India’s Cement Manufacturing Company Limited (CMCL), owner of the brand ‘Star Cement’, dispatched its first barge of clinker to Bangladesh last week. The company is the first to use the river route to reach Bangladesh, having previously exported clinker to the country via road last year. Jvoti Swaroop Agarwal, Star Cement’s President of Sales and Marketing, told press that the road transport was not cost effective, while barge transport via river is ‘commercially more viable than ever’. Bilateral government discussions paved the way to make use of the river route, via which Star Cement now plans to export 50 000 t each month.
Bangladesh is a growth market for cement, but is limited by its lack of natural resources. Currently, imports from Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, etc., meet the majority of the country’s total clinker requirement. Star Cement is positive about this new arrangement, however, having already agreed long-term deals with leading cement manufacturers in Bangladesh to meet their clinker requirements.
Clinker is exported from the port in Karimgani in south Assam to Dhaka. Star Cement has a >20% market share in northeast India and has recently commissioned new plants in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya and near Guwahati.
Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/13082013/star_cement_transports_clinker_by_river_to_bangladesh_106/
