Displaying items by tag: Export

Vietnam: Associate Professor Dinh Trong Thinh, of the Academy of Finance – part of the Ministry of Finance, has conceded that exported cement from the country has a low price due to the poorer quality of some of its product. In an interview with the ministry’s press service, Vietnam Economic News, he said that some smaller and medium-sized cement producers use old technology such as shaft kilns, according to Việt Nam News newspaper. He added that local producers were forced to export cement at lower prices than it is sold domestically to reduce inventory. He noted that this was not sustainable in the long run due to production costs and overseas competition.

Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan: Kazakhstan’s SAS-Tobe Technologies has increased its exports to Uzbekistan. It is the first Kazakh manufacturer accredited at the Uzbek Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, according to the Podrobno News Agency. The company has sold around 1500t through the exchange in the last two months. It now plans to export over 50% of its 0.25Mt/yr production capacity.

Vietnam: China has become the largest importer of clinker and cement from Vietnam in the first nine months of 2018. It imported 6.56Mt with a value of US$235m, according to the Việt Nam News newspaper. The Philippines, Bangladesh and Taiwan were the next largest importers with 4.75Mt, 5.64Mt and 1.23Mt respectively.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales volumes have been supported by exports in its first quarter. Local sales dropped by 9.1% year-on-year to 0.14Mt in the period to the end of September 2018 but exports rose by 85.1% to 0.23Mt. Despite this, its revenue rose by 2% to US$121m from US$118m. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 19.7% to US$25m from US$31m. It said that its cost of sales had increased by 7.3% due to increases in coal, packaging and other fuel prices.

Laos: The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has ordered regional departments of industry and commerce to stop issuing import licences for cement and steel. Instead, imports of these products will be regulated by customs officials at border crossings, according to the Vientiane Times newspaper. The move is intended to improve the efficiency of business operations in the country as part of an on-going import and export plan to 2020.

Nigeria: Domestic sales volumes of cement by Dangote Cement grew by 11.7% year-on-year to 10.8Mt in the first nine months of 2018, from 9.6Mt in the same period in 2017. However, sales in Sub-Saharan Africa grew slightly to 7Mt due to lower sales in Tanzania, disruptions due to civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction in exports from Nigeria to Ghana. This was mitigated by growing sales volumes in Zambia. Sierra Leone and the start-up of operations in the Republic of Congo. The cement company’s revenue rose by 13.5% to US$1.89bn from US$1.66bn and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 14.6% to US$928m from US$810m.

“Nigerian sales were affected by serious flooding in September 2018 and although Pan-African sales were flat, we will see soon increased sales from Tanzania, now that its gas turbines are installed, and from Ethiopia as local community issues are resolved. We have launched new products in Nigeria that we believe will help us improve our leadership position in Africa’s most exciting market for cement,” said Joe Makoju, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

As ever, there have been plenty of news stories from Pakistan recently covering the on-going fallout of the water shortage at the Katas Raj Temples in Chakwal, Punjab and an update on new production line at Maple Leaf Cement’s Iskanderabad plant. The two stories present two sides to the furious pace of the local industry and the potential price this growth might entail.

Graph 1: Cement despatches in Pakistan, 2012 - 2017. Source: All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association.

Graph 1 above sets the scene with an industry that has seen total despatches grow by nearly 30% to 42.8Mt in 2017 from 33.1Mt in 2012. About four-fifths of this is based in the north of the county. The big sub-story alongside this is that exports have fallen by half to 4.2Mt in 2017 from a high of 8.3Mt in 2013. The cause of this appears to be a decline in the Afghan market and a similar drop in waterborne clinker exports. Given the higher proportion of exports to the southern market this change has likely hit the industry in south harder despite overall depatches there rising. So far in 2018 similar trends are holding, except for exports, where the clinker export market has rallied significantly in the south.

The background to all this growth domestically is Chinese investment in the form of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC-related project include integrated road infrastructure, the modernisation of railways and the development of the city of Gwadar and its related infrastructure. In addition the local Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is also having an effect and demographic pressures, such as a housing shortage, are also expected to support the construction market.

Data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) placed cement production capacity at 54Mt/yr in September 2018 compared to 66Mt/yr in the Global Cement Directory 2018, which includes new capacity being built. This compares to around 10Mt/yr in the 1995 local financial year to an estimated 73Mt/yr by the State Bank of Pakistan in its third quarter report for 2017 - 2018. This rapid growth can be seen in recent stories such as the Iskanderabad plant expansion, Flying Cement’s mill order from Loesche, Kohat Cement’s mill order also from Loesche, a new solar plant at Fauji Cement at its Attock plant and the commissioning of DG Khan’s new plant at Hub. These stories are all from the last three months! The State Bank of Pakistan estimated that 11 producers hare now investing US$2.12bn on capacity expansions to add over 23Mt/yr by the end of the 2021 financial year.

One potential price for all of this growth is currently being illustrated in the ongoing legal wrangles about the use of water by cement plants near the Katas Raj Temples. What started as an investigation into why water levels were dropping at a pond at a Hindu heritage site seems to have transformed into a full scale inquiry into alleged corruption by local government around the setting up of cement plants. A report by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment Lahore to the Supreme Court has found irregularities committed by government departments in connection to the setting up of cement plants by DG Khan and Bestway Cement in Chakwal. It seems unlikely at this stage that this inquiry will cause too much trouble for the local cement industry but it will certainly make it more complicated and potentially more expensive to st up new plants in the future.

Read Global Cement’s plant report from the DG Khan’s Khairpur cement plant in Chakwal

Belarus: 0.2Mt/yr or 10% of Belarus’ cement exports will be available for purchase via the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) from the start of 2019. The country hopes to increase its range of target markets as much as possible by using the commodity exchange, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA). Local cement companies hope to increase sales via the commodity exchange if it is a success

A test batch of cement was sold via BUCE in September 2018. Six buyers from Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic states took part in the trading session and submitted bids for buying a total of 4000t of Ordinary Portland Cement. The trading session lasted for slightly more than one hour. A Lithuanian company bought 256t of cement as a result.

Palestine: Saudi Arabia’s Al Jouf Cement has signed a deal with Sanad Trading and Marketing to export 50,000t/yr of cement and clinker. The financial impact from the agreement is expected to be noticed from the middle of the fourth quarter of 2018 onwards. The deal follows a memorandum of understanding that was signed between the companies in August 2018.

Peru: Cal & Cemento Sur (Calcesur) plans to add a sixth production line to its cement and lime plant in Puno at the end of October 2018. The upgrade will increase the unit’s production capacity to 1Mt/yr from 0.63Mt/yr, according to the Gestion newspaper. The company says that following the expansion the site will be the largest lime plant in Latin America.

The subsidiary of Gloria Group has targeted a 12% year-on-year growth in sales in 2019. It plans to sell lime to the mining sector in northern Chile and it is also focusing on Ecuador and Bolivia. The company plans to launch lime-sand bricks in 2019 for local demand and in Chile.

The cement and lime producer also plans to launch its Tipo LH cement product at the end of October 2018 and to sell cement in 25kg bags. At present, the company sells 42.5kg bags.