International Cement Review articles tagged under : Market Reports

29 June 2018

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 highly-fragmented and needs to tackle its oversupply situation as new mega plants arrive on the scene. The Vietnamese dragon is a symbol of growth. Last year saw the country...

04 June 2018

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...

21 May 2018

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...

14 May 2018

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 09 May 2018

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...

02 May 2018

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 23 April 2018

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 ...

09 April 2018

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...

26 March 2018

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, ...

20 March 2018

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...

08 March 2018

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...

26 February 2018

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...

14 February 2018

Less-troubled waters

After years of austerity, the governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are adopting expansionary budgets as oil prices begin to recover, infrastructure spending ramps up and the cement sector looks forward t...

05 February 2018

India’s turning point?

The July-September 2017 quarter saw the Indian cement market fare mildly better when compared with the general malaise of the past year. Has a turning point been reached? Meanwhile, government initiatives such as the...

31 January 2018

Philippines: a clean bill of health

More than a year has passed since President Rodrigo R Duterte took office in the Philippines and the country’s cement market continues to see strong growth. However, incumbents face challenges in the form of increasi...

22 January 2018

Mexico: a tough year ahead

The slowing housing sector and constraints to the public purse have impacted Mexican cement demand in the past two years. The year ahead will present further uncertainties as the country goes to the polls to elect a ...