Holcim enters Indian market

Bangladesh is finally going to export cement in bulk to the northeastern Indian states from early next month. Holcim Bangladesh (Pvt) Ltd recently got thumbs up from the Indian government to export cement to Assam, Meghalaya and other northeastern states. The multinational cement manufacturer is already exporting cement to Tripura. Holcim also entered an agreement in April to supply cement for a big government-financed project--construction of highways in Assam, he said. India generally does not allow Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) certification for import of cement from Bangladesh (why?).The local cement manufacturers need to get the standard certificate from the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), which takes time. Local manufacturers have long been saying that such a certification is a major barrier other than tariff to exporting cement to the Indian market, especially to the northeastern states. The BIS finally accepted the BSTI certificate for import of Holcim cement.

Commerce ministry officials said a team of experts from India would come to Dhaka soon to assess capabilities of Bangladeshi testing labs for certification of cement. Bangladesh would take measures to strengthen the BSTI after the assessment, the officials said. Holcim began its journey in September 2000 through acquisition of Hyundai Cement Bangladesh. Later, Holcim bought out United Cement Industries at Meghnaghat and Saiham Cement Industries at Mongla to strengthen its position in Bangladesh. Holcim's combined capacity now stands at 1.3 million tonnes a year. Bangladesh has 21 cement factories with an annual production capacity of around 80 lakh tonnes. The local annual demand is about 60 lakh tonnes. Good going Holcim, I wonder what Lafarge Surma Cement, Heidelberg, Shah Cement etc. are doing on the export front? Do they export? What are their capacities?