20 August 2015
Australia: Adelaide Brighton will pay a special dividend of US$0.04/share on top of an interim dividend worth US$0.08/share to shareholders as Australia's housing boom continues to drive demand for its cement and other building-material products.
It follows a record net profit of US$82.6m in the six months through June, up by 61% on the corresponding period of 2014. The company said that it expects is underlying earnings of US$200 - 215m for the full fiscal year. That estimate includes a US$32m profit on property sales.
"We are very pleased to deliver another record half year result which reflects improving construction activity across our business, an increase in lime sales, our 2014 acquisitions and several property transactions," said chief executive Martin Brydon. "Housing activity is at healthy levels on both the east and west coast of the country and this is augmenting the demand for our products from major infrastructure and resources projects."
Loesche sells coal grinding mill to PT Bhumiadya Indonesia 20 August 2015
Indonesia: PT Bhumiadya Indonesia, part of the Sibleco Group and a manufacturer of industrial minerals with 228 sites worldwide, has ordered a coal mill from Loesche for its new limestone plant in Bandung, Indonesia. The LM 17.20 D vertical roller mill grind 10t/hr of coal to a fineness of 10% R 90μm. The scope of supply also includes filters, blowers, a Loesche hot gas generator and inertisation flaps. The delivery of the mill key parts is scheduled to take place at the end of 2015.
Petron Engineering wins order from Shree Cement 20 August 2015
India: Petron Engineering Construction has received work order from Shree Cement in Bewar, Rajasthan. The order includes civil construction work, reinforcement and steel work of a ball mill structure for a contract value of US$1.79m.
Cimerwa inaugurates new cement plant in Rwanda 20 August 2015
Rwanda: Rwanda's only cement manufacturer, Cimerwa, has inaugurated its new US$170m, 500,000t/yr capacity cement plant in Muganza, Rusizi. Its current plant produces 100,000t/yr.
Increasing production capacity makes it possible for the plant to export up to 30% of its total production to other countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. This is expected to drive sustainable economic development and poverty reduction. Exporting cement to neighbouring countries means that Rwanda will be able to reduce its trade deficit gap with at least an additional US$92m/yr in foreign revenues, according to the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR).
Rwanda's current cement demand is estimated at about 450,000t/yr. However, demand across the borders in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi is more than 900,000t/yr.
Legodi Busisiwe, the CEO of Cimerwa, said that the new plant would play a critical role in enhancing competitiveness of the local construction sector through reduced logistical costs. "The new plant seeks to bring on board high quality products that will help boost capacity of the country's infrastructure," he said.
The new plant comes at a time when the Government is trying to narrow the country's trade deficit gap by boosting its exports to the tune of at least 28%/yr. The country's trade deficit improved by 6% from US$723m in 2014 to US$6.78bn during the first five months of 2015. There is hope that cement exports could further narrow this gap.
There is hope among market players that increasing cement production will reduce the high prices of Cimerwa cement in the country. Ephraim Karekezi, a Kigali-based engineer, believes that the new plant will help bring down cement prices. "The cost of construction is high simply because of high prices of raw materials, including cement. Therefore, the new cement plant offers sector players the green light in addressing the question of affordability and propelling the sector towards economic excellence," said Karekezi.