EAST TIMOR: Posco E&C to build a new cement plant in East Timor

POSCO E&C Australia Pty Ltd., an Australian subsidiary of POSCO Engineering & Construction, said on December 3 that it won a US$350-million project to build a cement plant in East Timor. POSCO E&C Australia president Gong Young-pil met on November 29 his counterpart with BGC (Australia) Pty Ltd. Sam Buckeridge at Fraser Suites Perth and received a letter of acceptance from him.

The deal calls for building a Timor-Leste Cement plant 100-percent owned by BGC in Baucau, a city 120 kilometers east of Dili, the country's capital. POSCO E&C Australia will be responsible for the whole process from engineering to procurement and to construction. The length of the project will be 34 months.

East Timor, or Timor-Leste, is a country of 1.1 million population that has become independent from Indonesia in 2002. Its government has been actively pursuing infrastructure development. The cement plant construction project is by far the biggest project sought by the government.

POSCO E&C Australia was established in Perth in 2011 in the Australian state of Western Australia in order to move into the Australian construction market. Late last year, it won a 25-billion-won project to build a workers village at the Roy Hill iron ore mine, followed this year by a 230-billion-won order to build a hotel in Perth.

NIGERIA: Nigeria’s cement production surpasses South Africa

A report conducted by the financial advisory company Renaissance Capital (RenCap) has revealed that Nigeria is now the largest cement manufacturer in Sub-Saharan Africa and the third largest in the Middle and East Africa regions (behind Egypt and Saudi Arabia) due to an increase in production capacity in the country.

According to the report, the Nigerian cement industry capacity has reached 28 million tpa. South Africa is currently producing at a rate of 18.3 million tpa and the rest of the region combined has a capacity of 62 million tpa of cement. The introduction of the Backward Integration Policy (BIP) in the Nigerian cement sector has also seen the industry’s production almost double between 2005 and 2012. RenCap has predicted that Nigeria will continue its high production levels, peaking at around 50 million tpa in 2020.

The strong performance in Nigeria has also been mirrored in the share prices of cement companies such as Dangote Cement, Lafarge WAPCO, Ashaka and the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), which are returning at a higher rate than the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index.

David Nangle, leader of the RenCap research team, told local press that the cement market in Nigeria has changed considerably over the past few years due to rising demand, increased investment, economic growth and favourable government regulation. The company is reported to be optimistic about the sustainability of Nigerian cement demand and production in the long-term.

IRAN: CEMENT EXPORTS INCREASE 37 %

Iran exported 11.268 million tons of cement in the first seven months of the calendar current year which started March 21 and surpassed 44.56 million tons, the Industry, Mine, and Trade ministry reported on November 20.

The figure shows a 37 per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous year, the IRNA News Agency reported.

Abdolreza Sheykhan, an official with the Iran’s Cement Producers Association, said earlier this month that the sum of 1.11 million tons of cement and 437,382 tons of clinker were exported in the seventh calendar month (September 23 – October 22), which is over 150 per cent more than the same month of the previous year.

“Iran’s cement output in the first seven months of the calendar current year (started March 21) surpassed 44.56 million tons,” he said.

“The figure shows a two per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous year,” the IRNA News Agency quoted Sheykhan as saying.

“Some 43.401 million tons of clinker was also produced in the same period which is four per cent more than the previous year,” he said.

Sheykhan went on to note that Iran’s cement production in the seventh calendar month (September 23 – October 22) stood at 6.191 million tons.

The IRNA News Agency reported on June 23 that Iran currently exports cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China.

Seven countries out of the 24 accounted for 97 per cent of Iran’s total cement exports.

Iraq with 63 per cent, Azerbaijan with four per cent and Turkmenistan with seven per cent was the main importers of Iranian cement.

Iran’s cement and clinker exports stood at over 13.648 million tons in the previous calendar year which ended March 20.

The country exported over 11.85 million tons of cement and 1.79 million tons of clinker in that period.

Iran produced 75 million tons of cement in the previous year. The country’s cement production capacity stands at 80 million tons.

Iran with a total production of 65 million tons ranked as the world’s third
largest cement producer in 2012.

Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said in August 2012 that the country’s cement production capacity will reach 110 million tons by 2015.

