Displaying items by tag: Cemex
Valencia Port Authority blocks request by Cemex
19 December 2017Spain: The Valencia Port Authority (APV) has blocked a request by Cemex Spain to expand its operations at the Port of Grau in Valencia. The port authority denied the cement producer because the port is being used for passengers, according to the El Mercantil Valenciano newspaper. However, the port is hoping to find another site for Cemex to use.
Cemex has used the nearby Port of Sagunto for cement and clinker exports since 2014. Exports have since represented 40% of its sales. Production from the company’s Buñol cement plant is exported to countries in the Mediterranean, especially in North Africa.
Philippines: Cemex Philippines has received an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for a proposed new production line at its cement plant operated by Solid Cement at Antipolo City, Rizal. The cement producer wants to build a new 1.5Mt/yr line at the site, according to the Philippines News Agency. Cemex and CBMI Construction signed a deal to build the line in May 2017.
Colombia: The Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has fined Cementos Argos, Cemex and Holcim and six senior managers US$68m for fixing the price of Ordinary Portland Cement. The fine covers behaviour by the companies between January 2010 and December 2012. SIC’s investigation discovered that collusion between the cement producers artificially increased the price of cement by 30% despite inflation being 9% during the period.
Cementos Argos responded to the sanction by saying that it rejected the fine and decision by SIC. Following an earlier statement in October 2017 it once again criticised SIC’s methods. According to Reuters, both Holcim and Cemex disagreed with the finding and they said they would take legal action against it.
Cemex USA launches terminal in Denver
10 November 2017US: Cemex USA has officially launched a new railway terminal at Commerce City near Denver, Colorado. The site started operations in late September 2017. It is served by an existing rail line from the Lyons Cement Plant and has a silo capacity of 5000t. It will be used to store Type II ordinary Portland Cement. The unit is intended to supply cement to the Denver Metropolitan area as well as the wider state market.
Cemex’s US assets include 11 cement plants, 43 distribution terminals, 57 aggregate quarries and more than 270 ready-mix concrete plants.
Q3 multinational cement producer roundup
08 November 2017The third quarter financial results for HeidelbergCement are out today. They aren’t perfect but the company is hanging in there following its acquisition of Italcementi in late 2016. As one would expect both cement sales volumes and sales revenue are up on a double-digit basis. After all, HeidelbergCement has absorbed a major competitor, including assets, staff, cement plants and all. Its volumes and revenue have improved, more importantly though, on a like-for-like basis, even if it is modest. With the US and Europe driving sales the cement producer has time to make its promised synergies following the Italian acquisition and hopefully wait out recovery in places like Indonesia and Egypt.
Graph 1: Cement sales volumes for selected multinational cement producers during the first nine months of 2017. Source: Company financial reports.
That growth on a like-for-like basis is crucial compared to HeidelbergCement’s big rival, the world’s biggest cement producer, LafargeHolcim. As Graph 1 shows sales volumes data for the major multinational cement producers shows quite a varied picture. LafargeHolcim’s sales volumes have fallen by 12% year-on-year to 156Mt but the company has also been reducing its production capacity. Despite this, a rough calculation of its production utilisation rate suggests that it is selling less cement proportionally, although the company’s like-for-like figures disagree, positing a rise of 1.8%. Cemex’s sales volumes declined slightly to 51.3Mt. The larger regional companies show interesting trends. UltraTech Cement has managed to increase its sales volumes by 5% to 40.4Mt overcoming a poor third quarter in 2016. What to watch here will be whether this will be enough to overcome the effects of demonetisation that rocked India’s economy in late 2016.
Graph 2: Sales revenue for selected multinational cement producers during the first nine months of 2017. Source: Company financial reports.
