Africa & The Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s cement sector is facing the road to recovery as a result of high public spending and improved economic conditions

Dangote Cement, Nigeria, has announced plans to increase its capacity by more than five times by 2015.

Lafarge Cement Syria has reportedly begun operations at its 3 million tpa plant 160 km northeast of Aleppo.

Ohorongo Cement and AfriSam Namibia are reportedly in talks to consolidate their businesses rather than enter into competition against each other.

The Messebo Cement plant in Ethiopia is currently in the process of introducing Portland limestone cement into the market, as its expansion project nears completion.

Nambia’s only cement company, Ohorongo Cement recently received its first consignment of coal from Mozambique.

According to reports, Al-Arabiya alWataniya has signed an EGP1.1 billion loan agreement to finance the construction of a new cement plant in Egypt.

Control of the Karbala Cement Plant in Iraq has officially been handed over to MerchantBridge under a 15-year lease agreement with the Government of Iraq, concluding five years of preparations.

Pretoria Portland Cement Company (PPC), South Africa, has reported that sales in South Africa and Botswana are still declining.

Nigeria's cement industry is witnessing a stand off between local producers and importers with the introduction of a 35% levy on bulk cement importation quotas.

HeidelbergCement has signed an agreement with George Forrest in order to expand its cement production capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The cement industry in the GCC countries suffered over 1H 2010 as a result of many major projects in the real estate industry cancelled due to the global recession.

KHD has won contracts in Turkey and Syria, both scheduled for delivery next year.

China National Building Material Co Ltd (CNBM) has begun work on a US$250 million cement project in Iraq.

The Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN) has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to re-introduce its policy to support domestic cement producers, called the Cement Backward Integration policy.