Displaying items by tag: Ukraine
Schmersal stops supply to Russia
09 March 2022Germany: Schmersal Group has asked its Russian sales partner to suspend the supply of safety switchgear and systems. It said that the action was not easy for the company as it meant stopping a ‘noticeable’ sales volume. Managing director Philip Schmersal said, "We do not want to contribute to the economy and production of a country that disregards the sovereignty of another country and brings great suffering to its people.”
CRH exits Russian market
04 March 2022Russia/Ukraine: CRH says that it has withdrawn from the Russian building materials market. It operated seven ready-mix concrete batching plants and a concrete panel plant in St Petersburg through its subsidiaries LujaBetomix and Rudus. CEO Albert Manifold estimated the group’s investments in the businesses to be Euro1.5 – 2m. RTÉ News has reported that Manifold called the operations ‘infinitesimally small,’ and said that a Russian withdrawal had previously been on the group’s radar anyway.
CRH says that it has suspended its Ukrainian operations, which reportedly generated Euro281m in sales in 2021, and continues to support its 820 employees in the country in every way it can.
2021 roundup for the cement multinationals
02 March 2022Cement markets have mostly recovered following the shock emergence of coronavirus in 2020. Most of the producers that have released their results so far for 2021 have reported strong boosts to sales revenue and racing earnings as something more like normality resumed. The following roundup covers a selective group of cement companies around the world.
The recovery in 2021 has made the outliers in the companies covered here noteworthy. UltraTech Cement, Semen Indonesia and Dangote Cement are all large regional companies with dominant positions domestically and varying degrees of international spread. As can be seen in Graph 1, UltraTech Cement and Dangote Cement both reported very large increases in sales, over 20% year-on-year. By contrast, Semen Indonesia sales fell very slightly.
Graph 1: Sales revenue from selected cement producers in 2020 and 2021. Source: Company reports. Note: Figures calculated for UltraTech Cement.
One reason for UltraTech Cement and Dangote Cement’s success can be seen in Graph 2 (below). Both companies managed to sell more cement in 2021. Semen Indonesia did not due to Indonesia’s production overcapacity and new competitors. It also blamed a significant rises in coal prices for a 9% drop in its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
UltraTech Cement has been wary of successive waves of coronavirus throughout its 2022 financial year, but generally the Indian regional markets have recovered and government-backed rural housing and infrastructure spending have supported growth. It did note rising coal prices earlier in the year, but these were reported to have somewhat softened during the quarter to 31 December 2021. It is worth noting that the ongoing war in Ukraine is affecting energy markets but more on this at the end of this article. Dangote Cement’s performance was slowed somewhat by the start of coronavirus but it has since resumed its turbo-charged trajectory with volumes, revenue and earnings growth all above 10% in 2021. Mostly this performance is supported by the Nigerian market but the company is doing well internationally too.
Graph 2: Cement sales volumes from selected cement producers in 2019 and 2020. Source: Company reports. Note: Figures calculated for UltraTech Cement.
Holcim and HeidelbergCement’s increase in sales revenue in 2021 are actually fairly similar on a like-for-like basis, both with around 10%. The former’s sales volumes were up across cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates in each of its regions around the world, as were sales revenue. Holcim’s big move in 2021 has been the expansion of its Solutions & Products segment with the acquisition of Firestone in April 2021. Now this has continued with the completion of the Malarkey Roofing Products purchase on 1 March 2022, a few days after it released its 2021 results. Chief executive officer Jan Jenisch described the move towards lightweight building materials as generating, “further double-digit growth engines for the company.” As an aside, it was fascinating to see CRH leave the building envelope business this week, mostly based in the US, with an agreement to sell up its division for US$3.8bn to private equity. The business CRH is divesting sells architectural glass, storefront systems, architectural glazing systems and related hardware to customers primarily in North America. CRH is clearly pursuing a different business strategy to Holcim.
HeidelbergCement has also reported a strong year in 2021 albeit without the Holcim razzle-dazzle of barging into new market areas. It noted significant increases in energy prices and pandemic‐related lockdowns in some key markets in Asia. It described a very slight cement sales volume decline in Africa and the Middle East and a drop in earnings in Asia. Its trump cards are its carbon capture projects coming down the pipeline. It’s keen to remind investors about this with the unspoken implication that it might save the company money in the future when carbon taxes bite further.
