28 July 2021

France: Vicat’s consolidated sales rose by 19.6% year-on-year to Euro1.56bn in the first half of 2021 from US$1.30bn in the same period in 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 41% to Euro300m from Euro213m. Sales and earnings rose in all territories on an adjusted basis as markets recovered from a poor second quarter in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in India and France.

“Focused on its carbon footprint reduction targets, the group has accelerated the commercialisation of its low-carbon product lines, adapted to the global climate challenge,” said Guy Sidos, the group’s chairman and chief executive officer. The company added that the upgrade of its Ragland cement plant in the US is on track for expected commissioning in the first half of 2022 and that it is ramping up a new mill in Mali.

Mexico: GCC’s sales rose by 9.7% year-on-year to US$466m in the first half of 2021 from US$424m in the same period in 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 15.3% to US$147m from US$127m. Cement sales volumes grew by 3.2% and 11.5% in the US and Mexico respectively. Concrete sales volumes fell by 21.1% in the US but grew by 22.8% in Mexico.

“Cement demand is stronger than pre-pandemic levels and construction activity is expected to remain robust throughout the year. Every kiln at GCC is up and running,” said Enrique Escalante, GCC’s chief executive officer.

India: Dalmia Bharat’s first-quarter consolidated income net sales were US$348m in the 2022 financial year, up by 36% year-on-year from US$256m in the first quarter of the 2021 financial year. The group’s cement sales totalled 4.89Mt, up by 33% from 3.66Mt. Profit after tax increased by 45% to US$37.2m from US$25.7m.

Managing director Puneet Dalmia said “Despite the challenges posed by the second wave of Covid-19, our business has once again shown resilience and successfully delivered an all-round performance. We are very excited about the opportunities that we see in the marketplace, and our consistent performance over the past quarters gives us immense confidence as we embark on an aggressive growth journey over the next decade.” He added “Our vision is to build an institution based on the principles of growth, profitability, sustainability and respect, and also to be able to participate meaningfully in our country’s growth story. We are committed to delivering industry-leading returns to our stakeholders through our sustainable business model and a robust governance mechanism.”

India: Ramco Cements recorded standalone net sales of US$166m in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, up by 17% year-on-year from US$141m in the corresponding quarter of the 2021 financial year. Its earnings before interest, taxation depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 37% to US$49.7m from US$36.3m. The company’s net profit growth for the quarter was 54%, taking this to US$22.7m from US$14.8m.

Chief executive officer Aahvan Dharmakrishnan said “With lot of uncertainties and commodity prices going up without corrections, we were able to control the cost reasonably well and performed well.”

India: Ramco Cements plans to invest US$64m in a modernisation and capacity expansion of its Ramasay Raja Nagar cement plant in Tamil Nadu. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the project involves building a new 3000t/day clinker line to replace a 1450t/day line. This will increase the plant’s overall capacity by 32% to 1.44Mt/yr from 1.09Mt/yr. The company has placed equipment orders for the project and plans to commissions the upgrade in December 2022. It expects to receive environmental clearance for the work in September 2021.

Philippines: Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement has underwritten a US$250m capital increase for its subsidiary Taiheiyo Cement Philippines. Nikkei Business Trends News has reported that the company has scheduled six payments between July 2021 and January 2024. The funding will increase Taiheiyo Cement Philippines’ total capital to US$291m.

Algeria: Ahmed Zeghdar, the Minister of Industry, says that he will help reduce the difficulties that Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie (GICA) faces with its exports. During a meeting with the management of GICA the minister said that the government would assist with logistical problems linked to sea and land transport, according to the Expression newspaper. He also urged the company to increase its exports due to high domestic cement production capacity. GICA produced over 11Mt of cement in 2020 and this is expected to rise to nearly 17Mt in 2021. Its exports reached a value of nearly US$600m in 2020 and are forecast to reach US$1bn in 2021.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) says that it will not increase its cement prices despite the high cost of petcoke. The state-owned producer reports that both increasing international prices for the fuel and logistical challenges, such as varying river water levels, have raised overall prices. It added that stopping production would cause negative impacts to both the construction sector and the local economy.

Australia: James Hardie Industries has published its 2021 Sustainability Report, entitled Building Sustainable Communities. The report outlines the group’s sustainable future, commitments and progress to date in four key areas, namely Communities, Environment, Innovation and Zero Harm. The framework uses measurable goals, such as a 40% greenhouse gas reduction between 2019 and 2030, a 5% increase in gender diversity in management positions between 2020 and 2024 and an increase in the proportion of revenues covered by environmental product declarations to 80% from 26% in the 2021 financial year. Formalised in the 2021 financial year, the sustainability strategy is integrated with James Hardie’s global strategy for value creation and operational performance.

Chief executive officer Jack Truong said “Our commitment to building better, more sustainable communities starts by building better homes, with the homebuilding materials of the future.” He added “Our commitment to a sustainable future extends to our James Hardie community, the local communities in which we operate and across the largest shared community of all, our global ecosystem. At James Hardie, we are transforming the way the world builds by offering better, safer and more sustainable products.”

Belgium: Magotteaux says that its production plants at Vaux-sous-Chèvremont and Trooz near Liege were ‘severely hit’ by flooding in mid-July 2021. The industrial equipment and services supplier is currently assessing the extent of the damage but production is expected to be affected. It reported that all of its staff were safe following the incident.