The country plans to export over 18.5 million tons of cement in the current Iranian calendar year, Fatemian said.

PAKISTAN: Cement exports to Afghanistan in jeopardy

Cement exports have been on a rollercoaster ride. According to the latest cement dispatches released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturing Association (APCMA) the export volumes continued to face stiff competition from Iranian cement in Afghanistan and dwindling demand from India. 

And with countdown to US withdrawal from Afghanistan on a roll, the export scenario is becoming even jittery; the eventual departure of NATO troops from the Afghan territory is being seen as a significant event for the cement export situation in the country. 

Industry insiders and analysts are foreseeing two possible scenarios: one which is likely to dismantle exports sales from the country is where Afghanistan falls back to 1990 post civil war period. This early 2000 scenario encompasses no construction activity in the region, and thus little or no demand for cement as Afghanistan faces uncertainties. Capacity in Afghanistan itself is under a million ton; this could significantly reduce cement imports by the country. 

A more comfortable scenario, at least for Pakistan, would be if Afghan government initiates recovery programme along with the international support. And, though Iranian cement will continue to hamper the export from Pakistan, the increased development activity in Afghanistan will definitely serve as a key component in the total cement exports of Pakistan; mind you, exports to Afghanistan make up around 50 percent of the total cement exports on average. 

While placing a bet on one of the two scenarios is difficult, a cut in exports to Afghanistan would mainly affect the northern cement players in Pakistan not only in terms of dispatches to the neighbouring country but also because of fewer prospects in other key markets due to new surplus capacities in the same. 

On the other hand, sea exports are expected to bloom as long as demand in South Africa, Sri Lanka and some parts of Middle East continue to see growth. 

As far as the likelihood of the two scenarios is concerned, a wait and watch approach is what experts choose as they remain clueless which way the wind would blow.

BOLIVIA: BOLIVIA IMPORTA CEMENTO PERUANO

Insumos Bolivia (IB) decidió importar cemento del Perú ante el desabastecimiento del producto que se registra en el mercado interno nacional hace más de dos meses, reportó ayer la institución.

IB sostiene que la decisión es de aprovisionar al sector de la construcción con un producto de calidad y sin restricción en la venta, disponiendo de un stock de 80 mil bolsas, que permite afirmar que no se registrará ningún tipo de desabastecimiento.

La venta de cemento se realiza principalmente en La Paz, Santa Cruz y Cochabamba, con un producto que fue importado inicialmente para cubrir el déficit generado entre la demanda y la oferta, déficit que las empresas cementeras no pudieron atender en 2010.

Para evitar inconvenientes en la provisión del producto, Insumos Bolivia inició desde entonces la distribución de este insumo básico para el sector de la construcción, teniendo una capacidad de movilización de hasta 400.000 bolsas mes, moviendo 20 camiones por día, lo que representan 5.000 bolsas.

El cemento ofrecido por Insumos Bolivia es de la empresa Yura de Perú, del tipo Portland, adicionado con hasta un 30% de puzolana, fabricado bajo estándares internacionales de calidad, en sintonía con la norma ASTM 595 (NTP 334.009), que en el país es equivalente a la Norma 011.

Su uso se extiende a cualquier tipo de obra civil. Es necesario destacar que posee una moderada resistencia al ataque de sulfatos, bajo calor de hidratación, mayor impermeabilidad, ganancia mayor de resistencia al tiempo y mayor rendimiento en el trabajo de morteros y revestimientos. La elección del proveedor responde a dos criterios: el primero la calidad del producto y el segundo la cercanía de la planta, que permite tener el producto en El Alto en 24 a 48 horas.

Entre las empresas que se han beneficiado en este tiempo están Bolco, Granco, COP, Premoltec, Multimix y Gasnetworks SRL de Santa Cruz, CCD, Emaverde y constructora Loza Cancero de La Paz; y Ponce Rivero, Venecia y Mixsa de Cochabamba.

PRECIOS

La distribución es permanente en La Paz y Santa Cruz, departamentos que tienen una alta demanda del producto y se comercializa en bolsas de 42.5 kilogramos. En el primer caso, el precio es de Bs 44 y en el segundo de Bs 52, la diferencia está en el costo del transporte.