30 July 2019

Germany: HeidelbergCement’s profit fell in the first half of 2019 due to non-recurring effects related to the divestment of its assets in Ukraine. Its profit fell by 33% year-on-year to Euro291m in the first half of 2019 from Euro435m from in the same period in 2018. Its revenue rose by 9% to Euro9.21bn from Euro8.43bn. Its sales volumes of cement fell slightly to 61Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales volumes grew by 6% to 24.4Mm³. Its profit fell by 33% to Euro435m from Euro291m.

“In general, the market dynamics weakened slightly in the second quarter in comparison with the first quarter. Nevertheless, we were able to improve our result in the second quarter because of our strong global positioning. Good margins in Asia, as well as Western and Southern Europe, more than compensated for the weaker business due to adverse weather conditions in North America and the Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin Group area,” said Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has counteracted mounting costs with increased export sales. Its gross sales rose slightly to US$420m in its financial year to 30 June 2019. Its profit after tax fell by 14% year-on-year to US$65.2m from US$75.8m from the same period in 2018. Its cost of sales grew by 11% to US$190m from US$211m. Its cement sales volumes fell by 1.8% to 7.67Mt. However, its export sales increased by 60.9% to 1.82Mt.

The cement producer said that the first shipment of machinery from China’s Sinoma to its new 1.2Mt/yr integrated plant project at Samawah in Iraq. A power plant has also been ordered from Finland’s Wärtsilä. Commercial production at the site is planned for mid-2020.

Morocco: Ciments du Maroc has signed a deal to buy Atlantic Cement and Cimsud from Anouar Invest Group. Atlantic Cement is building an integrated plant in Settat province and Cimsud has recently commissioned a 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant at Laâyoune. Ciments du Maroc said that the agreement would strengthen its market presence in the central region. The acquisition is planning to complete in the second half of 2019 subject to regulatory approval. No value for the purchase has been disclosed.

Ciments du Maroc, subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, operates three integrated cement plants and two grinding plants. It also runs 30 ready-mixed conrete plants and four quarries.

Italy: Austria’s Alpacem purchased a terminal and bagging plant at Trieste in Italy from Italcementi in April 2019 for an undisclosed sum. The unit will be run by the company’s Slovenian Salonit Anhovo subsidiary with support from its Italian subsidiary W&P Cementi. Cement processed at the terminal will be delivered from the Salonit Anhovo integrated plant in Slovenia for sale in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia.

Sri Lanka: Binod Chaudhary, the owner of CG Cement, says his company plans to invest US$150m towards building a new integrated cement plant. He said that he had approval from the government and had identified several potential limestone deposits to support the project, according to the Daily News newspaper. The company intends to export cement and clinker.

CG Cement operates a grinding plant at Dumbikas, Nawalparasi district. It says it has a 10% market share.

Saudi Arabia: Total exports of cement have reached 25Mt since the export rules were relaxed in mid-2017. Abdul Rahman Hussein, from the Ministry of Trade and Investment, said that the government is now planning to charge fees on exporters after a two-year tax holiday, according to the Aliqtisadia newspaper. He noted that the ministry has approved 53 cement export licences. 22 of these have been issued during the current year.

Belgium: Australia’s Calix says the Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium has successfully demonstrated CO₂ separation with more than 95% purity at its pilot unit at HeidelbergCement’s cement plant in Lixhe. Technology provider Calix said that preliminary test runs have been completed on the pilot. The technology concept has been shown to work on both lime and cement meal, with calcination near to target levels and high purity CO₂ successfully separated at the top of the reactor although not yet at full design capacity.

It added that it was still working on fixing commissioning issues. Testing will run until the end of 2020 to assess the risk of potential longer-term issues such as tube health and process robustness. In parallel, planning has commenced on the next scale-up of the technology, including conceptual design and engaging funding consortia.

Panama: Ramón Martínez, the Minister of Trade and Industry, has signed two resolutions intended to improve the requirements and standards of cement quality both domestically and for imports. DGNTI-COPANIT 5-2019 sets out the chemical, physical and performance requirements of general and specialised cements, as well as the packaging, transportation, storage and use requirements, according to La Estrella newspaper. DGNTI-COPANIT-90-2019 specifies the procedure for verifying and monitoring the quality of hydraulic cements produced, imported and marketed in the country.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement has launches a new clinker conveyor at the Port of Malaga. The new Euro2.5m project started by loading 4800t of clinker onto a ship bound for Ireland. The conveyor will continue to be tested in August 2019 with 30,000DWT and 40,000DWT vessels. The enclosed conveyor has a load capacity of 650t/hr. the project also included setting up two storage areas in the Pescadería area of the city.

Taiwan: Asia Cement has appealed a ruling by the High Administrative Court in Taipei to revoke an extension of its mining rights at a quarry in Xincheng Township. Its right to operate the quarry was blocked in early July 2019 despite a 20-year extension granted in 2017, according to the Taipei Times newspaper. The cement producer also said it had received signatures from local residents will support continued mining at the site. The quarry supports an integrated plant at Huanlien.