Italcementi looks at new plant in Kazakhstan

Ciments Francais, the French arm of Italy’s Italcementi, is considering constructing a cement production plant in the Aktobe region in western Kazakhstan, the regional administration said in a statement Thursday.  The capacity of the plant would be 1Mta. "Western Kazakhstan is a priority for development of cement production," the statement quotes the executive director of the company, Jean Martre, as saying.  Martre also said that annual consumption in Kazakhstan may rise to 9Mt of cement in the near future from 3.5Mt last year.

Ciments Francais entered Kazakhstan’s market in 1998, when it bought cement plant Shymkentcement in the southern part of the country. Over the last four years, it has invested US$20 million, increasing annual production to 600,000t of cement a year from 100,000t initially. (see full report ICR December 2004)