Moroccan Cement Industry - Land of Contradictions
The Kingdom is divided into wealth and poverty, with inadequate energy supplies and insufficient infrastructure, but ties to European trade are strong and twenty years of regional development have spurred construction. Thanks to a recovering economy that felt only minimal effects of the Arab Spring, coupled with strong infrastructure spending, the Moroccan cement market anticipates growth.

Have Coal Prices reached bottom? Is Petcoke turning a corner (for better or worse)?
Coal Prices - With steam coal prices declining sharply in the first four months of 2012 versus the corresponding months of 2011, a situation that seriously affected the dynamics of coal purchases, analysts are fervently asking whether coal prices can go any lower than this.

Events in Global Cement
Andre Cholewinski of GMI Global—the organizer of the Cement Business & Industry Conference—spoke with CemWeek about its flag event, the Cement Business & Industry India 2012 Conference, which will be held in Mumbai, India on October 10-11, 2012 at the Leela Mumbai Hotel.

Long regulatory silences, bursts of activity... What's really facing the cement industry?

"lowered production has lowered emissions, but it has also shifted the dialogue"

This is no coincidence. Lowered economic expectations have lowered cement production levels, leading to fewer emissions, but that's not the whole story.

The establishment of Chinese cement manufacturers in developing Africa has grown in recent years. Infrastructure development, high-value economic activity, knowledge sharing and skills development are but some of the incentives offered to struggling African economies in return for a hold on the largely untapped natural resources.

The India cement export market has shrunk in recent years, declining from a peak of 10 million tons to around 4.6 million tons as domestic demand has barreled ahead. The depreciation of the rupee and a lull in domestic demand has a few manufacturers eyeing export opportunities more seriously, but will the potential obstacles and fickle demand from importing nations prove to challenging for others to follow suit?

ICCM connects with Alok Agarwal, the Senior ED of Marketing & Strategy at Binani Cement. Mr. Agarwal provides insights into the company’s expansion efforts abroad as well as domestically. He also discusses Binani’s focus on Africa and its branding strategy.

The CW Group is pleased to release the 3rd Annual India Cement Sector Sentiment Survey. The current report offers insights into the opinions and sentiments of Indian cement industry players with regard to recent past performance and expectations for the future of the industry, based on the responses of over 400 industry participants.

Following a complete ban on exports, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has cleared the path for renewed imports. Although fuel supplies have now been guaranteed, disagreements persist over pricing, production capacity and competition under tight controls. Meanwhile, the government asserts a cement deficit nearing 12 million tons, but some numbers hint an oversupply should government plans fail to materialize and sustain over the medium term.

More and more Indian cement firms are turning their eyes to Africa in search of growth opportunities. While the region is not unexplored territory for many Indian companies, it is providing new potential avenues for expansion for cement manufacturers. Still, it is not an easy-to-navigate opportunity as domestic companies and many other foreign operators continue to add capacity at a rapid rate.