29 July 2019

Italy: Cementir Holding has blamed poor performance in Turkey for falling cement sales volumes. Although it said that positive trends in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Belgium had party compensated for this. Its sales volumes of grey and white cement fell by 12.2% year-on-year to 4.32Mt in the first half of 2019 from 4.92Mt in the same period in 2018. Ready-mixed concrete sales dropped by 21.3% to 2Mm³ from 2.54Mm³. Its revenue rose slightly by 0.6% to Euro592m from Euro589m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 14.7% to Euro110m from Euro96m.

Nigeria: Cement Company of Northern Nigeria’s (CCNN) sales revenue more than doubled to US$89.1m in the first half of 2019 from US$33.6m in the same period in 2018. Its profit after tax nearly tripled to US$20.3m from US$7.22m, according to the Business Day newspaper.

US: Humboldt Wedag, a subsidiary of Germany’s KHD, has signed a contract with Lehigh Cement to supply a cement plant for a cost of more than Euro100m. The contract includes engineering, supply of equipment and structural steel as well as advisory services related to erection and commissioning of the unit. Lehigh Cement, a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, has separately announced that it is currently preparing for a US$600m upgrade to its integrated Mitchell plant in Indiana. Construction work on the project is scheduled to start in 2020.

Ireland/UK: Quinn Industrial Holdings has installed an automated weighbridge system supplied by Precia Molen at its limestone quarry at Crievehill near Fivemiletown, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. The new weighbridge was completed in June 2019. It includes the company’s VS310CS pour on site surface weighbridge complete with driver operated control systems. Other upgrades at the site include a lorry wheel wash, a new access route and improved security, health and safety measures. Quinn purchased the quarry from Acheson and Glover in late 2018. It is using limestone from the mine to make cement.

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement’s sales rose by 20% year-on-year to US$48.7m in the first half of 2019 from US$40.6m in the same period of 2018. Its net profit after Zakat and tax was US$0.92m, after a loss previously. It attributed its increased sales and profit to higher sales volumes, better pricing and reduced production costs.

Peru: UNACEM’s sales rose by 1.5% year-on-year to US$296m in the first half of 2019 from US$292m in the same period in 2018. Its profit grew by 20.5% to US$74.3m from US$61.7m. Cement production increased by 8.5% to 2.62Mt from 2.42Mt. The cement producer also said that clinker exports from its Conchán pier fell by 22% to 0.45Mt from 0.58Mt.

Guatemala: The government has introduced a new distribution tax of US$0.2 per 42.5kg bag of cement. The new legislation also intends to regulate cement and clinker imports and appoint personnel to supervise storage sites, according to the El Periódico newspaper.