Both Cemex and Buzzi Unicem followed the growth pattern seen in sales and earnings by the other larger multinational producers covered above. Central and South American markets really took off for Cemex in 2021, starting with its home market in Mexico. However, growth was present, although slower, in both its largest markets in the US and its Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia region. Notably cement volumes in the Philippines grew by 7% and that’s even with the devastation caused by typhoons at the end of the year taken into account. Similarly, Buzzi Unicem performed well in 2021 due to growth in Italy, the US and Eastern Europe compensating for a small sales decline in Germany. As mentioned in Update on Ukraine, February 2022 Buzzi Unicem has particular exposure to the war in Ukraine as it operates two cement plants in Ukraine and two units in Russia but this is a problem for the 2022 financial year.
To finish on Ukraine, first and foremost, a human tragedy is unfolding. Yet the war also presents many economic challenges to financial markets through sanctions and counter-actions. A recession in Russia looks likely as do energy price surges in the US and Europe leading to further inflation and, perhaps, recessions too. All this potentially lies ahead. For now, the dilemma for US and European-based cement companies and suppliers with operations in Russia is reputational. Should they continue to do business in Russia as public opinion hardens and companies like BP, Shell, Equinor, HSBC and AerCap head for the exit? The Russian government has blocked foreign companies and individuals from selling shares locally but pressure looks set to intensify for such companies to do something.
Mexican Ready-Mix Concrete Association warns of cost impacts of Ukraine crisis on global cement production
02 March 2022Mexico: The Mexican Ready-Mix Concrete Industry Association (AMIC) says that European natural gas shortages and disruptions to the supply of oil, chemicals and other goods as a result of the conflict in Ukraine may cause a rise in the cost of global cement production.
AMIC president Ana Laura Burciaga said "Having a conflict that delays the arrival of these products can make them more expensive because they would have to be obtained from more expensive sources due to shortages.” Burciaga continued "The area where the conflict is taking place was a major supplier of gas and we are concerned that this will have repercussions, especially in terms of a price increase when we have just suffered a very significant one of a magnitude we had not seen for many years."
CRH develops contingency plans in Ukraine crisis
02 March 2022Ukraine/Ireland: CRH says that it is monitoring the on-going Ukrainian invasion crisis as it impacts its employees, assets and the continuity of its operations in the country. The Irish Times newspaper has reported that the company has developed contingency plans, which it will deploy as necessary.
CRH’s Cemark subsidiary employs 800 people in Ukraine, where it has operated since 1999.
Austria: RHI Magnesita says that customer demand and sales volumes to above pre-pandemic levels have driven revenue growth in 2021. It added that, at the same time, unprecedented supply chain disruptions resulted in higher freight, energy and purchased raw materials costs. Its adjusted revenue grew by 12.9% year-on-year to Euro2.55bn in 2021 from Euro2.26bn in 2020. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 7.7% to Euro280m from Euro260m.
Stefan Borgas, chief executive officer of RHI Magnesita, said, “This has been a strong year of progress for RHI Magnesita in challenging conditions. Customer demand recovered much faster than was anticipated, creating an unprecedented strain on global supply chains and significant increases in costs and logistics lead times. Despite logistics difficulties and market volatility we have progressed the strategic investments which will deliver long term growth and margin improvement. We enter 2022 with restored margins and ready to build further on our sustainability and technology leadership position in the global refractory industry.”
The group said that merger and acquisition progress has been accelerated in the reporting year with an agreement to buy Turkey-based Sormas Refrakter and the establishment of a new joint venture in Chongqing, China to widen the product range for cement customers in the region.
Finally, RHI Magnesita reported that it has 63 staff based in Russia and Ukraine but no refractory production sites. Approximately 3.4% of group revenues were from the Commonwealth of Independent States region in 2021. It said that this business would be impacted by economic sanctions but that the main financial effects for the group as a whole were expected from higher energy costs.
Update on Ukraine, February 2022
23 February 2022International tensions reached a new high this week with Russia’s formal recognition of the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine and its decision to deploy troops accordingly. However, what of the local cement industry in Ukraine going into the current crisis?
