Displaying items by tag: Cimpor
Cimpor grows sales in first half of 2017 on back of Portuguese recovery
15 September 2017Portugal: Cimpor’s sales rose by 2.6% to Euro921m in the first half of 2017 from Euro897m in the same period in 2016. Recovery in the Portuguese market buoyed its sales despite continued issues in Brazil, Egypt and Mozambique. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 2.6% to Euro166m from Euro170m due to non-recurring costs. However, the cement producer said that, excluding these its earnings would have remained stable and would have even risen by 4% if CO2 permits management had been disregarded. Its cement sales volumes fell by 2.7% to 11.5Mt from 11.8Mt.
Cimpor suspension sees port of Faro lose business
21 November 2016Portugal: The commercial port at Faro has seen activity stop since June 2016 following the decision by Cimpor to suspend operations at its quarry in Loulé. The cement producer has been the port’s biggest client in recent years and in 2016 it became the site’s only, according to the Portugal News newspaper. A report by the Authority for Mobility and Transport shows that movement at the port fell by 45% year-on-year for the first nine months of 2016. Cimpor stopped operation at its quarry in September 2016 and laid off 57 workers citing the cancellation of major cement export contracts to Algeria. It hopes to resume operations at the site in 2017.
Gloria Group buys Cementos Otorongo from Votorantim
17 August 2016Peru: Consorcio Cementero del Sur (CCS), a subsidiary of Gloria Group, has signed a contract to buy all of Brazil’s Votorantim’s shares in Cementos Otorongo for US$4m and those of Votorantim’s subsidiary Corporación Noroeste. Cementos Otorongo is planning to build a cement plant in southern Peru for US$125m, according to the Gestión newspaper. Cementos Otorongo submitted an environmental impact study on the project in 2011 for proposed sites in La Joya, Arequipa and Mollendo, Islay. The planned plant will have a production capacity of 0.65Mt/yr.
This story was corrected on 18 August 2016 following clarification from Votorantim.
Portugal: Cimpor has appealed a judgement by the Supreme Administrative Court cancelling permits to burn alternative fuels at its Souselas cement plant. The North Central Administrative Court cancelled the environmental licences, originally granted by the former Environment Minister Nunes Correia, in March 2016.
Cimpor reports loss of Euro71.2m in 2015
26 February 2016Portugal: Cimpor has reported a loss of Euro71.2m in 2015 down from a net profit of Euro27.2m in 2014. Sales fell by 4.3% to Euro2.49bn from Euro2.60bn. Cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 6% to 28.1Mt from 30Mt. Like its parent company InterCement, the cement producer attributed the loss to an economic downturn in Brazil and unfavourable exchange rates.
Cimpor's US$145m investment in Ponta Grossa plant postponed
19 January 2016Brazil: Intercement's Cimpor, part of the Camargo Corrêa group, has announced that its US$145m project to build a plant in Itaiacoca, Parana, is suspended. The decision was made due to the ongoing economic crisis in Brazil. The Ponta Grossa plant had been announced in 2011 and was set to have an initial production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr of cement and create 1000 jobs. The company has not disclosed any details about a new timetable for the project, but has confirmed that it is still in plans for expansion in the coming years.
Cimpor’s net loss grows in third quarter of 2015
19 November 2015Portugal: Cimpor has reported that its net loss grew by 52.5% year-on-year to Euro26.7m in the third quarter of 2015. The quarterly loss follows a general trend for the year as a whole. Sales volumes, revenue and profit are all down for both the third quarter and the year. The InterCement subsidiary has blamed the result on the slowdown of the Brazilian economy.
Cement and clinker volumes fell by 9.7% year-on-year to 7.07Mt in the third quarter of 2015. Sales revenue fell by 11.8% to Euro625m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell by 32.5% to Euro116m. For the first nine months of 2015, cement and clinker volumes fell by 7.2% to 21.1Mt. Sales revenue fell slightly by 1.2% to Euro1.93bn. EBITDA fell by 14.2% to Euro396m. Net loss grew by 90.2% to Euro33.7m.
By geographical area, Cimpor suffered from reduced demand for cement in Brazil due to the poor economy, along with increased competition and higher thermal costs. Elsewhere, some slowing has been observed in Africa in the third quarter as a result of one-off situations in Egypt, where an intensification of competition has lead to a fall in market prices, and Mozambique, where profitability was restricted by local energy limitations and the increase of costs pegged to the dollar.
Governer claims limestone storage endangers health
14 July 2015Mozambiqiue: According to Mozambique News Agency, the governor of Sofala, Helena Taipo, has ordered the limestone storage facility in Muanza be moved on environmental and health grounds.
Taipo took this measure after a message presented by local residents at a rally she addressed in Muanza, which complained at the way the limestone is currently stored. The residents said that the health problems allegedly caused by limestone dust are not new. Local people have long complained against the practice of Cimpor's Cimentos de Mocambique of storing large quantities of limestone next to Mwanza station, where it awaits transport by train to the cement plant in the nearby town of Dondo.
Taipo said that she did not really need to hear the complaint, since she could see the problem with her own eyes. "I have seen the houses covered with white dust," said Taipo. "Even here at the rally I've seen the dust, which shows that the situation is serious. We have to think seriously about the preservation of the environment. Cimpor must change the place where it keeps the limestone to somewhere else, because currently it is a danger to public health."
Participants at the rally called for the road from Dondo to Cheringoma, which passes through Muanza, to be paved. They also wanted the electricity grid to be further expanded. Taipo guaranteed that paving the road is one of the actions envisaged in the government's five year programme for 2015 - 2019.
Cade ends inquest into Votorantim, Itambe and Cimpor
09 July 2015Brazil: According to the Esmerk Latin American News, Brazil's economic defence body Cade has ended its administrative inquest against Votorantim Cimentos, Cia de Cimento Itambe and Cimpor Cimentos do Brasil. The investigation was into the alleged breech of economic order through actions such as the refusal to sell certain types of cement to independent firms from 2008 onward. The illicit operations were alleged to have affected companies in Rio Grande do Sul and in the south east and central west regions.
Two new cement plants for Mozambique
24 June 2015Mozambique: According to Agence de Presse Africaine, two new cement plants are planned for Mozambique in the coming years.
Turkey's Limak Holding plans to invest US$150m in a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant in the Maputo Port area of Mozambique. Limak chairperson Nihat Ozdemir said that his company would create least 500 jobs during the first phase of the plant." Limak is also interested in entering the Mozambican energy sector and later intends to assess the viability of investment in ports, railways and tourism," said Ozdemir. Mozambique's Industry and Trade minister Max Tonela pledged the Mozambican government's support for Limak.
Meanwhile, Portugal's Cimpor Cimentos group, via its subsidiary Cimentos de Moçambique, has announced plans to build a new integrated cement plant in Nacala, Nampula for an estimated investment of around U$250m. It already owns an integrated cement plant in Matola and also operates four grinding units.