03 February 2016
UNACEM’s profit falls by half in 2015 03 February 2016
Peru: UNACEM has reported that its profit fell by over 50% to US$40m in 2015 from US$83m in 2014. The Peruvian cement producer blamed lower output, rising costs and a foreign exchange loss in a report to a regulator.
Sales rose by 3.4% to US$429m in 2015. However, cement production fell by 2.7% to 5.57Mt. Clinker output fell by 7.3% to 5.72Mt. The company attributed this to delays in infrastructure projects such as Line No. 2 of the Lima metro and a decline in homebuilding. Exports dropped by 5.2% to 0.97Mt.
UNACEM said that its domestic market share slipped to 49.6% in 2015 from 49.9% the previous year. Peru's cement production fell 2.5% to 10.4Mt in 2015, according to the cement producers' association Asocem. National exports increased to 0.36Mt from 0.31Mt.
Dangote Cement faces investigation in Ghana 03 February 2016
Ghana: The Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has announced that it will investigate Dangote Cement's operations, following allegations of predatory pricing made by Diamond Cement, according to the This Day newspaper. A ministry spokesman said that it was looking at the 'price of input' in manufacturing cement.
"There was no way Dangote could produce in Nigeria, bring goods into Ghana, pay tariffs and still sell at a price lower than Diamond Cement," said Ahmad Nasir, Deputy Communications Manager at the MTI. Diamond Cement are reported to have complained that competition from Dangote has reduced its cement production from 1.8 million bags to 1.3 million bags.
Birla Corporation to take legal action against Lafarge India 03 February 2016
India: Birla Corporation said it will take legal action against Lafarge India over the firm's 'inability' to go ahead with the deal to sell its Jojobera and Sonadih cement plants. In August 2015 both firms signed an agreement, through which Birla Corporation was to acquire Jojobera and Sonadih cement businesses from Lafarge India for US$734m.
"Lafarge India has since informed its inability to proceed with the agreement. The company has since discussed the matter with its legal advisors and has decided not to accept its contention and is in the process of taking appropriate legal measures in consultation with lawyers," said Birla Corporation in a regulatory filing. The firm did not specify reasons behind Lafarge India expressing its inability to complete the deal.
Birla Corp was to acquire Lafarge India's cement business, which comprises an integrated cement unit at Sonadih, Chhattisgarh, a cement grinding unit at Jojobera, Jharkhand along with Concreto and PSC brands. The acquisition would have added an additional cement capacity of 5.15Mt/yr to Birla Corp and would have helped the firm consolidate its position in the eastern India cement market. The company has a total operational cement capacity of about 10Mt/yr with plants in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.