports The Guardian. The ripple effect across other building materials is already being seen with sandcrete blocks going up in price from NGN450 to NGN500 for a six inch block, while nine-inch blocks have increased from NGN550 to NGN600/block. The price of ready-mixed conc...
Italian cement production expands 10% in November
Cement output in Italy increased by 10 per cent YoY in November 2023, according to the Italian concrete association, Federbeton. However, when compared with the 2015-baseline index of 100, output declined to 92. The country imported 191,707t of grey cement in October 2023, up 13 per cent YoY, with a total CIF value of EUR16.584m, or EUR87/t. Grey exports advanced by 22 per cent YoY in Octobe...
Pakistan extends T&T implementation deadline
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched the Track and Trace System (TTS) that was to be rolled out across the cement, sugar, fertiliser, beverages, tobacco, POL products and steel sectors from 1 July 2021 in Pakistan to enhance tax revenue, reduce counterfeiting and preventing the smuggling of illicit goods through the implementation of a robust, and has extended the deadline for cemen...
Spanish cement demand falls 3% in 2023
Cement consumption in Spain showed no growth in 2023, settling at 14.5Mt, representing a drop of three per cent YoY and five years of stagnation, according to the country’s cement association, Oficemen. With an installed capacity of approximately 47Mta, capacity utilisation rates are low and Oficemen President, Alan Svaiter, said that a country with the population and GDP of Spain should hav...
MPA's new report issues warning to next UK Government
With a general election approaching in the UK, a new report from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) – ‘Priorities for the Next Government: Decarbonisation, Growth, Delivery’ – is urging all parties to carefully consider the supply of essential domestic mineral products in their manifesto pledges on housing and transport, schools and hospitals, flood defences and renewable energy infrastru...
Port of Rotterdam puts geopolymer concrete to the test
The Port of Rotterdam Authority is trialling the use of geopolymer concrete as part of the port’s efforts to lower its CO 2 footprint. This marks the first time geopolymer concrete, which does not contain any cement, has been tested in a maritime environment, reports Hellenic Shipping News. The Port Authority currently maintains 80km of quay walls and 200km of slopes, and plans to use the con...
Azerbaijan cement production up 5% in 2023
Azerbaijani cement companies produced 3.725Mt of cement in 2023, up 4.6 per cent YoY, according to the State Statistics Committee. Clinker output reached 3.869Mt, representing a YoY increase of 36.9 per cent. The country's cement production base consists of four cement producers, each operating a single integrated plant. Norm Cement operates the largest cement works, a 2.1Mta unit at Qizil...
Enhancing productivity dominates construction start-ups, reports CEMEX
CEMEX Ventures, the corporate venture capital and open innovation unit of CEMEX, has released its list of the most promising construction technology (Contech) start-ups of 2024. The list reveals the most disruptive start-ups that are redefining the construction industry according to the corporate venture capital’s four strategic focus areas: green construction (sustainability), enhanced prod...
Uzbek cement output up 3% in 11M23
Cement producers in Uzbekistan produced 11.1Mt of cement in the January-November 2023 period, according to the Statistics Agency of Uzbekistan. When compared with the previous year, this represents an increase of 2.5 per cent. Large companies produced 857,500t of cement in November alone. In September 2023 a new 3Mta factory came online in Samarkand. The UZS3.8trn (US$312.6m) project was l...
Vietnam cement sales contract 16% in 2023
Cement sales in Vietnam declined by seven per cent to 5,295,422t in December 2023, reports the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA). Of this total, 1,567,174t of cement was sold by VICEM, which saw sales drop by 13 per cent YoY, while other VNCA members sold 988,248t, 17 per cent less than in December 2022. Non-affiliated cement companies saw their sales edge up by one per cent YoY as th...
Iranian cement market expands 11% in 2023
Iranian cement consumption increased by seven per cent YoY to 5.51Mt in December 2023, according to the Iranian cement association. This follows a 54.8 per cent increase in November 2023 when demand reached 6.61Mt from a low 4.27Mt in November 2022. Clinker production slipped by 0.6 per cent YoY to 6.25Mt, but cement output increased by 10.6 per cent YoY to 6.18Mt in December 2023. Clinker p...