Displaying items by tag: Electricity

Australia: Adelaide Brighton has announced a 10.9% year-on-year fall in net profit for the six months to June to US$54.4m, while revenues rose by 4.7% to US$569.2m. For the full year it expects underlying net profit to be in the range of US$148 - 157m. The company added that a surging property market and a healthy pipeline of infrastructure projects means that it is on the lookout for acquisitions in a bid to keep pace with demand and grow its market share. The company has already spent US$67.7m on bolt-on acquisitions so far in 2017.

“From a demand point of view on the east coast, it’s hard to be pessimistic,” said chief executive Martin Brydon to The Australian newspaper. Brydon said the company was pragmatic about the residential property market eventually cooling off, but any slowdown would not immediately affect the business. “Even if there was a significant drop in approvals or applications for housing, the pipeline is still there for the next 18 months,” he added.

The company also said it was likely to raise cement prices for a second time later in 2017 amid the robust conditions on the east coast, but declined to confirm the likely amount of the price rise. The price rise has been partly precipitated by strong demand but also by rising electricity prices, which remain a major preoccupation for the company. It is expected to spend an extra US$6.3m on electricity within 2017 than it budgeted for, due to unexpectedly high prices.

Ireland: A proposed Euro100m rise in Ireland’s green energy levy threatens the recovery in construction, according to building materials suppliers. The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) wants to increase the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy on electricity bills by Euro104m to Euro496.5m from October 2018 to support renewable energy developers and peat-fired power plants.

However, cement and concrete manufacturers, whose businesses face high-energy bills, have warned the regulator that such a move could hit jobs and endanger the recovery in construction. In a submission to the commission, manufacturer Kilsaran International said that, "Irish electricity prices are among the highest in Europe and the yearly increases in the PSO levy only serve to undermine the cost base and competitiveness of Irish companies, thereby limiting the potential for growth and job creation.”

Many other companies in the industry submitted versions of the same letter to CER analyst Gráinne Black, pointing at the likely cost of the increase to their businesses and its implications for job creation.

According to the CER large energy users, which include cement and concrete producers, will pay Euro234.2m of the Euro496.5m total. The charge guarantees the price paid for electricity to wind farms, other renewable energy producers and peat-fired plants. It is meant to implement government policy to support green electricity generation.

Sweden: Cementa, subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, and Vattenfall are conducting a pilot study on electrified cement production to attempt to reach zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The intention of the CemZero project is to supply power to cement plants from a so-called ‘climate smart Swedish energy system.’

"Electrification within the industry is an important element in the transition to sustainable urban development. We are now going to develop knowledge within the field in order to ascertain together with Vattenfall whether it is a potential future solution for cement production," says Jan Gånge, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cementa.

Pakistan: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has ruled out the option of using waste heat from cement plants as surplus energy for the national grid. The body had started investigating using waste energy from cement plants but decided that high-energy consumption at the plants minimised the possibility of any excess power.

Tanzania: Kibo Mining has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mbeya Cement, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, to collaborate regionally and to share materials in the Mbeya and Songwe regions. The agreement includes arrangements to supply coal, limestone, fly ash, electricity and cement between the parties. It also includes plans to bring together local development bodies to develop the region.

Kibo Mining operates a thermal coal deposit at Mbeya and it is developing a 250 – 350MW coal power plant at the site with the help of Chinese contractors.

Ethiopia: The former governor of Nigeria's central bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has claimed that it was a cheap electricity deal that attracted Dangote to set up a cement plant in Ethiopia and that the cement market in East Africa will be impacted as the Adaberga wereda-based plant starts exporting cement costing almost 40% less than regional manufacturers, according to AFK Insider.

To attract Dangote to the East African country, the government offered to supply the company with electricity at a discounted rate of US$0.03/kWh, in exchange for the company building a plant in Ethiopia. This enabled Dangote Cement to cut the cost of producing a ton of cement by 60%, according to Sanusi in an opinion piece published by Premium Times. For a cement manufacturer, that is all the incentive that you need, Sanusi said, adding that this helped the construction industry in Ethiopia to boom.

The low-cost cement is now being exported to neighbouring countries like Kenya, where retail prices have remained static even as competition increased in the sector over the last decade. This is likely to shake up the regional cement market and make it affordable for developers to build more properties. Dangote Cement, one of the largest manufacturer of the product in Africa, said in a statement last week that it had started exporting to Kenya at US$74/t, more than 40% cheaper than what local manufacturer sell their brands for.

Dangote also started selling cement in Tanzania in 2016 after completing its factory in Mtwara about 400km from Dar es Salaam.

Ethiopia, one of the beneficiaries of the Power Africa program, an initiative of US President Barack Obama, has the highest electricity generating potential in East Africa due to its vast number of rivers and hilly terrain. It has invested billions of dollars to build several hydro-electric power plants including what will be Africa's largest dam, the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam.

Original story from AFK Insider, http://afkinsider.com/132330/ethiopias-cheap-electricity-helps-dangote-shake-up-east-africas-cement-market/

Pakistan: K-Electric has signed an accord with Attock Cement to provide it with an additional 16MW of electricity. The agreement uses a one-window operation to server the additional power. The signing ceremony was attended by K-Electric's Chief Operating Officer Distribution, Asif Saad, and Chief of HSEQ & Special Projects Aamir Zafar along, with, other key members. Irfan Amanullah, Company Secretary for Attock Cement, along with his team members was also present on the occasion.

China: China has decided to implement a tiered electricity pricing system for the cement plants to promote 'structural adjustment' in the cement industry, according to a circular released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) according to Chinese state news.

The tiered electricity pricing system for the domestic cement industry will be based on comprehensive electricity consumption of clinker (cement) and implemented on an annual basis from 1 January to 31 December. Local governments will also be able to implement the system and raise the electricity prices for cement plants.

Tanzania: The East Africa Cement Producers Association (EACPA) has opposed a proposal by Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) to increase power tariffs by 68%, citing the risk of 'significant' rises in cement production costs.

The association also claimed that its members are already penalised by the costs related to power rationing, adding that cement producers recorded 1782 power rationing cases between 2012 and 2013.

"We strongly oppose any increase on the power supply tariff by Tanesco and request an urgent solution for the deficient service provided. Should the proposal be accepted, it would have a direct impact on the Tanzanian cement industry production costs up to US$0.71/bag. This amount will be 100% charged directly to the final consumer thus negatively affecting infrastructure and the economic development of Tanzania," said EACPA Tanzania chairperson Catherine Langreney in a statement.

Langreney, who is also the chief exexutive officer of Mbeya Cement, added that Tanzania's cement industry was also set to be further penalised with cheap imported cement since cement imports would not be affected directly by the increased production costs.