Groundbreaking ceremony for an integrated 1.3 Mta greenfield cement plant of QazCem Industries in the Aktobe region in Kazakhstan. The US$ 176.9 million project is a JV by Kazakh investment company Primus Capital, Chinese Tianshan Materials Company and Sinoma Cement, both subsidiaries of CNBM. For Tianshan Materials it is the first strategic project in Central Asia. Sinoma Cement’s objective is according to President Jacques Rong Yakun to build a high-tech production facility that meets the best international energy efficiency and environmental safety standards. The new project will become one of the region’s largest industrial facilities and will provide a further boost to the development of Kazakhstan’s construction industry. A time-table has not been given, however the plant is expected to be operational within the next 2 years.