Displaying items by tag: Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Requests from 20 cement producers have led the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE) to start a tendering process to procure coal. Four international firms have reached the preliminary technical evaluation stage of the tender to procure 0.7Mt of coal, according to the Addis Fortune newspaper. The majority of the coal, around 0.6Mt, will be imported for the cement producers with the remainder going to steel and ceramics producers. The process excludes Derba Cement, which has its own arrangements to import coal in place. EPSE is expected to award the bid by the end of July 2017.
Ethiopia imports over 0.75Mt/yr of coal, of which more than 75% is for cement production. More than half of the energy consumption of the country’s cement plants is derived from coal.
Ethiopia: Dangote Cement has threatened to stop its operations at its Mugher cement plant in Oromia if the local government doesn’t cancel an order forcing the cement producer to give control of some of its business to local young people. Oromia state's East Shewa Zone administration has asked the Nigerian cement company to allow cooperatives of unemployed young adults to run part of its mining businesses or face ‘any problems’ that may arise, according to the Star newspaper. The state scheme is intended to reduce youth unemployment and to relax local social tensions following riots in 2016. Dangote Cement was one of several businesses that were attacked in the unrest.
However, Dangote Cement’s executive director Edwin Devakumar warned that any ‘mismanagement’ of its mining business could undermine its entire business. The cement producer intends to write to the federal government to ask for intervention otherwise it will consider shutting its Mugher plant as a last resort.
South Africa: PPC has blamed its poor performance in its financial year to 31 March 2017 on a poor credit rating from S&P Global Ratings. Its chief executive officer Darryll Castle complained about a liquidity crisis caused by the downgrading of PPC’s credit ratings to junk status by S&P Global Ratings in May 2016. He also attributed the result to falling cement prices in South Africa and poor weather in early 2017.
The cement producer’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 13% year-on-year to US$160m for its financial year that ended on 31 March 2017 from US$184m in the same period in 2016. Despite this its sales revenue rose by 5% to US$745m from US$711m and its cement sales volumes rose by 1.6% to 5.54Mt from 5.45Mt.
PPC reported that its 1Mt/yr production line at PPC Slurry is on schedule for commissioning in the first half of 2018. Its 1.4Mt/yr plant in Ethiopia started selling cement in May 2017 and sales are expected to rise as the plant ramps up production.
Messebo Cement buys 200 trucks from Man
26 April 2017Ethiopia: Messebo Cement has purchased 200 trucks from Germany’s Man for US$30m. The cement producer has expanded its fleet to reduce its transportation costs, according to the Ethiopian Reporter newspaper. The trucks have been assembled locally by Mesfin Industrial Engineering, a sister company to Massebo, after shipping. 25 of the trucks are silo trucks for transporting bulk cement and 50 are dump trucks.
Habesha Cement inaugurates Holeta plant
21 April 2017Ethiopia: Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn has inaugurated Habesha Cement’s 1.4Mt/yr plant at Holeta in Oromia. The US$140m unit was built by Chinese contractor Northern Heavy Industry, according to the Ethiopian Herald newspaper. Dessalegn said that the new plant is part of the national plan to surpass local cement production of 27Mt/yr by the end of the Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) that will end in 2020. The plant is now expected to create 600 jobs in its operational phase.
The subsidiary of PPC is the third international project the South African cement producer has completed over the last year. On 17 April 2017 PPC Barnet in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) despatched its first truckload of saleable cement from the plant near Kimpese in the Kongo Central. The 1Mt/yr cement plant was commissioned in February 2017.
"With the completion of the plants in the DRC and Ethiopia we have achieved two significant milestones in our quest to become a major player in the cement industry across Africa" said Njombo Lekula, Managing Director, International operations, PPC. “Both plants have been built using the latest technologies, in line with international standards.”
Ambo Gnemer in talks to build cement plant in Ethiopia
19 April 2017Ethiopia: The Oromia state government has started negotiations with Ambo Gnemer about building a US$44m cement plant. The company owns land in the state and it intends to develop a site at Ambo, according to the Addis Fortune newspaper. Previous attempts to develop the plant failed due to a lack of capital.
Ethiopian regional government demands that foreign cement producers offer jobs to unemployed
21 March 2017Ethiopia: Regional officials are demanding that foreign cement producers, including Dangote Cement and Derba Midroc Cement (DMC), should let cooperatives of unemployed young adults run part of their mining businesses. A draft contract drawn up by Oromia state’s East Shewa Zone administration wants the young adults to operate pumice mines for the cement producers, according to Bloomberg. The initiative follows attempts by the national government to alleviate social pressures, following violent protests in the state in late 2016 in response to over alleged land dispossession, political marginalisation and state repression. The local administration reportedly stopped production at the Dangote and DMC plants in early March 2017 while it discussed its proposals with the producers, according to local press.
Ethiopia and China sign cement industry agreement
13 March 2017Ethiopia: Representatives of the Ethiopian and Chinese cement industries have signed a memorandum of understanding at the 2017 Ethio-China Cement Forum. Industry Minister Alemu Sime said that the forum was ‘vital’ to bring Chinese skills and experience into the local industry, according to the Ethiopian Herald newspaper. Representatives from the Chinese Cement Association, the Ethiopian Cement Association and local producers were in attendance.
Dangote Cement building upgrades at Mugher plant in Ethiopia
13 February 2017Ethiopia: Dangote Cement is building a bagging plant and a third silo at its Mugher cement plant. The US$19m bagging plant will have a capacity of 120 million bags/yr, according to the Ethiopian Reporter newspaper. It is scheduled for completion by July 2017. The silo should be completed by the third quarter of the year.
Deep Kamara, the managing director of Dangote Industries Ethiopia, also said that the company is considering building a second production line in the country. However, procuring spare parts is proving difficult for the plant due to shortages of foreign currency and delays in shipping new parts. The company is expecting help from the government and it needs to spend up to US$15m on spare parts for the plant.
The Mugher cement plant opened in 2015 with a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr. Equipment at the plant was set on fire in late 2016 in a series of riots in the region.
PPC sales volumes rise in first nine months of 2016
07 February 2017South Africa: PPC’s sales volumes have risen by 4% in South Africa and by 9% in Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Botswana collectively in the first nine months of 2016. The cement producer reported in a trading statement that its sales volumes in South Africa had risen overall but that its prices had fallen. It is planning price increases in selected regions in February 2017 in selected regions.
In Zimbabwe, the company saw a boost in cement sales following the commissioning of a mill in Msasa, Harare although it has faced liquidity challenges that made importing raw materials difficult. In Rwanda it has continued to ramp-up production and in Botswana sales have risen in the last quarter of 2016 due to sales promotions.
The cement producer also reported that the cement plant it is building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was 95% complete in January 2017. Hot commissioning is due to start at the site in February 2017 and operational cement production anticipated to start in the second quarter of 2017. Operational cement production is also expected to start in the second quarter of 2017 at its project in Ethiopia. Finally, the company’s Slurry SK9 new kiln line in South Africa was reported as being 54% complete. Commissioning and ramp-up for the site is scheduled for the first half of 2018.