09 May 2019

Germany: Better weather in Europe and North America has benefitted HeidelbergCement’s first quarter results. Its sales revenue rose by 16.9% year-on-year to Euro4.24bn in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro3.63bn in the same period in 2018. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 58.6% to Euro396m from Euro250m. Cement sales volumes increased by 1.6% to 28.6Mt from 28.1Mt. Ready-mixed concrete sales volumes increased by 10.8% to 11.3Mm³ from 10.2Mm³.

“We have achieved a considerable increase in revenue and result from current operations in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year. In addition to improved weather conditions, sustained strong demand and successful price increases contributed towards this positive development,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.

The group’s Asia-Pacific region reported ‘sluggish’ sales in India and Thailand. Its cement and clinker sales fell by 1.7% to 9Mt although it managed to increase its revenue through price rises. Cement and clinker sales volumes also fell in its Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin region due to increased competition in Egypt.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s sales rose by 21.7% year-on-year to Euro656m in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro539m in the same period in 2018. Its cement sales volumes grew by 16.9% to 6Mt and its ready-mixed concrete sales rose by 7.3% to 2.6Mm³. It attributed the gain in sales to improved weather in the reporting period. The group reported particular sales growth in Italy, the US and Germany.

Australia: Adelaide Brighton expects that its net profit in 2019 will fall by up to 15% year-on-year from the US$133m it reported in 2018. It forecasts that the decline will be driven by weakening demand from the residential market, increased competition from cement imports, higher competition in Queensland and rising raw material costs.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos plans to spend around US$50m on upgrading its 0.2Mt/yr grinding plant at Pecém in Ceará. It will increase the unit’s production capacity by 0.8Mt/yr. The official announcement was made during a meeting between Camilo Santana, the governor of Ceará, and the board of Votorantim.

Bolivia: Imports of cement fell by 30% year-on-year to 0.19Mt in 2018 from 0.27Mt in 2017. Data from the Bolivian Foreign Trade Institute and the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia shows that cement imports were 0.51Mt in 2016, according to Hoy Bolivia. In 2018 Peru was the largest exporting country to Bolivia followed by Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. An increase in local production through the opening on new plants has contributed to the declining imports.

Uzbekistan: The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan has proposed abolishing cement import benefits. It wants to prioritise local production, according to Esmerk CIS News.

Namibia: The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a South African development finance institution, says it would like to increase its share in Ohorongo Cement. It has made the statement in response to the acquisition of a majority stake in the cement producer by Singapore’s International Cement Group in March 2019, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper.

The IDC owns a 14% stake in Ohorongo Cement. It says it is committed to Ohorongo Cement and that it wants to support Namibia's indigenisation programme through local ownership. It is talking to other shareholders including the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), which owns an 11% stake in Ohorongo. The DBN has also expressed concerns on the takeover by International Cement Group.

Antarctica/UK: Hanson has transported 125t of bagged cement from its Ketton plant in the UK to the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. Construction company BAM Nuttall is upgrading a wharf at the site to improve ship and boating operations and allow it to accommodate the RRS Sir David Attenborough as well as to reduce manual handling cargo loading/unloading time.

The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement worked with BAM Nuttall and civil engineering company Keyline to set the technical specification of the cement. Each of the 25kg bags were vacuum sealed and double shrink wrapped onto heat-treated pallets to reduce the risk of contaminating Antarctica’s environment with foreign organisms.