
Displaying items by tag: GCW104
A sub-Saharan showdown…?
12 June 2013In the global cement news this week, we see that PPC (the former Pretoria Portland Cement), a large-scale domestic player in the South African cement industry, has taken it upon itself to provide association-like services to cement and concrete consumers in the country. PPC says that it felt obliged to supply information on things like quantity analysis, setting advice and product testing in the place of the now-defunct Cement and Concrete Institute (CCI).
The CCI, lambasted by PPC and other cement producers for years, was accused in April 2013 by PPC of not providing the kind of advice and services that cement producers should expect from an association. PPC, Lafarge and AfriSam all pulled funding and the CCI collapsed.
If the CCI had simply ceased to exist, PPC's new stance, putting its own cash into industry-wide assistance, might be seen as laudable. However, the CCI has been re-born as the Concrete Institute (CI), an organisation that is, by its own admission, no longer on the lookout for the interests of the whole industry. The CI is largely backed by Sephaku Cement, itself majority owned by the Nigerian cement juggernaut Dangote Cement, making PPC's stance suddenly look like one of self-preservation. Dangote is making rapid progress in the sub-Saharan cement industry and firms like PPC cannot afford to let it sweep aside the status-quo in South Africa.
The speed and scale of Dangote's rise, covered previously in this column, is huge. Nigeria's largest company now has interests in Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Liberia as well as Nigeria and South Africa. Not a month goes by without the announcement of another upgrade, plant or project. Dangote has a fantastic position in its domestic market that has enabled these new projects to be funded.
By contrast PPC is battling a stale construction market in South Africa. South African cement sales fell by 3.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012. To counteract this, PPC has committed to expand outside of South Africa to the tune of 40% of total production by the start of 2016. It announced in early 2013 that production is on track to come online in Rwanda, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo by the fourth quarter of 2015. Zimbabwe is expected to follow suit by the middle of 2016. It already has interests in Botswana and Mozambique.
With two of its largest home-grown cement producers both expanding rapidly outside of their domestic markets, and a relative lack of interest from the big four multinationals, the sub-Saharan cement market is set for big changes in the medium to long term. PPC and Dangote are expanding towards each other and already share many markets. Dangote has expanded more rapidly and is moving towards exports from Nigeria. PPC is catching up by taking shares in strategically-placed plants. Is sub-Sahara headed for a showdown...? Whatever happens, the future of this rapidly-growing market will certainly be interesting.
CEMBUREAU elects new President and Vice President
12 June 2013Europe: Peter Hoddinott has been elected as President of CEMBUREAU for a two-year term at the Association's General Assembly, which was held in Vienna, Austria on 11 June 2013. He has completed his mandate as Vice-President over the past year. He takes over from Ignacio Madridejos. In addition, Daniel Gauthier, a member of the HeidelbergCement managing board, has been elected as Vice-President of CEMBUREAU, also for a two-year term.
Peter Hoddinott has been Executive Vice-President for Energy and Strategic Sourcing at Lafarge since 2012, responsible for worldwide energy strategy and sourcing of Lafarge's externally-sourced inputs. Previously, he held operational roles in Western Europe Cement, Latin America and South East Asia for Lafarge.
On his election as President of CEMBUREAU, Hoddinott stated, "Being elected to serve the cement industry of Europe is a privilege and honour. I am keenly looking forward to working with the whole sector to build on the foundations laid by Ignacio Madridejos over the past two years. Specifically, this involves actions to reinforce and strengthen the sector in the face of its current challenges."
"I take this opportunity of thanking Ignacio Madridejos for his commitment to the Association over the last two years" said Koen Coppenholle, CEMBUREAU Chief Executive. "I also wish to thank the Association of the Austrian Cement Industry, VÖZ, for organising this latest CEMBUREAU General Assembly. As highlighted by the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA), there are several innovation initiatives in the pipeline, and I look forward to progress in this field over the next decade."
PPC steps up to pseudo-association role
12 June 2013South Africa: PPC (formerly Pretoria Portland Cement) launched a news and cement services 'online service desk' on 11 June 2013. The digital service follows hot on the heels of a mobile cement calculator app that can help calculate the amount of cement required for a specific job and offers real-time advice on how and when to lay concrete, based on local weather conditions.
PPC's said that it felt 'an obligation' to provide its customers (and those of the South African cement industry in general) with the information after it pulled its financial support from the Cement and Concrete Institute in April 2013. The CCI has since been dissolved. PPC had accused the CCI of being outdated and no longer able to supply the services that it, as a producer, required from an association. PPC's exit was quickly followed by AfriSam and Lafarge.
