06 May 2015
Vietnam: Vietnam produced 19.9Mt of cement in the first four months of 2015, up by 5.3% from the same period of 2014, including 5.9Mt in April 2015, according to the government-run General Statistics Office. The Ministry of Construction has predicted that Vietnam's sales of cement and clinker will rise by 1.5 - 4% to 72 - 74Mt in 2015, of which domestic sales will rise by 4.5 - 6.5% to 53 - 54Mt, while exports will be at 19 - 20Mt.
Podilskiy Cement posts Euro121m loss for 2014 06 May 2015
Ukraine: Podilskiy Cement has reported a loss of Euro121m for 2014, having upped its net revenue by 12.1% year-on-year to Euro53.8m. In 2013, it reported a loss of Euro4.95m. Podilskiy Cement has six cement kilns with a total capacity of 3.7Mt/yr. It is controlled by Ireland's CRH.
Oman: Raysut Cement's operating profit fell by 26.7% in the first quarter of 2015 on a 100% increase in the price of natural gas supplied by the government and rising transportation costs. Group operating profit fell to US$15.6m from US$21.4m in the same period of 2014.
'This is mainly due to the increase in natural gas price by the government to US$3/MMBtu from US$1.5/MMBtu effective from 1 January 2015 and increases in other costs," said Raysut Cement said in its directors' report.
The report said that the quarter that ended on 31 March 2015 was very challenging compared with any of the previous quarters in the recent past. "Gas is a significant component of cost and the price was doubled. Transportation costs are on the rise due to restrictions on tonnage and the cascading effects of all have significant bearing on the cost of the product." In addition, the company said that the disturbances in Yemen, one of Raysut Cement's main export markets, have had a bearing on sales volumes.
During the quarter, group revenue fell by 1.6% to US$63.5m from US$64.5m in the same period of 2014. "Given the situation, the company has done extremely well in the first quarter to reach a level of revenue which is close to that of the previous year. By positioning the products in appropriate markets the average price realisation improved, neutralising the effect of cost increase to an extent. On the other hand, severe competition from UAE suppliers is continuing."
Raysut Cement sold 976,019t of cement and 3958t of clinker during the first quarter of 2015 compared to 100,6024t of cement and 7384t of clinker in the corresponding period of 2014. This represents a decrease by 2.98% in cement and 46.4% increase in clinker.