Ukrcement, the Ukrainian Cement Association, says that its members reported a record 11Mt of cement production in 2021. Clinker production totalled 8.11Mt during the same period. The cement figure is close to Ukrcement’s forecast in the autumn of 2021 of 11.5Mt, a rise of 17% year-on-year from 9Mt in 2020. At that time association head Pavlo Kachur added that the local cement industry operated at 66% capacity utilisation in the first nine months of 2021.
The big industry story locally was the start of tariffs on cement imports from Turkey that was announced in September 2021. After much complaining by local producers and an investigation the year before in 2020 the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICIT) introduced anti-dumping duties of 33 - 51% on cement imports from Turkey for five years. Other than this the usual energy preoccupations have been present in Ukraine. In an interview with Interfax in November 2021, Pavlo Kachur expressed alarm that the price of coal had tripled from the start of 2021 to August 2021. At the same time he explained that the biggest driver of cement consumption was infrastructure projects.
CRH, the largest producer locally, rebranded its subsidiary as Cemark in November 2021 with the intention to start shipping cement bags with the new marking from January 2022. It operates three integrated plants at Mykolaiv, Podilsky and Odessa. It reported that its local operating profit grew year-on-year in 2020, despite a “challenging pricing environment” as cost savings initiatives and lower fuel and logistics costs resulted in improved performance. In September 2021 CRH said that sales were up due to growing cement sales volumes resulting from market demand. Although once again it complained about competitive pricing forcing it to lower its prices. Despite this though lower maintenance costs and cost controls had boosted its operating profit.
Buzzi Unicem runs two integrated cement plants in Ukraine, Volyn and Yugcement, as well as terminals at Kiev and Odessa through its Dyckerhoff Ukraine subsidiary. In 2021 it noted recovery in the construction sector, helped by government stimulus and the introduction of tariffs on imports from Turkey. It said that prices fell in the first half of the year before recovering in the second half. Ready-mixed concrete output showed more growth. Dyckerhoff Ukraine’s net sales rose by 9.4% year-on-year to Euro127m in 2021 even despite negative currency exchange effects.
As for the other producers, NEQSOL Holding Ukraine filed an application to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) in October 2021 to acquire a stake in Ivano-Frankivskcement. Azerbaijan-based NEQSOL Holding also operates the Norm Cement plant near Baku in Azerbaijan. HeidelbergCement used to operate in Ukraine, including the Amvrosiyivka Plant in the contested part of Donetsk region, but it sold up in 2019 to local investors. Its two former integrated plants now operate under the Kryvyi Rig Cement brand. Finally, Russia-based Eurocement runs two plants in Ukraine, at Balakleya in Kharkiv region and Kramatorsk in Donetsk region, under its Balcem subsidiary, which formed in 2019. However the status of the second plant is currently uncertain. Balcem said that the Balakleya plant resumed full cycle production in March 2021 when it restarted kiln two. Kiln one was restarted in June 2021 after a down period since 2008. The plant currently has a production capacity of around 1Mt/yr.
Ukrcement’s Pavlo Kachur said that the cement market in Ukraine was experiencing a positive period in November 2021. Whether this continues is very much in the balance given events in the east of the country. The wider implications for cement producers in the rest of Europe and Russia are the fallout from the economic warfare between both sides. A number of countries have started to react to Russia’s actions with the US, European Union, UK, Japan and Australia announcing economic sanctions and Germany halting approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. However, Russia supplies a significant share of Europe’s gas supply. All of this could disrupt energy supplies and force input costs up. This has already been reflected in higher oil prices.
Meanwhile, one aspect of the current situation to watch is how multinational cement producers with a presence in Russia will cope. Moving money in or out of the country is likely to become harder. HeidelbergCement told Reuters this week that it did not expect any major impact on its Russian operations, even if the conflict escalated. Its three cement plants supply local markets and do not export outside of Russia, it added. Other companies straddling the potential sanctions divide include Holcim, Buzzi Unicem and Eurocement.
The crisis continues.
