Displaying items by tag: costs
India: Top executives from major cement manufacturers project stable prices and decreased costs for the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), with some anticipating moderate growth in demand. This follows an estimated 8-9% growth in cement demand for the FY24 in India.
During a recent post-earnings call, Atul Daga, CFO UltraTech Cement, said "Our belief is that the slowdown should be shorter than in earlier years, primarily because private sector housing has also picked up momentum."
Vietnam: Amid weak domestic demand and rising costs of electricity and coal, the Vietnam Cement Association (VNCA) is focusing on boosting domestic consumption. The current domestic supply of cement is estimated at 60 – 62Mt, far exceeding demand. The excess 30Mt is planned to be exported, with cement and clinker exports already rising in April 2024 by 12% year-on-year to 2.85Mt. In the first quarter of 2024, exports grew by 4.6% to 10.9Mt compared to the same period in 2023.
The VNCA notes ‘challenging’ conditions in major markets, including China's oversupply and protectionist measures in the Philippines, Central America and South Africa. To counter these hurdles, the VNCA proposes several government-led initiatives to increase domestic consumption and help manufacturers, including tax relief on clinker exports and financial incentives such as reduced interest rates for local producers.
Cemex sells in the Philippines
01 May 2024Cemex announced this week that it is preparing to sells its operations in the Philippines to a consortium comprising Dacon, DMCI Holdings and Semirara Mining & Power. Rumours of the divestment first started to appear in the media in February 2024.
The main part of the deal covers Cemex’s cement subsidiaries, APO Cement and Solid Cement, which have been valued at an enterprise value of US$660m. However, this becomes confusing because the actual selling price is the enterprise value minus the net debt and adjusted for the minority shareholding of one of the parent companies, Cement Holdings Philippines (CHP). The deal also includes the sale of a 40% stake in APO Land & Quarry and Island Quarry and Aggregates. Based on a press release issued by CHP to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the actual cost of the divestment appears to be around US$305m. It is hoped that the divestment will complete by the end of 2024 subject to regulatory approval from the Philippines Competition Commission and other bodies.
Cemex entered the market in 1997 when it acquired a minority stake in Rizal Cement. It then built the business up to a cement production capacity of 5.7Mt/yr from its two main integrated plants, the Solid Cement plant in Antipolo City, Rizal and the APO Cement plant in Naga, Cebu. However, CHP has endured a hard time of late, with falling annual operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) since 2019 and falling net sales in 2022 and 2020. The bad news continued into 2023, with net sales falling by 17% year-on-year to US$300m in 2023 from US$356m in 2022. It reported a loss of US$35m in 2023, double that of 2022. The company blamed the fall in sales on lower volumes. It noted that prices were also down and energy costs had grown.
The three companies buying CHP are all controlled by the Consunji family so effectively DMCI Holdings is acquiring Cemex’s operations in the Philippines. The group focuses on construction, real state, energy, mining and water distribution. It previously announced in the late 2010s plans to build one integrated cement plant on Semirara and three cement grinding plants at Batangas, Iloilo and Zamboanga but these plans didn’t seem to go anywhere. Later it was linked to the proposed Holcim Philippines sale in 2019, although the subsidiary of Holcim eventually gave up on the idea.
This latest attempt to enter the cement business underlines DMCI Holdings’ intent and the group has immediately started saying what it plans to do next. In a statement chair and president Isidro A Consunji admitted that cement demand in the country was ‘soft’ but that it is expected to rebound due to the Build Better More national infrastructure program and an anticipated fall in internet rates. Consunji added, “We recognise CHP's operational and financial issues, but we are positive that we can turn it around by 2025 because of its ongoing capacity expansion and the clear synergies it brings to our group.” He was also keen to play up that CHP is currently building a new 1.5Mt/yr production line at its Solid Cement plant with commissioning scheduled by September 2024. DMCI plans to reduce CHP’s costs through various synergies including supplying it coal, electricity and fly ash from Semirara Mining & Power.
The acquisition of CHP by DMCI Holdings is the biggest shake-up in the local cement sector in a while. DMCI has long harboured ambitions in heavy building materials and now it’s close to becoming a reality. As evidenced by its statements following the official announcement of the deal it is already thinking ahead publicly to soothe shareholder concerns. What will be interesting to watch here is whether it can actually pull it off and whether it will face trouble from imports. Readers may recall that the Philippines cement sector has long battled overseas imports, particularly from Vietnam. Despite anti-dumping tariffs though the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) warned in January 2024 that workers could be laid off due to continued competition from imports. Good luck to DMCI.
BUA Cement raises first-quarter sales in 2024
01 May 2024Nigeria: BUA Cement reported sales of US$115m in the first quarter of 2024, up by 51% from US$76m in the first quarter of 2023. The producer’s cost of sales, meanwhile, more than doubled to US$83m. As such, post-tax profit declined by 33% to US$12.8m.
Pakistan: Thatta Cement’s sales were US$19.6m in the nine-month period up to 31 March 2024, up by 38% from nine-month levels in the previous financial year. The producer’s cost of sales climbed by 12% to US$14.3m. Thatta Cement succeeded in raising its profit by a factor of eight to US$2.64m.
Pakistan: Fecto Cement recorded US$98.5m in sales in the first nine months of the 2024 financial year (FY24). This corresponds to a year-on-year rise of 26%. The company’s cost of sales was US$87.9m, up by 18% from nine-month FY23 levels. Its profit after was tax was US$2.51m, compared to a loss of US$13.8m.
