Latin America and Africa are expected to see impressive growth in cement production capacity in the upcoming years. Brazil accounts for the largest share of the new Latin America cement capacity coming online, with Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia also expected to see a host of new projects.

China’s economy may be decelerating but coal consumption is on the rise. New coal-based power plants will drive up coal demand and imports are expected to continue their upward trend. Elevated transportation costs between the inland mining areas and the high demand coastal regions, as well as relatively low coal trading prices in the Asia-Pacific markets will continue to play a relevant role.

Optimism returns to the Kenyan cement market. The “wait and see” sentiment that recently overwhelmed the industry turns into a scramble to get ahead. Kenyan cement companies hit the brakes in 2012 when the industry reached the lowest growth rate in the last ten years.

Focus on M&A Activity in Africa in the last years
Governments in Africa urged to stimulate infrastructure investment in order to attract more cement companies to the region.

Despite a slowdown in India’s economy during the past few years, energy demand continues to grow. India is regarded as the fourth-largest energy consumer worldwide, following the U.S., China and Russia.

Future topics such as the “digital factory” show that the changes in automation have not come to a standstill yet. At the heart of the digital factory is the digital planning of production sequences and the saving of the system structure, its devices, sequences and processes on the computer in digital form and to operate them as cost-effectively as possible.

India's economic recovery expected to commence by 2013. The economic measures implemented by the Indian Government in September 2012 are expected to lead to a recovery of India’s economy starting with 2013.

Against a landscape of political turmoil, Egypt’s economy struggles to find its footing on a road to sustainable recovery. Potential growth opportunities, however, are notable in key industries including construction, lending hope for a more stable recovery in 2013.

Saudi Arabian cement demand is expected to increase 9.4 percent per year to more than 80 million tons by 2017 as massive infrastructure projects create surging demand. Virtually all regions of the country will post gains, with large new cement production capacities coming on-line in the next few years. These and other trends are presented in the “2013 CW Group Saudi Arabia Market Update report,” a new study from CW Group, the leading global cement industry consultancy and research house based out of New York, USA.

The global economic downturn took its toll on the cement plant equipment tracking indices monitored by CW Group in the third quarter of 2012. Expectations are that the equipment cement market continued its subdued stage in the last quarter of the year.