Update on Russia, February 2022
02 February 2022Russia made imports easier last week. At the end of January 2022 an order from Rosstandart, the national standisation agency, relaxed inspection controls allowing for simpler imports from countries outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Previously each such batch required a 28 day inspection period. This has now been dropped to encourage more imports of cement. Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov explained the reasoning behind the measure to InterFax, “In order to avoid problems in the domestic Russian cement market in the future, it is necessary to spur competition. It will balance the prices for this basic building material and will restrain their growth in case of such risks.”
Some idea of the situation facing the Russian cement market at the moment can be gleaned from market data supplied by CM Pro. Production rose by 7% year-on-year to 56.4Mt in the 11 months to November 2021. Imports rose by 26% to 1.6Mt at the same time. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has attributed this to a construction boom created by growth in both government-funded infrastructure projects and domestic housing. It also noted a local shortage and price increases in the Central Federal District in the autumn of 2021, although it said it redistributed cement from other regions to remedy the situation. This imbalance in the country’s main cement producing and consuming region, including Moscow, can also be seen in the figures. Production was about 2Mt below consumption in this area in 2019 and 2020. Yet so far, to November 2021, this gap grew to 2.7Mt. At the same time the price of cement reportedly jumped by 20% from November 2020 to December 2021.
Graph 1: Cement production in Russia, 2015 – 2021. Source: CM Pro and estimate from Global Cement.
It has been reported that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has also been wondering publicly why a study conducted in 2021 found that the national cement sector had an apparent operating capacity of 65Mt/yr compared to a total production capacity of 105Mt/yr, including mothballed and inactive plants and production lines. In other words the sector has been operating at a 62% production utilisation rate and the government is trying to coax it higher by opening up imports. And just to make sure that there was no confusion on the matter, Yevtukhov added, “I am sure that if the domestic producers will cope with the task of increasing the real volume of cement production and will not allow prices for their products to increase above the rate of inflation, the market will self-regulate, and additional imports of cement to Russia (which are traditionally small) will not be needed."
Given the country’s large size, imports seem to be mainly a threat to producers in the big population centres around Moscow and the Volga with good international transport links. Producers appear to have received and understood the message from the government as they have pledged to increase real operating capacity by 3 – 5Mt. The bear in the room for both Russian and European cement producers though is what happens in Ukraine in 2022. With North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members threatening economic sanctions and Russia supplying a significant share of Europe’s gas supply, any progression from the current rhetoric could cause discomfort to markets in both Russia and Europe. Turkish cement exporters, manufacturing in a NATO member country and hoping to take advantage of increased exports to Russia, could be in a particular bind if events heat up. All of this indicates that Smikom picked an interesting time to buy Russia’s largest cement producer, Eurocement, back in mid-2021. There’s an ongoing construction boom but also risks aplenty.
With apposite timing, LafargeHolcim Russia announced this week that it was going to reopen its integrated Voskresensk cement plant near Moscow. The unit was originally stopped in 2016. Now it plans to spend Euro23m on restarting the plant and building a dry construction mix unit at the site. Who says big government doesn’t work?
Ukrainian cement consumption forecast to rise to 10.5Mt in 2021
05 November 2021Ukraine: The Ukrainian cement association Ukrcement has forecast a 17% year-on-year rise in domestic cement consumption in 2021 from 9Mt in 2020. Business World Magazine has reported that demand previously exceeded 10Mt in 2014.
Association head Pavlo Kachur said that the Ukrainian cement industry operated at 66% capacity utilisation in the first nine months of 2021. He added “Therefore, we have room to grow.”
NEQSOL Holding Ukraine to acquire Ivano-Frankivskcement stake
19 October 2021Ukraine: NEQSOL Holding Ukraine has filed an application to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) to acquire a stake in Ivano-Frankivskcement. The group will take a loan from ‘leading international’ banks to pay for the stake.
NEQSOL Holding Ukraine manager Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, said “We are hopeful for an approval of the new deal by the AMCU so that we can welcome the high-tech enterprise Ivano-Frankivskсement into the NEQSOL Holding group of companies. We recognise the long-time outstanding results achieved by the Ivano-Frankivskсement management team and staff, who have created one of the most state-of-the-art cement plants in Europe.” He added “Our group of companies has successful experience in financing, including engagement of international financial institutions, which will help to secure the required investments for maintaining a high rate of growth of the cement plant.”