Update on Pakistan, April 2024
24 April 2024Changes are underway in South Asia’s second largest cement sector, with two legal developments that affect the industry set in motion in the past week. At a national level, the Competition Commission of Pakistan recommended that the government require cement producers to include production and expiry dates on the labels of bagged cement. Meanwhile, in Pakistan’s largest province, Punjab, a new law tightened procedures around the establishment and expansion of cement plants. At the same time, the country’s cement producers began to publish their financial results for the first nine months of the 2024 financial year (FY2024).
During the nine-month period up to 31 March 2024, the Pakistani cement industry sold 34.5Mt of cement, up by 3% year-on-year. Producers have responded to the growth with capacity expansions, including the launch of the new 1.3Mt/yr Line 3 of Attock Cement’s Hub cement plant in Balochistan on 17 April 2023. China-based contractor Hefei Cement Research & Design executed the project, including installation of a Loesche LM 56.3+3 CS vertical roller mill, giving the Hub plant a new, expanded capacity of 3Mt/yr.
Pressure has eased on the operating costs of Pakistani cement production, as inflation slowed and the country received a new government in March 2024, following political unrest in 2022 and 2023. Coal prices also settled back to 2019 levels, after prolonged agitation. Pakistan Today News reported the value of future coal supply contracts as US$93/t for June 2024, down by 2% over six months from US$95/t for January 2024.
Nonetheless, cost optimisation remained a ‘strong focus’ in the growth strategy of Fauji Cement, which switched to using local and Afghan coal at its plants during the past nine months. Its reliance on captive power rose to 60% of consumption, thanks to its commissioning of new waste heat recovery and solar power capacity. During the first nine months of FY2024, the company’s year-on-year sales growth of 14% narrowly offset cost growth of 13%, leaving it with net profit growth of 1%.
Looking more closely, the latest sales data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) shows a stark divergence within cement producers’ markets. While exports recorded 68% year-on-year growth to 5.1Mt, domestic sales fell, by 4% to 29.4Mt. The association further breaks down Pakistani cement sales data into South Pakistan (Balochistan and Sindh) and North Pakistan (all other regions). Domestic sales dropped most sharply in South Pakistan, by 6% to 5.16Mt. In the North, they dropped by 3% to 24.2Mt. Part of the reason was a high base of comparison, following flooding-related reconstruction work nationally during the 2023 financial year. Meanwhile, the government finished rolling out track-and-trace on all cement despatches during the opening months of the current financial year, and commenced the implementation of axle load requirements for cement trucks. APCMA flagged both policies as potentially disruptive to its members’ domestic deliveries, amid a strong infrastructure project pipeline.
Pakistani producers suffer from overcapacity, but have established themselves as an important force in the global export market. They continue to locate new markets, including the UK in January 2024. Lucky Cement was among leading exporters overall, with a large share of its orders originating from Africa.
On 17 April 2024, the government of Punjab province set up a committee to assess new proposed cement projects, with the ultimate goal of conserving water. Falling water tables are considered a significant economic threat in agricultural Punjab. Besides completing an inspection by the new committee, proposed projects must also secure clearance from six different provincial government departments and the local government. While acknowledging the necessity of the cement industry, the government insisted that it will take legal action against any cement plant that exceeds water allowances.
Pakistan’s cement plants have grown in anticipation of a local market boom. Without this strong core of sales, underutilisation will remain troublesome, especially in North Pakistan where exposure is highest. At the same time, APCMA has given expression to the perceived lack of support affecting production and distribution. For an industry with expansionist aims, new restrictions on its growth and operations can feel like an existential menace.
Pakistan: Fauji Cement raised its sales by 14% year-on-year to US$213m in the first nine months of the 2024 financial year. Throughout the period, which ended on 31 March 2024, Fauji Cement recorded a cost of sales of US$148m, up by 13% from nine-month 2023 financial year levels. Its profit was US$25.3m, up by 1% from US$25m in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
Fujairah Cement faces losses
27 March 2024UAE: Fujairah Cement has reported accumulated losses reaching over a third of its capital, primarily due to inflation and decreased revenue, according to Zawya. The total accumulated losses for the 2023 financial year stood at US$35.5m, equating to 36.68% of the company's capital, as disclosed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The company attributes the increase in losses to various factors, including the rising cost of coal and energy, lower clinker selling prices, a decline in revenue, and higher logistics and finance costs. The company is currently in advanced talks to appoint a renowned financial advisor for assistance in restructuring and exploring other potential options to mitigate these losses.
A separate disclosure highlighted that the major challenge faced during the year was the escalated production costs, primarily driven by increased coal and fuel prices.
Cemex reports sales growth in 2023
09 February 2024Mexico: Cemex reported sales of US$17.4bn in 2023, up by 8% year-on-year from 2022 levels. Meanwhile, the group’s operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 20% to US$3.35bn. The producer said that strong product pricing in all markets and slowing costs inflation compounded the positive effects of its growth investment strategy. On a consolidated basis, Cemex’s cement sales volumes fell by 6% to 51.7Mt from 55.1Mt. They rose by 3% in Mexico but fell by 10% in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, by 3% in South and Central America and the Caribbean and by 13% in the US.
Chief executive officer Fernando González said "I am pleased to announce that 2023 is a great year for our company where we delivered not only great results and recovered from the extraordinary inflationary pressures of the last few years, but also continued executing against our ambitious decarbonisation commitments, reducing our CO2 emissions by 4% year-on-year and by 13% since 2020. Despite the significant macro challenges of the last four years, we have proven not only the resilience of our business model but also our ability to pivot and adjust rapidly to changing global conditions. This foundation gives us additional flexibility in capital allocation, where we continue to accelerate investments in our bolt-on growth strategy, initiate a sustainable return programme for shareholders and bolster our capital structure."