Quarry Products

Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the Nigerian Minister of Science & Technology, says that research is being conducted to look at cement production for use in concrete road construction.

Because of the way some roads constructed, the asphalt used gets damaged, and production of indigenous cement for roads has become a necessity, the Minister is reported as saying.

The government has asked the Nigerian Building & Road Research Institute to start research on concrete.

The Algerian Minister for Industry and the Mines, Abdessalem Bouchouareb, claims the country will be self-sufficient in cement by the end of 2016.

The country’s cement consumption is now 22 million tonnes, and a number of projects will see the production of an extra 4 million tonnes of cement, which will remove the need for imports.

These include the commissioning of two new cement plants at Béchar run by Société Saoura ciment (SSC), a subsidiary of GICA (Groupe Industriel des Ciments d'Algérie, an Al

Lafarge is reported as saying that five bidders have been shortlisted by for the divestment of its assets in India.

By the end of July 2016 it is expected that the bidders will make binding offers for the Lafarge cement facility assets in India at Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The facilities have a total annual capacity of 11 million tonnes.

Those reported as having an interest in bidding are Indian companies Nirma Group, Piramal Enterprises and JSW Cement along with An

South Korea’s Eugene Group, which supplies ready mixed concrete, has acquired a stake of just over 10% in rival Tongyang for a reported KRW 97.2 billion (€73.70 million/US$81.89 million).

The acquisition, which makes Eugene the biggest single shareholder in Tongyang, was from Pine Tree Investment and Management, a local private equity company.

CMPRO, the Russian Cement Association, is reported as saying that the output of cement in the country has fallen by 18% to 8.86 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2016, compared to the same quarter in 2015.

A reduction in construction is blamed on a drop in an 18% drop in sales of cement.

Dangote Cement of Nigeria is reported as planning to spend some US$100 million in Ghana.

At Takoradi, plans to build a new cement grinding plant and power station, with completion by the end 2017, will see the company capable of producing 1.5 million tonnes of cement/year to meet local and West African demand.

The US $40 billion Giant Sea Wall in the Indonesian capital Jakarta is aimed at improving flood defences and enhancing urban development.

Officially called the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) master plan, the scheme is in the bay north pf the capital.

It is reported that Nantapong Chantrakul, the country director for Siam Cement Group (SCG) Indonesia, says the cement company is looking to supply material to the project, a joint project between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Ethiopia is planning a series of road projects as part of its Growth & Transformation Plan. These road projects are worth close to US$128 million in total, with the plans being managed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). Four construction companies have been awarded the contracts by the ERA. The Chinese contractor CGC Overseas Construction Group will rebuild the 60km Shambu-Backo link in a deal worth $45.7 million, providing the existing gravel road with a new asphalt surface. Local contractor Yemene Gi

Cemex has closed the sale of its operations in Bangladesh and Thailand to Siam City Cement for around US$53 million.

The proceeds obtained from this transaction will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes, the Mexican building materials giant has stated.