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Eagle Cement continues community food support 04 June 2020
Philippines: Eagle Cement says it will continue to provide food packages containing rice and tinned food to 18,000 families impacted upon by the coronavirus outbreak. The Manila Bulletin has reported that the provision will not end with the partial easing of the country’s lockdown but will continue until no longer needed.
Eagle Cement chairman Ramón Ang said, “Eagle Cement is committed to continue helping our partner communities where we operate, during the crisis and beyond. We were able to expand the reach of our relief operations and extend assistance to more people in need including front liners in Bulacan and to families in our community in Cebu,” where the company is planning to build a new integrated cement plant.
"The livelihoods of many residents of our communities have been affected by this pandemic and do not have the means to provide for their families. We hope that our relief operations are able to help them in addressing their crucial needs during this vulnerable time. No matter what crisis our fellow Filipinos may experience, they can rely on Eagle to support them. As a company, it is our duty to help and serve," said Ang.
Update on India, June 2020
Written by David Perilli, Global Cement
03 June 2020
Under the current circumstances it’s not surprising to see how much Indian cement production fell in April 2020. Like many other countries, its lockdown measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak suppressed industrial output. Yet seeing an 86% year-on-year fall in the world’s second largest producer is shocking. Cement production declined to 4.1Mt from 29.2Mt. Further data shows, as part of the Indian government’s eight core industries, that steel and cement production suffered the most. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilisers and electricity generation all fell by far less.
Graph 1: Change in Indian cement production year-on-year (%). Source: Office of the Economic Adviser.
By comparison in China monthly cement output only fell around 30% at the peak of its outbreak. The difference is that China implemented a graduated lockdown nationally, with the toughest measures applied in Wuhan, the place the outbreak was first identified. As we reported in April 2020 demand for cement in Wuhan had fallen by around 80% at the time its lockdown ended. Production and demand are different, but India’s experience feels similar except that it’s on a national scale. The last time the country had a dip in cement production recently was in late 2016 when the government introduced its demonetisation measures and dented cement production growth rate (and national productivity) in the process.
UltraTech Cement, Orient Cement, Ambuja Cement, India Cement, Dalmia Bharat, JK Lakshmi Cement, Shree Cement and others all suspended operations to varying degrees in the first phase of the lockdown in late March 2020. Operations of industrial plants in rural areas was then cleared to restart in mid-April 2020, although subject to local permissions and social distancing rules, as the country’s lockdown zones took shape. All of this started to show in company results towards the end of March 2020 as sales started to be hit. The worst is yet to filter through to balance sheets.
March 2020 was a particularly bad time for the government to shut down cement plants because it is normally the month when annual construction work peaks. Cement production usually hits a high around the same time. The monsoon season then follows, reducing demand, giving producers a poor time to restart business. Credit ratings agency Care Ratings has forecast that capacity utilisation will drop to 45% in the 2020 – 2021 financial year. This follows a rate of 65 – 70% over the last six years with the exception of 2019- 2020, which was dragged down to 61% due to lockdown effects. On top of this labour issues are also expected to be a major issue to the sector returning to normality. The mass movement of workers back to their homes made world-wide news as India started its lockdown. Now they have to move back and Care Ratings thinks this is unlikely to complete until after the monsoon season, by September 2020. Hence, it doesn’t expect a partial recovery until the autumn, nor a full recovery until January 2021 at the earliest.
Not everybody is quite as gloomy though. HM Bangur, the managing director at Shree Cement recently told the Business Standard newspaper that he was expecting a rebound following the resumption of production in May 2020. He also reported a capacity utilisation rate of 60% at his company, higher than Care Rating’s prediction above, and he noted a difference between demand in rural areas and smaller cities (higher) compared to bigger cities (lower).
India is now pushing forward with plans to further unlock its containment measures to focus on the economy. However, daily reported news cases of coronavirus surpassed 8000 for the first time on Sunday 31 May 2020. How well its more relaxed lockdown rules will work won’t be seen for a few weeks. While this plays out we’ll end with quote from HM Bangur that will resonate with cement producers everywhere: “sales are imperative.”
Albert Sigei announced as new head of Cimerwa
Written by Global Cement staff
03 June 2020
Rwanda: Cimerwa has officially announced the appointment of Albert Sigei as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeded Bheki Mthembu, following the end of his term in office.
Sigei has 17 years’ experience in the building materials sector working for LafargeHolcim. His last role was in Malawi where he served as the local CEO, following postings in Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Nairobi as well as professional qualifications in accounting and information technology management.
His first months in office have included coping with the coronavirus pandemic, remarketing Cimerwa’s product range under the SURE brand and working on the company’s listing on the Rwanda Stock Exchange.
Donna Hunt appointed as Breedon Group’s head of sustainability
Written by Global Cement staff
03 June 2020
UK: Breedon Group has appointed Donna Hunt as its first Group Head of Sustainability. In the newly-created role, she will be responsible for developing and implementing a sustainability strategy to shape the group's practices and performance, ultimately improving the sustainability of Breedon's operations, products and services.
Hunt holds over 20 years' experience having held several senior sustainability, environmental and stakeholder engagement positions across the energy, aerospace engineering and construction materials sectors. She has served on several cross-industry committees on sustainability-related topics and remains an active STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Industry Ambassador on behalf of the Mineral Products Qualifications Council (MPQC).
Abay Cement plant to start operation in 2021 03 June 2020
Ethiopia: Samuel Halala, the director of Ethiopian Chemical and Construction Inputs Industry Development, says that the Abay Cement plant is 60% complete and due to start operation in 2021. The 2.5Mt project is located near Degen in Amhara Region, according to New Business Ethiopia. It has an investment of around US$260m. Once completed it is expected to create 1500 jobs.
Halala added that the country’s 21 cement plants have a production capacity of 17Mt/yr but have a capacity utilisation rate of around 60%. Only 14 plants are currently active, producing 11.5Mt/yr.