Asia & Pacific Rim

The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Australian PCI® increased by 4.1 points to 59.1 in September 2014.

Local cement dispatches improved by 7.08% y/y in Pakistan in September but exports were down by 10.6% y/y to 730 000 t.

Rakesh H. Mehta has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Saurashtra Cement, effective from 1 October 2014.

OHL Industrial has won its first contract in Vietnam – an overland transportation line for Cong Thanh Cement.

Paul Maxwell-Cook turns his attention to Nepal and Bhutan in the final part of this abridged article from World Cement’s October 2014 issue.

ThyssenKrupp Australia is merging Uhde Shedden, Polysius and ThyssenKrupp Materials Handling to become ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Australia).

Cement is back on top in India, with expansion projects being announced and growth figures looking positive.

Zuari Cement, through its subsidiary Gulbarga Cement, is setting up a 3.23 million tpa cement plant and a 50 MW captive power plant in Gulbarga, Karnataka.

Jean-Carlos Angulo, Executive Vice President, Lafarge Group, will replace Uday Khanna as Non-Executive Chairman of Lafarge India.

ABB has built a second factory in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and has inaugurated its new office in Yangon, Myanmar.

The purpose of the Greentech Safety Awards is to encourage workplace safety management and promote the recognition of workplace safety as an ethical responsibility to both employer and employees.

Taiwan Cement has hiked prices in Guangdong province, China, on the back of rising demand from infrastructure projects.

Mr Alok Sanghi, Director, Sanghi Cement, says infrastructure boost in India will reduce the demand-supply mismatch in the cement sector.

The Green Paper includes policy approaches to ensure reliable and affordable energy that supports business competitiveness, lowers the cost of living and grows exports.

Paul Maxwell-Cook takes a look at the economy, construction and cement markets in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.