07 February 2023

India: Nuvoco Vistas recorded consolidated sales of US$315m during the third quarter of its 2023 financial year. This corresponds to a rise of 20% year-on-year from US$262m during the third quarter of the 2022 financial year. The producer's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 13% year-on-year to US$33m from US$29.2m. As a result, the company was able to overcome increased costs to reduce its net loss by 12% to US$9.1m.

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned a new 1.5Mt/yr grinding unit at its Jharsuguda grinding plant in Odisha. The unit more than doubles the plant's capacity to 2.5Mt/yr. The Hindu BusinessLine News has reported that UltraTech Cement now has a production capacity of 4.1Mt/yr in Odisha. The Eastern Indian state thus hosts 3.3% of the producer's total capacity of 123Mt/yr.

US: Holcim has signed an agreement with Duro-Last to acquire the roofing systems producer for US$1.29bn. Reuters has reported that the acquisition will be Holcim's largest for all of 2022 and 2023 so far. Once the parties complete the transaction, Duro-Last's business will join Holcim's products and systems division. Holcim expects the deal to yield synergies of US$60m/yr, primarily through a reduction in the cost of materials.

Holcim expects its products and systems division to contribute a majority of its profit in North America once increased investment under the US government's Inflation Reduction Act begins to take effect. In 2022, the division accounted for 40% of regional profit. The group is committed to a global target of 30% of sales being attributable to the products and systems division by 2025, compared to 19% of sales in 2022.

US: US cement companies produced 95Mt of cement in 2022, up by 2.2% year-on-year from 93Mt in 2021, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The country exported 900,000t of cement and clinker, down by 4.3% from 940,000t. The USGS recorded a 9.1% leap in apparent national consumption, to 120Mt from 110Mt. Cement imports helped to close the gap, rising by 20% year-on-year to 24Mt from 19.9Mt.

Among the US's main trade partners for cement imports, cement production fluctuated in 2022. Turkish cement production rose by 3.7% year-on-year to 85Mt, Mexican cement production fell by 3.8% year-on-year to 50Mt and Vietnamese cement production rose by 9.1% year-on-year to 120Mt. Globally, the USGS estimated a year-on-year cement production decline of 6.8% to 4.1Bnt.

Nigeria: GE Gas Power expects to commission a new 50MW power plant at a Dangote Cement site in early 2023. The supplier said that the new power plant will provide energy for Dangote Cement's cement production and refinery operations.

The This Day newspaper has reported that the new plant is part of a total 500MW-worth of new power infrastructure which GE Gas Power expects to commission in Nigeria before July 2023.