The stronger regional positions of those last two companies really hits home when sales revenue is examined. As can be seen in Graph 2 both UltraTech Cement and Dangote Cement are growing their sales revenue, the latter despite dropping sales volumes. UltraTech Cement is suffering from falling profits due to rising fuel costs and it may yet suffer from ‘corporate indigestion’ as it digests its acquisition of 21.2Mt/yr cement production capacity from Jaiprakash Associates that took place in June 2017. Dangote Cement seems to have increased its earnings and profits despite problems at home in Nigeria by improving its fuel mix. Yet, flirtations with South Africa’s PPC aside, its expansion plans remain in a holding position. Dangote Cement presents another fascinating situation. Its overall sales volumes have fallen but this reflects a failing market at home in Nigeria and doesn’t show the company’s booming sales in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Results from CRH and the Brazilian companies Votorantim and InterCement will further flesh out the situation when they are released. Yet, the difference between worldwide producers and regional producers seems to be clear. The likes of LafargeHolcim and Cemex with a global presence are generally battling stagnation in the cement markets overall with a couple of key markets holding them back. Meanwhile, larger regional producers in the right locations are growing. However, the absence of the Brazilian producers is critical here as their experience of the floundering market in Brazil is very different to that of, say, UltraTech Cement’s in India. Looking ahead, the next quarter will be particularly interesting to see how demonetisation skewed UltraTech Cement’s performance, to start to see the first results from HeidelbergCement a year after its purchase of Italcementi and how well LafargeHolcim’s new chief is doing.
Cemex launches digital customer integration platform
07 November 2017Mexico: Cemex has launched Cemex Go, a digital customer integration platform. The system will be used in real time to manage order placement, live tracking of shipments and invoices and payments for the company’s main products, including bagged and bulk cement.
“Cemex Go creates an experience for our customers that is superior to anything that has been provided in the past and is the only platform of its kind currently offered in our industry,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cemex.
The platform is intended to reduce customers’ administrative burden and to allow them to work at anytime and anywhere on multiple devices. It also plans to use the core activities of Cemex’s open innovation and venture capital unit, Cemex Ventures, to help further build the project. The initiative is being supported by Cemex’s long-term partners, IBM and Neoris.
In November 2017, Cemex Go will start to roll out in the US and Mexico. Further worldwide deployment will follow in 2018.
Cemex grows profit in third quarter of 2017
26 October 2017Mexico: Cemex has increased its profit in the third quarter of 2017 due to growing sales and low costs. Its net profit rose by 1% year-on-year to US$289m in the third quarter of 2017 from US$286m in the same period in 2016, according to Dow Jones. Sales increased by 2% to U$3.5bn due to higher cement sales volumes in several markets and higher prices in Mexico and the US.
The group’s overall cement sales volumes remained unchanged at 17.5Mt. Sales by volume fell in Mexico due to earthquakes, bad weather and lower government spending on infrastructure. Cement sales volumes in the US rose on a like-for-like basis.
Colombian Superintendent of Industry and Commerce reports evidence of price collusion
17 October 2017Colombia: The Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) says that it has found evidence of price collusion from 2010 to 2012 between Cementos Argos, Holcim and Cemex. A report by SIC alleges that the three companies raised the price of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in a coordinated manner, according to the El Espectador newspaper. The producers have been given a time to respond to the allegations and they could face fines of up to US$8m each by the end of 2017.
However, the cement producers have denied the allegations and criticised SIC’s methods. In a response, Cementos Argos described SIC’s analysis of cement prices over a 36-month period as ‘ not appropriate.’ It also pointed out that the regulator had assumed a stable market share between competitors and that its own share had changed between 2007 and 2017.
Cemex sells remaining direct stake in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua
28 September 2017Mexico: Cemex has sold its remaining direct 9.47% stake in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) for around US$168m. Proceeds from the sale will be used for debt reduction and for ‘general’ corporate purposes. However, the Mexican cement producer will continue to hold a 20% indirect stake in GCC through its subsidiary Camcem.
Cemex participates in European Union industrial efficiency research
15 September 2017UK/Europe: Cemex’s South Ferriby cement plant is participating in the European Union (EU) supported enhanced energy and resource efficiency and performance in process industry operations via onsite and cross-sectorial symbiosis (EPOS) project. Designed to enable cross-sector industrial working, the project highlights case studies exemplifying ways for companies to use wastes from other industries to deliver greater efficiency, save raw materials, and contribute to more sustainable processes.
The South Ferriby plant has worked with other companies, including the INEOS chemical company, to determine how waste from INEOS’s production could be used as part of the cement manufacturing process. In addition Cemex Poland and Cemex Research Group in Switzerland will also represent Cemex in the project.
“It is a privilege for Cemex’s cement plant in South Ferriby to participate in this project, collaborating with other companies and partners across Europe. This helps to ensure that we operate our cement plant as efficiently as possible, while learning lessons that we can apply to our other facilities,” said Kevin Groombridge, South Ferriby Cement Plant Environment Manager.