Displaying items by tag: Buzzi
Europe: A European court has rejected an appeal by members of an alleged cement cartel, including Holcim Deutschland, HeidelbergCement, Schwenk Zement, Holcim, Buzzi Unicem, Italmobiliare, Portland Valderrivas and various subsidiaries of Cemex. The companies have argued that the European Commission (EC) had exceeded its powers when it opened an investigation in 2008.
The cement manufacturers brought seven appeals forward, arguing that the EC had not given a sufficient explanation for the suspected infringements before pushing them to respond to a long series of questions in too short a time limit. The judges considered that the EC had judicially provided the required 'minimum degree of clarity.'
On the other hand, the court partially agreed with Schwenk Zement. It judged that the time limit of two weeks that the companies were given to identify all of their contacts, including informal ones, was inadequate.
Buzzi Unicem sells cement plant to Wietersdorfer unit for Euro22m
19 February 2014Italy: Buzzi Unicem has agreed to sell its 0.3Mt/yr cement plant in Cadola, Italy, to a subsidiary of Wietersdorfer for Euro22m. Under the terms of the agreement, Austria's Wietersdorfer will be also entitled to buy, within five years and without additional payment, Buzzi Unicem's Travesio 0.4Mt/yr cement plant.
Italian cement producer Buzzi Unicem has also agreed to buy 25% in two Wietersdorfer facilities. In particular, the company will acquire shares in W&P Cementi and Salonit Anhovo Gradbeni Materiali for Euro22m. W&P Cementi currently has a grinding plant in Pordenone, Italy with a production capacity of 0.3Mt/yr. Salonit owns an integrated cement plantin Slovenia with a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr.
With these transactions, Buzzi Unicem expects to strengthen its production and sales structure by improving its procurement logistics, it said adding that the deals will result in technological integration between the two companies aiming to develop new products. The transactions are expected to close on 30 June 2014.
European cement production in 2013 – Problems head east
12 February 2014Recovery in the European cement markets arrived slowly in 2013. Balance sheets at HeidelbergCement, Cemex, Italcementi, Vicat and Buzzi Unicem appear to have stalled into something less than the recovery that everybody wants. The picture is more stable in Western Europe but declining revenues have headed east.
The European Commission's Autumn 2013 Economic Forecast has summed it up well, predicting that the European Union's (EU) gross domestic product (GDP) would remain static in 2013. On the strength of the results seen so far that feels about right. The cement industry in Europe hasn't continued to decline but the 'recovery' is slow. Yet a recovery is happening on the strength of these financial results so far. Compared to some of the sales declines seen in 2012 this is good news.
With results from the big European-based cement producers Lafarge and Holcim due later in February 2014, here is a summary of the European situation.
HeidelbergCement's revenue has remained flat in 2013 at Euro13.9bn although its cement, clinker and ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) sales volumes have risen by 2.6% to 91.3Mt. Compare this with the 8.7% bounce in revenue from 2011 to 2012. By region, the problem areas have now shifted from losses in Western and Northern Europe to losses in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Market pickup in the UK has driven this turnaround, despite diminished sales volumes in Germany.
Similarly, Cemex's sales have also remained flat at US$15.2bn. Both of its European areas have improved their sales, with sales losses only reported for the Northern Europe region. Again, sales in the UK drove overall business with France starting to improve too.
Italcementi had it tougher in 2013 with its sixth consecutive drop in revenue since 2008. Just like HeidelbergCement, the problem regions for Italcementi have shifted east in 2013 from Western Europe to the group's Emerging Europe, North Africa and Middle East area. However Italcementi is losing revenue in Western Europe faster than HeidelbergCement, mainly due to the poor Italian market.
Elsewhere, Vicat reported that its consolidated cement sales fell by 4% to Euro1.11bn. Sales decline lessened in France and the rest of Europe even saw sales rise by 4% to Euro427m. Buzzi Unicem saw its cement sales volumes remain static in 2013 at 27.4Mt.
Overall it may not feel great but it's better than the cement industry news for Europe we've been used to in recent years. With the European Commission Economic Forecast suggesting a 1.4% rise in GDP in 2014, the next 12 months look more promising.
Buzzi reports flat cement sales in 2013
12 February 2014Italy: Buzzi Unicem saw its cement sales remain flat at 27.4Mt in 2013. Overall net sales dropped slightly by 2.1% year-on-year to Euro2.75bn. In a preliminary results statement, the company reported growth in the US and Russia, recovery in central Europe in the second half of 2013 and continued market problems in Mexico, Italy and parts of eastern Europe.
