Displaying items by tag: Egypt

Egypt: The government has raised the price of gas to cement producers by 109% from US$5.75/one million British thermal units (BTU) to US$12/MBTU. South Valley Cement, Misr Cement Qena, Misr Beni Suef Cement, and Sinai Cement all said that the higher gas prices would not affect the cost of production because they have switched to using coal, according to the Daily news Egypt newspaper.

Spain: Oficemen has blamed falling exports of cement on high electricity prices. The cement association reports that exports fell by around 25% year-on-year to 3.76Mt for the first eight months of 2022 from over 5Mt in the same period in 2021. Local consumption of cement slowed to an increase of just 0.2% to 9.88Mt from 9.86Mt.

Aniceto Zaragoza, the general director of Oficemen, said “Electricity costs in our sector have increased by 400% in the last two years, a situation that worsens every day due to the energy crisis we are suffering. Without competitive electricity costs, it is impossible for our industry, which for many years has led the cement export market, to continue competing with other producers in the Mediterranean area that pay much less for their energy inputs, such as Algeria, Turkey or Egypt.”

Egypt: Private investor Sadiq Ahmed Sadiq El Sewedy has enlarged their stake in Arabian Cement to 11% from 9.5%. The investor paid US$1.6m for the additional shares. Al Ahly Pharos and EFG Hermes Holding provided brokerage services for the deal.

Arabian Cement recorded a profit of US$6.17m in the first half of 2022, compared to a US$1.2m loss in the first half of 2021.

Egypt: Suez Cement says it is the first grey cement company in Egypt and Africa to obtain an environmental product declaration (EPD) certificate in accordance with international ISO standard. Four certificates have been issued for cement products manufactured at the company’s Helwan, Kattameya and Suez integrated plants. These are: CEMII BP 42.5N; CEMIIIA 42.5N; CEMII AL 42.5N; and Masonry 12.5X.

“With this certification, our customers will be able to make an informed choice of one of the lowest carbon footprint materials and reduce the environmental impact of emissions in their investments,” said Mohamed Hegazy, the managing director of Suez Cement.

Egypt: Arab Swiss Engineering Company (ASEC) has won a contract to manage operations and maintenance at Building Material Industries Company (BMIC)’s Asyut cement plant in Asyut Governorate. ASEC previously held responsibility for the plant’s technical management between 2011 and 2019.

The supplier says that both parties look forward to this new phase in their cooperation to maximise the success of the plant’s operations.

Egypt: Arabian Cement’s first-half sales were US$111m in 2022, up by 121% year-on-year from US$50.4m in the first half of 2021. The company recorded a profit of US$6.25m during the reporting period, compared to a loss of US$1.22m one year previously.

Colombia: Federación Interamericana del Cemento (FICEM) and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) have announced their next steps to accelerate the decarbonisation of cement production in Latin America and the Caribbean. The partners have named Colombia as the region’s first Net Zero Accelerator host country. The initiative works to identify barriers to decarbonisation and to recommend policy changes to make an immediate impact. Along with fellow Net Zero Accelerator host countries Egypt, India and Thailand, Colombia brings the total coverage of the initiative to 10% of global cement capacity.

GCCA chief executive officer Thomas Guillot said “The urgency of addressing climate change becomes clearer every day. Last year, our industry made a breakthrough Net Zero global commitment to reduce our carbon footprint, and we are now driving action in Latin America to make real change in one of the regions predicted to use the most concrete and cement in the coming decades. Our Roadmap Accelerator programme, previewed today by our members and affiliate (FICEM) at Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week, highlights the tailored policies and tools we will use to ensure that Net Zero concrete and cement is achieved by 2050.”

Egypt: Misr Cement Qena commenced automated cement production at its Qena cement plant in early July 2022. The automation systems also cover plant maintenance processes. Misr Cement Qena awarded a technical management contract for the plant to Arab Swiss Engineering Company in June 2021.

Misr Cement Qena said "This step came in line with the company’s growth strategy to reduce operating costs and maximise asset utilisation in order to meet current challenges."

Egypt: Qalaa Holdings recorded first-quarter 2022 sales of US$991m, more than double its figure for the first quarter of 2021. Its loss during the quarter was US$30.9m, up by 22% year-on-year from US$25.4m. Its subsidiary ASEC Holding Group increased its sales by 46% year-on-year to US$53m. The cement company attributed the growth to the 'strong performance' of its integrated cement plant in Sudan.

Daily News Egypt has reported that Qalaa Holdings is currently prioritising the on-going restructuring of its debts.

Egypt: Korra Energi has been awarded a contract to build a 20MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit at Suez Cement’s Helwan plant. The WHR unit will serve both of the plant’s two production lines. Korra Energi says it will be the first WHR project for a cement company in the country. Korra Energi is an Egypt-based engineering company and a subsidiary of conglomerate Korra.