05 November 2015
Boral benefits from higher sales prices 05 November 2015
Australia: Boral chief executive Mike Kane has said that higher product prices are playing a part in the strong performance of its key businesses so far in the 2015-2016 fiscal year. He noted that cement prices were up in New South Wales and southeast Queensland but steady elsewhere.
"Based on the first quarter results, we are seeing an improvement in year-on-year results. The business is consistent with our expectations this year," Kane told shareholders at Boral's AGM. "Price is playing a role in our performance, as well as cost management. On average, we think prices will move up, but we will have more clarity on that as we get through the half year."
The company has experienced lower demand from roads, engineering and major infrastructure projects so far in the 2015 – 2016 fiscal year, but has responded by reducing costs and pushing through a number of surplus property sales.
Qatar National Cement profit slightly up 05 November 2015
Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has reported that its profit for the nine months ending on 30 September 2015 was US$98.6m, compared to US$91.2m in the same period of 2014. This represents a year-on-year rise of 8.1%. Revenue for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$233m, compared to US$212m for the nine months to 30 September 2014, a rise of 9% year-on-year.
The company's gross profit for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$96.2m, compared to US$93m for the same period of 2014. QNCC's other income for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$10.8m, compared to US$6.5m for the same period of 2014.
Paraguay: Although the Paraguayan state-run cement company Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has announced that it has secured the supplyof 50,000bags/day and is importing cement from Brazil, local distributors are still voicing their discontent with the firm. They they claim that INC is lying about the volumes that it provides. They are also complaining that the cement it imports is of poor quality and that the cement coming into the country from Brazilian producer Votorantim is too expensive.
Additionally, they argue that the imported cement is just to compensate the lack of supply from INC. They specifically complained that there were practically no regular disbursements of cement over the week beginning 26 October 2015. They believe that there is a lack of clinker for cement production and that demand from the local market is not being covered.
The head of INC, Jorge Mendez, has categorically denied the claims, stating that the distributors are making objections due to the fact that a recent negotiation process between INC and them has come to an end. He stated that 270,000 bags were handed over to distributors during the aforementioned week, including around 45,000 bags of cement produced by INC, and over 20,000 bags from imports. He feels that the issue has arisen because a certain number of distributors do not like the fact that construction firms buy imported cement and that INC regulates cement prices. Mendez has also challenged claims that Paraguay's distributors are requesting more cement.