Displaying items by tag: China
Ethiopia: The Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA) says that Chinese company Inchini Bedrock Cement owes it US$10m for alleged tax evasion. The cement producer has declared a loss for five of the seven years it has been in operation, according to the Addis Fortune newspaper. However, ERCA’s Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) has refuted these claims and, following an audit, says that Inchini Bedrock had failed to keep records of the raw materials and finished products in stock. The investigation was triggered following the discovery of documents relating to Inchini Bedrock whilst ECRA was looking at another case.
Inchini Bedrock Cement employs 265 employees, including 22 foreign nationals. However, it appears to have no manager or representative at present, except for the head of the expatriate department, according to sources quoted by Addis Fortune. The manager of the company left Ethiopia in late 2017 due to medical reasons. The plant had a cement production capacity of 0.3Mt/yr when it opened in 2012.
Nothing says I love you like a white cement plant
21 February 2018HeidelbergCement made Italy’s Cementir Holding its Valentine last week in the form of a deal for the Italian company to buy up the remaining shares in Lehigh White Cement in the US. Cementir takes control of the former joint venture by upping its share to 63.25% for US$107m and one of the other partners, Cemex, increases its share to 36.75% for US$34m. Despite making the announcement on Valentine’s Day HeidelbergCement then described the sale in fairly unromantic language, “As a niche product with small volumes, the standalone production of white cement does not fit to the strategic focus on efficiency of HeidelbergCement.” Maybe they could just send flowers to each other next year instead!
More seriously, this latest deal by Cementir is yet another intriguing evolution of the Italian multinational building materials producer. The company says it is the largest white cement producer in the world through subsidiaries like Aalborg Portland in Demark, Sinai White Cement in Egypt and Lehigh White Cement in the US. Its plant at El-Arish in Egypt is the largest white cement unit in the world. In 2016 it reported a white cement production capacity of 3.3Mt/yr from six plants in Denmark, Egypt, China, Malaysia and the US. Its volume sales of white cement were 2.2Mt at this time or a capacity utilisation rate of 67%. In the US it operates two white cement plants located in Waco, Texas and York, Pennsylvania with a total capacity of 0.26Mt/yr, as well as a distribution network throughout the country, which is also used to distribute white cement imported from its partners across North America. In 2017 Cementir produced 10.3Mt of Ordinary Portland (grey) Cement and white cement, a rise of 24.6% year-on-year from 8.25Mt in 2016. The boost was delivered by the acquisition of Compagnie des Ciments Belges. Like-for-like sales volumes increased by around 1.7% year-on-year.
Cementir left the Italian market in 2017 when it sold Cementir Italia to HeidelbergCement for Euro315m. As this column commented as the time (GCW320) the deal seemed cheap given that HeidelbergCement paid Euro315m for five integrated cement plants plus extras. However, Cementir appeared to actually make a profit on Sacci which it picked up cheaply in 2016.
Now HeidelbergCement has returned the favour by selling Cementir the controlling stake in Lehigh White Cement. The German cement producer may have grumpily rubbished the sale in its press release but the language makes one wonder whether this was a quiet part of the Cementir Italia deal in 2017. The white cement industry is miniscule compared to the OPC one but HeidelbergCement has just handed even more control of it to Cementir. From Cementir’s perspective this probably seems very efficient.
Cheetah Cement imports clinker from China
16 February 2018Namibia: Cheetah Cement has imported 40,000t of clinker from China via the Port of Walvis Bay. The clinker will be transported by truck to the cement producer’s plant in Otjiwarongo, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper. The company is a joint venture between China’s Asia-Africa Business Management and Whale Rock Cement. Its plant was reported ‘complete’ in late 2017 but construction work continued into January 2018.
Gambarotta receives order from CBMI-Sinoma
06 February 2018China: Italy’s Gambarotta Gschwendt has received an order from CBMI-Sinoma for four surface feeders and five apron feeders. The company manufactures bulk handling equipment such as elevators and conveyors.
Mozambique: The African Elephant cement grinding plant is operating at a third of its production capacity due to low demand. The Chinese-owned plant near Pemba, Cabo Delgado in the north of the country is producing around 300t/day despite the plant’s production capacity of 1000t/day, according to sources quoted by the Mozambique News Agency. The plant’s manager expects demand to pickup once investment in the gas industry increase. The company has suffered from imports from Tanzania.
Biskria Cement ignites second kiln
29 January 2018Algeria: Biskria Cement has started the kiln on its second new production line at its plant in Biskra. The 6000t/day line was supplied by China’s Sinoma. The Chinese plant builder announced the US$267m order in 2015. It included two production lines from raw materials to despatch. The cement producer operates three cement production lines at its plant with a production capacity of 4Mt/yr.
Construction of new cement grinding plant in Uzbekistan starts
24 January 2018Uzbekistan: Construction work has started on Popcement’s new grinding plant in the Pap district of Namangan region. The US$50m plant will have a production capacity of 0.5Mt/yr, according to Uzbekistan Daily. The project is expected to be completed in September 2018. It is a joint venture between Uzbek, Chinese and Saudi Arabian investors.
Six workers killed at BBMG cement plant
11 January 2018China: Six workers have been killed at a BBMG cement plant in Zhuolu County in Hebei. They were cleaning a storage unit when concrete slabs fell on them. The workers died later at hospital.
Chinese clinker imports rise four-fold
05 January 2018China: Clinker imports more than quadrupled to 184,600t in the first 11 months of 2017. Data published by the Chinese Cement Association suggests that rising domestic cement prices encouraged the import market, according to Caixin Media. Most of the imports were purchased from Vietnam by companies based in Hainan, Shangdong, Zhejiang and Beijing.
Sinoma signs waste heat power plant deal with Asia-Africa Business Management in Namibia
03 January 2018Namibia/China: Sinoma Energy Conservation has signed a contract with China’s Asia-Africa Business Management (AABM) to build a 4.5MW waste heat power plant. The power unit will support a 2500t/day cement production plant that AABM and local company Whale Rock Cement plan to build as a joint venture. The cement plant project was first announced in 2015.