Buzzi Unicem to expand Texas cement plant
16 December 2013US: Buzzi Unicem USA has announced that it plans to modernise and expand its Maryneal cement plant in Texas. The updated plant will have a 1.2Mt/yr cement capacity, up from 0.55Mt/yr. State-of-the-art pollution control equipment will be installed that will significantly reduce NOx emissions. The major components that will be installed during the expansion will include a new raw mill, a preheater/precalciner kiln and cooler system, a 4500KW finish mill, a solid fuel grinding and feed system and continued use of a newly commissioned Fives FCB Horomill Finish Mill.
"As an industry leader in quality and service, Buzzi Unicem USA is committed to sustainable, environmentally-responsible manufacturing at all of its plants," said David Nepereny, CEO of Buzzi Unicem USA. "The Maryneal plant expansion will result in a world-class facility that has the latest pyroprocessing, environmental and safety equipment."
The expansion will create an additional 200 full-time jobs for the 2 - 3 years that construction project is expected to last.
Buzzi Unicem sales down by 3.2% in first nine months of 2013
13 November 2013Italy: Buzzi Unicem has reported that its net sales have fallen by 3% year-on-year to Euro2.08bn for the first nine months in 2013. Cement sales volumes fared better with a 1.2% drop to 20.6Mt. For the third quarter of 2013 the Italy-based cement producer reported drops in sales volumes in Mexico, Italy and Eastern Europe.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 10% to Euro336m. Buzzi Unicem expects recurring operating results to fall by 5 – 10% for the whole of 2013 compared to 2012.
Italy: Buzzi Unicem made a net loss of Euro26.6m in the first half of 2013, 44% higher than the Euro18.5m loss seen in the first half of 2012. It recorded a 25% fall in first-half core earnings for 2013, which it said were hit by lower sales volumes.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the six months fell to Euro150.7m from a restated Euro200.5m in the first half of 2012. Buzzi's net sales fell by 5.7% to Euro1.27bn. Buzzi's cement sales for the first half of 2013 were 12.3Mt, representing a 5.8% decrease compared to the first half of 2012 when it sold 13.1Mt.
The company said that the results for the first half of 2013 were below its own expectations and were caused by the extremely difficult economic situation in Italy, flat activity in Central Europe, the lack of clear signs of recovery in Eastern Europe and an unforeseen slowdown in Mexico.
Buzzi also said that it believed that there were grounds for a sizeable improvement of results in the second half of 2013, thanks especially to a volume recovery in Central Europe, acceleration of sales and prices in the United States and the attainment of an operating profitability closer to that of the previous year in Eastern Europe.
Based on the above considerations, for the full financial year 2013, Buzzi expects to report a recurring EBITDA that is 5 - 10% lower than that of 2012.
Buzzi Unicem profit plummets by 96% in 2012
03 April 2013Italy: Italian cement producer Buzzi Unicem has seen its net profit fall by 96% to Euro2m in 2012 from Euro54.8m in 2011. The company attributed the fall to a penalisation by impairment of fixed assets and deferred tax assets adjustment.
Buzzi Unicem's net sales remained stagnant at Euro2.81bn in 2012 compared to Euro2.79bn in 2011. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 4.8% to Euro455m form 434m. Net debt was reduced by 18% to Euro1.12bn from Euro1.14bn. In 2012, the group sold 27.3Mt of cement, down by 3.4% from 2011.
In Italy the company saw cement and clinker volumes decline by 20% in 2012. This was the highest annual percentage decrease since the Second World War. In Central Europe cement sales also declined. In Eastern Europe cement volumes declined in Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine but sales increased by 15% in Russia. In the US demand 'rebounded' but Buzzi Unicem declined to provide any details for its cement business. Finally, in Mexico cement sales volumes rose by 6.2% in 2012.
For its outlook in 2013 Buzzi Unicem expects to see continued growth in the US and Russia, on-going problems in Italy and a stable situation overall in other territories.
Buzzi revenue stagnates despite lower sales
13 February 2013Italy: Buzzi Unicem has announced that its revenue for 2012 rose by 0.9% to Euro2.81bn. The positive impact of currency exchange rates helped compensate for falling cement volumes. The firm said in a statement that it expected a recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of about Euro450m in 2012, in line with its previous estimates.
The company will shortly start a squeeze-out procedure on its German unit Dyckerhoff, of which it owns already 96.6%. The procedure will be completed in 2013 and lead to delisting of the German firm.
Buzzi purchases more of Dyckerhoff
26 November 2012Italy/Germany: German cement maker Dyckerhoff has announced that its parent company, Italy's Buzzi Unicem, has agreed to buy additional ordinary and preferred shares in it, raising its total share capital in the firm by 3.6% to 96.6%.
The German company did not reveal the value of the transaction but specified that during the current year and including the most recent agreement Buzzi Unicem had bought shares in it for some Euro71.7m.
As a shareholder of at least 95% of Dyckerhoff, Buzzi Unicem is entitled, under the German law, to start a 'squeeze-out' procedure for the remaining shares that it does not already own. However, it has not yet made any final decision on such a move, according to Dyckerhoff.