28 January 2021

Kuwait/Germany: HeidelbergCement has detailed the reasons behind the sale of its 51% stake in Hilal Cement, which has been led by HeidelbergCement subsidiary Suez Cement since 2016. The group said that the divestment represents the first step in a ‘comprehensive portfolio optimisation’ in line with its Beyond 2020 strategy.

Chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said, “We are pleased with the closing of the transaction in Kuwait.” He continued, “The focus of our portfolio management is the simplification of country portfolios and a prioritisation of the strongest market positions.”

Hilal Cement operates two cement terminals and four ready-mix plants.

India: Prism Johnson is considering investing US$19m in a 0.9Mt/yr expansion of its 6.1Mt/yr Prism cement plant in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. Reuters News has reported that the proposal remains in the first round of discussions.

The group revenue for its cement division fell by 8.3% year-on-year to US$241m for the nine months to the end of December 2020 from US$263m in the same period in 2019. Its cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 5% to 3.93Mt from 4.13Mt.

Thailand: SCG’s revenue from its cement division fell by 7% year-on-year to US$5.7bn in 2020. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3% to US$719m. It blamed falling sales on the coronavirus pandemic and a ‘challenging’ economy but said that it managed to raise earnings and profits through efficiency improvements and a lower production costs. In the fourth quarter of 2020 the business faced resurgent coronavirus outbreaks and flooding in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Overall, the group’s revenue fell by 9% to US$13.3bn with declines in most division apart from packaging.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has opened the first of six new 10,000l/day water purification plants under its Fountain of Life programme in Anuradhapura District, North Central Province. The Colomba Gazette newspaper has reported that the area has been affected by a high rate of chronic kidney disease.

Group chairman Harsha Cabral said, "We initiated our far-reaching Fountain of Life programme in support of the government's Water for All programme which aims to provide drinking water facilities to every household by 2025.”

Spain: Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, reports that domestic cement consumption fell by 10% year-on-year to 13.3Mt in 2020 from 14.7Mt in 2019. Consumption at this level was last reported in 1967. The 12-month accumulated consumption figure began to fall in April 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions and the association does not expect growth in 2021 despite an improvement in December 2020. Cement and clinker exports fell by 3.4% to 5.99Mt from 6.20Mt. It has forecast anything between a 3% rise and a 3% fall in consumption in 2021, due to coronavirus-related uncertainty.

The figures suggest that capacity utilisation in the cement industry is at roughly 60% nationally, according to the El Economista newspaper. Oficemen president Víctor García Brosa said that this level ‘cannot be indefinitely maintained.’ The association called for a recovery plan committed to infrastructure development, residential construction and rehabilitation and energy efficient transport.