27 July 2016
France: Protest group SumOfUs has demanded that the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo drop LafargeHolcim as a corporate sponsor due to alleged links of deals with armed groups in Syria reported in the French media. SumOfUs say that over 37,500 people have signed an online petition calling for LafargeHolcim’s involvement with the Paris-Plages urban beach summer event to be terminated. The event, run by the office of the Mayor of Paris, creates temporary artificial beaches along the river Seine in the centre of Paris and the Bassin de la Villette in the northeast of Paris.
“This is a scandalous partnership with the City of Paris that should have never happened. By partnering with Lafarge for this summer’s Paris-Plages event, the City of Paris is whitewashing the company’s obscene show of corporate greed that profits off the war and violence created by terrorists. It is high time to make Lafarge accountable for its support of terror,” said Eoin Dubsky, Campaign manager at SumOfUs.
Premier Cement to upgrade grinding plant 27 July 2016
Bangladesh: Premier Cement has approved plans to double its cement production capacity to 16,000t/day from 6000t/day at its grinding plant near Dhaka. The cement producer will invest US$51m in the upgrade to its mill, according to the Daily Star newspaper. The upgrade will be completed by 2018.
UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the acquisition by Breedon Aggregates of Hope Construction Materials subject to a sale of selected assets. Breedon has offered to sell 14 ready-mix concrete sites to Tarmac and the Concrete Company, which has been accepted by the CMA. As indicated in Breedon’s announcement on 21 July 2016, it now expects to complete the acquisition of Hope on 1 August 2016.
“The way is now clear for Hope to join us and create the UK’s largest independent construction materials group. It will give us a stronger platform for growth, with a broader geographical footprint, increased scale, an improved product mix, greater financial capacity and a team of highly talented people,” said Breedon’s Chairman, Peter Tom.
With the acquisition of Hope, Breedon Group, as the company will be named from 1 August 2016, Breedon will become the UK’s largest independent construction materials group, with the country’s largest cement plant, around 60 quarries, nearly 30 asphalt plants, approaching 200 ready-mixed concrete plants, some 2100 employees and approximately 750Mt of mineral reserves and resources. The enlarged group’s strategy will be to continue growing organically and through consolidation of the UK heavyside building materials sector.
China: Huaxin Cement has warned that its net profit is likely to drop by up to 95% year-on-year for the first half of 2016. The Chinese cement producer reported a net profit of US$13.3m in the same period in 2015. It has blamed the situation on a ‘serious’ doemsti cement overcapacity and fierce competition in the main markets that led to the price of cement falling by 11.52%. Adverse weather also contributed to the decline.
India: ACC’s net profit after tax has risen by 26% year-on-year to US$69.3m in the first half of 2016 from US$55.1m in the same period in 2015. The cement producer’s sales revenue fell slightly to US$863m and its cement sales volumes rose by 3.8% to 12.48Mt from 12.02Mt. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim reported that it made an overall cost reduction of 9% in the second quarter of 2016 by optimising its fuel mix through higher rates of petcoke, by lowering costs of input materials such as slag, fly ash and gypsum and by improving its gypsum-mix optimisation.
Ambuja Cement profit rises by 29% to US$105m 27 July 2016
India: Ambuja Cement’s net profit has risen by 29% year-on-year to US$105m in the first six months of 2015 from US$81m in the same period in 2015. Its sales revenue rose slightly to US$745m. Cement sales volumes fell by 2% in the second quarter of 2016 to 5.76Mt from 5.88Mt in the same period in 2015. This reduced the net sales revenue reported in the quarter despite increased prices.
The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim also reported that its energy cost fell by 27% in the second quarter of 2016 due to low fuel prices and an increased usage of petcoke in its kilns, to 60% from 45% year-on-year. Various cost optimisation initiatives also contributed to reduced freight costs.
Thailand: Siam Cement Group’s sales revenue from its cement and building materials division fell by 4% year-on-year to US$2.54bn in the first half of 2016. Profit for the half-year period fell by 11% to US$165m. The cement producer reported that Thailand’s total domestic cement demand decreased by 3% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016 due to soft demand from non-government sectors.
Overall, Siam Cement Group saw a 2% fall in revenue across all business lines to US$3.11bn and a rise in profit by 18% to US$843m. It attributed the rise in profits to the performance of its chemical business.
“We see a bright future for markets across the region, with steady growth rates. Especially in Vietnam, demand for building materials and packaging has risen, on the back of the boom of construction industry, with several infrastructure, residential and industrial projects, as the country has become a key production base of the world. Cambodia also continues to see steady growth of its industries while Indonesia has also begun to see improvements in the economy, with construction of several government mega-projects. At the same time, trade around the borders of Thailand and neighbouring countries is also doing well,” said Roongrote Rangsiyopash, President and CEO of Siam Cement Group.
Cemex revenue falls slightly in first half of 2016 27 July 2016
Mexico: Cemex’s sales revenue fell slightly year-on-year to US$6.88bn in the first half of 2016. Its net income rose to US$242m from a loss of US$31.6m. Its cement sales volumes rose by 2% to 33.6Mt from 32.9Mt.
“Our solid second quarter and first half 2016 results demonstrate the resilience of our portfolio, which is largely comprised of high-growth markets that are experiencing attractive supply-demand conditions,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer of Cemex. The cement producer attributed the increases in sales in the second quarter to high prices overall and increased high sales volumes in Mexico, the US and Europe.
By region, Cemex reported a rise in cement sales volumes in all territories except Mexico. Here, cement volumes started to rise in the second quarter of 2016. The highest half-year increase in cement sales volumes was reported in the US at 7%, driven by residential and infrastructure activity.