Aside from its digital services, PPC will also provide financial and technical support to universities to help develop SA's building materials and civil engineering industries. It will also expand its cement and concrete testing services, as the institute closed its testing laboratory years ago.
The CCI has since been re-established as the not-for-profit organisation the Concrete Institute (CI). It is headed by former CCI managing director Bryan Perrie, who stated that the CI is no longer representative of the whole South African industry. It is strongly linked to Sephaku Cement, which itself is majority-owned by Nigeria's dominant producer Dangote Cement.
Indian firms cartel appeal heard
12 June 2013India: On 11 June 2013 the Supreme Court admitted the appeals of several cement manufacturers against a Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) order, which directed the cement companies to pay a penalty for allegedly forming a cartel. The case is scheduled to come up towards the end of the week ending 14 June 2013 after the reply of the Builders Association of India (BAI).
The cement companies argued that the penalty, fixed ad hoc at the rate of 10% of their worth, was huge and unjustified. If the firms do not pay the penalties, their appeal case (before CAT) will be automatically dismissed, according to the CAT order.
UltraTech Cement Ltd, argued that CCI did not find any prima facie case against the 11 companies picked by the association out of 42 major cement manufacturers but still the CAT imposed a penalty in an interim order. The deadline for payment of the penalties is 16 June 2013.
Among the cement manufacturers that have appealed to the Supreme Court against the CAT order are Jaiprakash Associates, Century Textiles & Industries and Madras Cements.
Semen Indonesia's pace ahead of national average
12 June 2013Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia's sales in the January 2013 to April 2013 period reached 7.91Mt, a year-on-year rise of 19% from 6.65Mt compared to the same period of 2012. PT Semen Indonesia's sales rose by far more than the national average for all cement producers, which grew by 8.6% over the same time period.
The company's cement sales in Kalimantan rose by 11.4% in the period of January to April 2013, reaching 1.47Mt. The highest sales growth rate, 23.1% year-on-year was recorded in Nusa Tenggara. The company said that the cement market in Kalimantan was still full of potential and continued to grow in line with increasing infrastructure development in the region.
In South Kalimantan sales by PT Semen Indonesia Group (Semen Gresik and Semen Tonasa) in the same time period rose from 108,470t to 112,770t.
Mill breakdown at Oman Cement
12 June 2013Oman: One of the cement grinding mills at Oman Cement Company (OCC), which has a production capacity of 150t/hr, has developed a major technical problem and has been shut down for repairs. An inspection by the technical expert from the manufacturer has indicated that the spare parts required to carry out the repairs will be available in about 14 weeks' time. The company also highlighted that it was investigating alternative ways to repair the mill locally.
The effect of the failure is that 0.36Mt less cement will be produced between June 2013 and September 2013, if the manufacturer's repair time estimate holds.
Saudi contract for Loesche
12 June 2013Saudi Arabia: China's Sinoma, which is building a cement plant in Tahamah, Saudi Arabia, has ordered a LM 56.4 raw mill from Germany's Loesche GmbH. The vertical roller mill will have a production rate of 400t/hr and a mill motor with a capacity of 4000kW. In addition to the mill, Loesche will also deliver a metal detector, magnetic separator, slide gates and rotary valves.
The delivery of the hardware is planned for October and December 2013.
Vietnamese plant coming by end of 2013
12 June 2013Vietnam: Xuan Thanh Investment and Development JSC, the investor behind the Thach My cement plant in the central province of Quang Nam, has said that the plant is on track to produce its first products in mid-December 2013.
The investor has completed about 95% of the project's construction and will hand it to the contractor on 15 July 2013, according to a government announcement.
The Thanh My cement plant covers 57.36 hectares in Nam Giang district. The plant has a total investment cost of US$192m and a designed capacity of 1.7Mt/yr of cement in its first phase. Construction began in July 2010 but it was delayed.
Once in operation, the plant will employ about 1000 local people.
Siemens to supply turbine to Nesher Cement
12 June 2013Israel: Siemens Turbine will supply a combined cycle steam turbine to Nesher Cement's Ramla Plant in Israel. The company will supply an SST-300 industrial turbine with the output of 23.75MW to the plant, which is located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The turbine has been completed recently and is ready for transport from Brno, Czech Republic to Israel.
Misr Cement Qena back online
12 June 2013Egypt: Misr Cement Qena has announced that production has restarted at its plant after a period of disruption that was brought about by a shortage of mazot (a type of heavy fuel oil) at the plant.
The price of mazot has been increased by a factor of nearly 2.5 by the government since the start of 2013. Cement companies like Misr Cement Qena are increasingly looking to use other types of fuel, including alternative fuels.