Cement News tagged under: imports

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Holiday slowdown affects Pakistan & Bangladesh

31 July 2014, Published under Cement News

Imports and exports of cement and raw materials through some of Pakistan and Bangladesh’s key ports have been disrupted since 25 July 2014 due to the Eid ul-Fitr festival and seasonal holidays. Both governments have officially declared 4-5 days holiday for the Eid festivities but offline periods have been stretched due to weekly holidays as well. Pakistan The partial suspension of loading operations at Karachi Port and Port Qasim have affected the export of about 55,000t of cement fr...

Indonesia ranks Vietnam’s top importer over Jan-May 2014

17 July 2014, Published under Cement News

Indonesia accounted for the largest share of Vietnam’s exports over the first five months of this year, according to data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. Indonesia imported 1.27Mt of cement and clinker from Vietnam, representing 12 per cent of sales over the January-May 2014 period. Taiwan ranked second with 581,600t, followed by Malaysia (423,371t), Chile (215,000t), Cambodia (206,473t) and Angola (193,159t). Vietnam’s domestic sales are expected to rise by nine pe...

India: CMA seeks fairer taxes for cement

10 July 2014, Published under Cement News

The Indian Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has requested in its pre-budget memorandum 2014-15 that cement be stipulated as 'Declared Goods', so that it is put on an equal footing with other core sector goods like coal and steel in terms of taxation. At present, while the cement industry in India is one of the country's basic and core infrastructure industries, cement is subject to higher rates of taxation. The CMA intends to rationalise and reduce the excise duty on cement from its...

Namibia: Ohorongo cement fights back against Chinese importers

10 July 2014, Published under Cement News

Namibia's Ohorongo Cement plant, part of the German-based Schwenk Zement KG, is battling to beat off Chinese cement imports. Plant manager, Gerhard Hirth, said  imports from China are always a few cents cheaper than their competitors. The Namibian government had promised Ohorongo Cement it would be protected while in its initial growth phase by a tariff agreement. Cement imports from outside Namibia would be subjected to a 60 per cent levy. However, there are reports of a Chinese importer...

US shipments rise 6% YoY

02 July 2014, Published under Cement News

Shipments of Portland and blended cement in the US and Puerto Rico for the four months to the end of April 2014 reached 23.1Mt, up by about six per cent YoY, latest data from the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows. Shipments in April were 7.4Mt, an increase of about 11 per cent from the level in the same month of the previous year. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois, in descending order), received about 41 per cent of the April total shipments. Pr...

Azerbaijan cement output increases 40% YoY

30 June 2014, Published under Cement News

In the first five months of the year, Azerbaijan produced 1.1Mt of cement, a 40 per cent increase compared to the same period of 2013. The rise in domestic output has been attributed to the entry of new players in the local market and declining imports. Imports in the first five months of the year amounted to US$50m compared to US$61.5m, a drop of 19 per cent YoY. Going forward, the dependence of imports is expected to fall by 20 per cent in 2014-2015, according to industry sources.

Holcim NZ gets set to increase imports

25 June 2014, Published under Cement News

Holcim New Zealand has confirmed its Westport cement plant will close by the second half of 2016 as the company now has all the final approvals to go ahead with its investment to build two 30,000t import terminals. Work is expected to start on the US$50m terminal at Timaru's PrimePort in August, with a second, worth another US$50m, in Auckland in December. Both should be operational by the second half of 2016. "This confirmation of start dates can be taken as a sign of the global compan...

Saudi on course for full demand recovery in 4Q14

23 June 2014, Published under Cement News

Saudi cement sector is currently showing signs of recovery, with demand beginning to return to its normal levels, a new report by NCB Capital reveals. Mohamed Tomalieh, equity research analyst at NCB Capital, said: “The average YoY decline in sales since November 2013 stood at 7.9 per cent but sales in May 2014 increased 3.1 per cent YoY, the first increase since the end of the amnesty period for expats in November 2013. The recent growth supports our view of demand normalising in 3Q14, wi...

Set for rationalisation?

18 June 2014, Published under Cement News

With the construction sector predicted to grow by just 1.1 per cent in 2014, there is little for South Korea’s cement producers to look forward to. As the focus turns to overseas markets, cement exports are on the up, but how long can this strategy sustain the country’s cement overcapacity crisis? South Korea’s cement producers will need to find a long-term solution to their overcapacity woes as the domestic market has reached saturation point and export growth is unsustainable ...

Vessel with clinker imports sinks in Bangladesh

13 June 2014, Published under Cement News

A light local vessel, MV Brishti, laden with 9500t of clinker imports capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Patenga beach in Chittagong, Bangladesh following a collision with the sunken ship MV Rita on 12 June. The clinker was imported by local cement company Diamond Cement for use in its production plant and was heading to Diamond's private jetty on the Karnaphuli river after unloading from the bulk carrier, Xing Peng Da at outer anchorage. Due to the port congestion at Chittagong or in cas...