Displaying items by tag: Akmenes Cementas
Akmenes Cementas terminal to open at Klaipėda in mid-2018
20 September 2017Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas says that its new terminal at the port of Klaipėda will increase its exports to Scandinavia. At present the cement producer sends about 15% or 0.15Mt/yr of its output to the region, according to the Verslo Zinios newspaper. Once completed in the spring of 2018 the terminal will allow exports to be increased to 0.2Mt/yr.
Lithuania: Akmenės Cementas is fighting a legal battle over the repayment of a Euro40m loan it took out in 2007. The cement producer started negotiating in September 2016 with its creditors to have the repayment deferred by three years, according to the Baltic Business Daily. However the deal was blocked by the Baltijos Kredito Sprendimai, which inherited the portfolio of the bankrupt bank Snoras. On 15 June 2017 the Vilnius Regional Court temporarily banned Akmenės Cementas’ six creditors from taking loan repayments from its accounts with the exception of interest payments.
Akmenes Cementas built a new Euro110m production line in late 2014. The company used its own funds and the loan to finance the project.
Russian certification hits Akmenės Cementas export market
24 January 2017Lithuania: Mandatory cement certification in Russia has forced Akmenės Cementas and other cement producers based in the European Union (EU) to send their exports elsewhere. The Lithuanian cement producer has compensated for this by moving its sales in other markets, according to the Verslo Zinios newspaper. Akmenes Cementas’s sales fell by 8% year-on-year to Euro51m in 2016 from Euro55.4m in 2015.
Around 60% of its sales revenue came from local sales in Lithuania, 20% from sales in other Baltic countries and Belarus and 20% from Scandinavian countries. Previously, exports to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad accounted for 30% of the company’s revenue. The company expects to generate sales of Euro54m in 2017 based on existing contracts.
Akmenes Cementas revenue drops by 6% to Euro55.4m in 2015
05 February 2016Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas has reported that its revenue fell by 6% year-on-year to Euro55.4m in 2015 from Euro59.2m in 2014. It sold nearly 1Mt of cement in 2015. Nearly half of its revenue came from exports markets in Poland, Scandinavia and Kaliningrad, according to local press.
Akmenes Cementas CEO, Arturas Zaremba, told Verslo Zinios that cement consumption in Lithuania fell by 5% in 2014 and by 7% in 2015. He blamed this on increased competition from cement producers in Belarus.
Akmenes Cementas about to complete modernisation project at Naujoji Akmene cement plant
28 October 2013Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's only cement manufacturer, is about to complete the modernisation of its Naujoji Akmene cement factory in northwestern Lithuania. It's claimed to be one of the biggest industrial projects implemented in the country since restoration of independence. A new clinker manufacturing line, which cost around Euro107m, should begin operation late in November or early in December 2013, barring delays. The line should operate for around 50 years and investments are expected to be covered within a decade. The company used it's own funds to finance the bulk of investments, while banks provided around one-third of the total funding.
"Representatives of equipment suppliers are visiting the facility now. They are checking, fine tuning, testing the equipment and adjusting the programmes. We keep our fingers crossed and hope that everything goes smoothly," said Arturas Zaremba, CEO of Akmenes Cementas.
Lithuania: The Competition Council has blocked a sale of 51% of shares in Akmene Cement to the Betoneta group. The regulator concluded that the market share, which the potential buyer would obtain after the takeover, would be too large.
Subsequently, Concretus Materials, which sought to acquire 51% of Akmenes Cementas' shares and which, according to the panel, is part of Betoneta group, said that it had withdrawn its application for regulatory clearance and cancelled the deal on the acquisition of the cement manufacturer's shares.
Mexican cement group Cemex owns a 33.95% stake in Akmenes Cementas. Other shareholders include Simonas Vytis Anuzis with 13.67%, Olius Danyla with 13.55%, Arnoldas Mituzas with 12.76% and Edmundas Montvila with 9.8%.
Concretus Materials to buy up to 51% of Akmene Cement
02 January 2013Lithuania: Concretus Materials is planning to buy up to 51% of shares in the cement manufacturer Akmene Cement. According to the regulator Concretus Materials applied to the Lithuanian Competition Council on 27 December 2012 for approval of the deal.
The Mexican cement giant Cemex owns a 33.95% stake in Akmenes Cementas. Other shareholders included Simonas Vytis Anuzis with 13.67%, Olius Danyla with 13.55%, Arnoldas Mituzas with 12.76% and Edmundas Montvila with 9.8%.
Akmenes Cementas is currently implementing a modernisation project, worth Euro101m, moving to a dry production process. The company expects to complete its new production line in mid-2013. The producer's annual revenue rose year-on-year by 37% in 2011 to Euro63.1m as cement sales increased by 19% to nearly 984,000t/yr. in 2011 Lithuania remained its biggest market, accounting for 55% of the total sales. Akmenes Cementas's cement plant is located in Naujoji Akmene, in north-western Lithuania.
Exports drive 10% sales growth at Akmene Cement
03 October 2012Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's biggest cement producer, is operating almost at full capacity as its strategy to push exports has provide successful. For 2012 Akmenes Cement is aiming for at least a 10% increase in annual sales and a rise of around 15% in revenues thanks to growing exports.
"Today we rely on exports for growth," said Akmenes Cementas CEO Arturas Zaremba. He added a forecast that cement consumption in Lithuania will decline by 5% in 2012.
Akmenes Cementas expects that its Euro101.4m modernisation project will further aid its efforts to gain a foothold in export markets. A new dry production line increasing the plant's capacity to 1.5Mt/yr is due to be completed in mid-2013. This line should reduce fuels costs by almost one third. Two existing lines, with a capacity of over 1Mt/yr, will then be decommissioned.
Akmene Cement takings rise by 22% in first half
21 August 2012Lithuania: Akmene Cement, Lithuania's only cement manufacturer, has posted a revenue of Euro30.3m for the first half 2012, a 22% increase from Euro24.7m in the same period in 2011. The company's cement output rose by 7%, to 423,000t from 396,000t. Akmene has not disclosed its profit for the 2012 period.
"The demand in the export countries is more or less similar to that of 2011. We are exporting slightly more to Belarus," said Akmene Cement representative, Giedre Kundrotiene. In 2011 the company's revenue grew by 37%, year-on-year, to Euro62.8m. Volume sales rose by 19%, to nearly 984,000t.
Akmenes Cementas has completed 60% of an upgrade project worth Euro101m to shift from wet to dry cement production. Work is expected to be finalised by the middle of 2013 at the plant located in Naujoji Akmene, in north-west Lithuania.
Japanese firm scoping out Akmenes
04 April 2012Lithuania/Japan: Japan's Shimizu Corporation, seen as a prospective general contractor of Lithuania's planned new nuclear power plant, has shown interest in Akmenes Cementas, the only cement manufacturer in the Baltics.
Akmenes reported that representatives from the Japanese corporation were informed about the types and quality of cement, as well as delivery methods and supply terms, during their visit to the Akmenes factory in north west Lithuania on 28 March 2012.