Displaying items by tag: Nigeria
Nigeria: BUA Group is ready to commission a new 1.5Mt/yr cement production line at its Sokoto Cement plant in the northwest of the country. The upgrade will increase production at the unit to 0.5Mt/yr, according to the Vanguard newspaper. The company exports cement from the plant to neighbouring Niger. The new line will run on coal and natural gas. The cement producer also operates a 3.5Mt/yr plant at Okpella & Obu in Edo state in the mid-west of the country.
Nigeria: Ibeto Cement has signed a deal with Milost Global for US$850m. The US-based private equity firm will provide US$500m in equity and US$350m as debt to the cement producer, according to Bloomberg. In a separate development Ibeto Cement has also entered into a reverse merger with Century Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration company.
Ibeto Cement has operated a cement terminal in Port Harcourt since 2005. It is also renovating the former Nigercem plant in Nkalagu. It announced a US$386m contract with China’s Sinoma in late 2015 to build a cement plant in Enugu.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa’s chairman Mobolaji Balogun says that the company plans to cut its debts by 2020 before continuing with its expansion programme. In an interview with Bloomberg he said that the cement producer wants reduce its leverage ratio to below 70% from over 100% at present.
The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim wants to take advantage of improvements in the Nigerian economy and a recovery in South Africa to grow its profits. Its total debt recently dropped to about US$600m. Lafarge Africa incurred debt to expand the production capacity at its Calabar cement plant and plans to add more production to plants in the southwest and the north of the country.
Nigeria: Joe Makoju, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, has revealed that the cement producer exports 0.21Mt of cement to Ghana, Togo and Niger in the first quarter of 2018. The company’s revenue grew by 16% year-on-year to US$668m from US$575m, according to the Vanguard newspaper. Its profit increased by 29% to US$199m from US$154m. Cement sales rose by 2.8% to 6.2Mt from 6.03Mt.
Gebr. Pfeiffer sells first mills to Dangote Cement
26 April 2018Nigeria: Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer has struck a deal to sell a MVR 6000 R-4 mill for raw material grinding and a MPS 3350 BK mill for processing coal for kiln firing for Dangote Cement’s new plant at Okpella in Edo State. The mill order is the first for Gebr. Pfeiffer from the Nigerian cement producer. The order was placed by the China’s Sinoma International Engineering.
The MVR mill featuring a total drive power of 4000kW will be grinding 550t/hr of cement raw material to a fineness of 10% R 90µm. The MPS 3350 BK with a drive power of 1100kW is designed for a throughput rate of 50 - 70t/hr and will grind Nigerian coal, imported coal and/or pet coke, to a fineness of 12% R 90µm. Gebr. Pfeiffer’s own staff will supervise erection and commissioning.
Cherie Blair and Mick Davis appointed to Dangote board
25 April 2018Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed former Xstrata CEO Mick Davis as a non-executive director alongside Cherie Blair, a lawyer and the wife of ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. The new board appointments are targeted at strengthening the company’s board, according to Bloomberg. While the company did not explain the reason for such high-level appointments, it has been reported that the company is planning to relaunch its bid to be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). According to Bloomberg, Dangote has already approached investment bankers to discuss a potential UK listing.
Davis ran Xstrata, the mining giant now owned by Glencore, for 12 years to 2013. He is now the chairman of Macsteel and the CEO of the UK’s ruling Conservative party. Cherie Blair’s other board positions include Renault SA.
Nigeria: Dangote Cement will use two vertical roller mills (VRM) from Germany’s Loesche for a new production line at its Obajana plant in Kogi State. The order comprises a six-roller mill for raw cement meal with a capacity of 580t/hr, the largest roller mill for raw material in the Loesche range, and a three-roller mill with a modular design featuring a drive power range of 1000kW for grinding hard coal and lignite with a throughput of up to 70t/hr.
The scope of delivery also includes a LDC classifier for the raw cement mill and a LSKS ZD classifier for the coal mill, which is characterised by individually adjustable grain size separation. The raw material mill is equipped with metal-matrix-compound (MMX) technology. The two mill gear units are equipped with state monitoring and remote access for remote monitoring. Loesche is also contributing to the design and planning of the entire plant as well as the engineering for the electrical measurement, control and regulation technology and complete automation. The delivery date is scheduled for the third quarter of 2018.
The contract partner for this project is China’s Sinoma International Engineering, which has previously installed a seven clinker and cement raw meal VRMs for the Obajana plant. The site has a cement production capacity of over 12Mt/yr and it is the largest cement plant in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria: The Methodist Church of Nigeria has called on the local government to support the reopening of the Nkalagu Cement plant. The Diocese of Onitsha wants the unit restored so it can create local jobs, according to the Vanguard newspaper. The plant was the first in Nigeria when it opened in 1954. It later closed in 2003 after it was privatised. The Ebonyi state government signed a memorandum of understanding with Ibeto Group in 2016 to revive the plant.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa’s sales rose by 36% year-on-year to US$835m in 2017 from US$613m in 2016. Its recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) nearly doubled to US$161m from US$81m. Michel Puchercos, the chief executive officer of Lafarge Africa, attributed the strong margins in its Nigerian business to cost initiatives and higher prices. He added that the company’s increased use of alternative fuels and coal to offset gas shortages in the west of Nigeria and a focus on coal and gas in the east and north of the country aided market share.
However, the cement producer reported a ‘challenging’ business environment in South Africa, where operations are expected to ‘stabilise’ in 2018. Its Lichtenburg cement plant returned to normal operations during the course of the year and a turnaround plan was initiated in order to transform the company’s operations.
Nigeria: Cement Company of Northern Nigeria’s (CCNN) sales revenue rose by 39% year-on-year to US$54.7m in 2017 from US$39.3m in 2016. Its profit after tax more than doubled to US$9m from US$3.5m, according to This Day newspaper. However, its cost of sales also rose, by 18% to US$33.4m from US$28.3m.