Displaying items by tag: GCW160

US: Holcim has broken ground on the two-year US$95m modernisation project of its Hagerstown, Maryland cement plant. The project is expected to reduce the plant's environmental footprint and create hundreds of construction jobs in the process.

In addition to creating between 200 and 300 construction jobs during peak construction, Hagerstown plant manager Fernando Valencia said that the plant modernisation will decrease NO_x emissions by an estimated 60% and SO₂ emissions by about 48%. The project includes shortening the plant's existing rotating kiln, installing a new preheater tower over the top of the remaining kiln and installing an energy-efficient clinker cooler to replace the existing one, according to Holcim spokeswoman Robin DeCarlo.

The project comes after Holcim was hit with federal Clean Air Act violations from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2013. Holcim and the plant's former owner, St Lawrence Cement, agreed to a settlement with the EPA and planned to invest US$20m or more to upgrade the Hagerstown plant to significantly reduce NO_x and SO₂ emissions. The settlement, which was reached in July 2013, required Holcim to reduce SO₂ emissions by 230t/yr and NO_x emissions by 92t/yr by 9 September 2016. That would limit the SO₂ emissions to 655t/yr and 0.82kg (1.8lb) of NO_x per 0.89t (1 short ton) of clinker produced.

US: Eagle Materials has reported financial results for the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2014. First quarter earnings before interest and income taxes increased by 21% year-on-year to US$59.8m, as first quarter sales volumes improved across nearly all businesses areas and sales prices improved in all businesses.

Operating earnings from cement for the first quarter were US$20.5m, an 8% increase from the same quarter of the 2014 fiscal year. The earnings increase was driven by record cement sales volumes and a 5% increase in average net cement sales prices. While cement demand continues to recover, extraordinary rail congestion associated with the harsh winter weather adversely impacted the timing of cement shipments during the first quarter. Cement revenues, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, totalled US$128m, up by 9% year-on-year. Cement sales volumes were 1.3Mt, up by 4% year-on-year. The average net sales price grew by 5% year-on-year.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement Company's turnover for the first six months of 2014 amounted to US$87.5m excluding VAT, up by 419% compared to the same period of 2013. Clinker sales totalled US$16.6m, while cement sales amounted to US$55.1m, including US$14.5m of exports. Sales of ready-mix concrete grew by 25% compared to the same period in 2013.

World: Holcim and Lafarge have begun to formally notify regulators as to how they will tackle antitrust concerns, according to Holcim's CEO Bernard Fontana. The two companies have filed formal notifications, which generally include information on what the combined entity will look like and steps it will take to prevent it from abusing its size, in about two-thirds of the 15 jurisdictions that require a review of the proposed deal. Those include the US, Canada, Mexico, India and Russia, among others.

Fontana said that discussions with the European Union (EU), where the two companies have some of their greatest overlap, were at an 'advanced' stage. He added that he expects formal notification to be made in the summer of 2014. "We are on track," said Fontana, who has run Holcim since 2012. "We will do what we planned to do."

Holcim and France's Lafarge have moved quickly to satisfy regulators since unveiling their proposed transaction, which will create a cement company with combined sales of Euro31.8bn. The deal is expected to face significant challenges from competition authorities. EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia has already said that the deal is likely to face an extended probe by his agency.

Fontana said that the list of proposed businesses and plants it would sell in order to satisfy regulators, which it announced recently, would maintain entire businesses that function well and generate the greatest proceeds from the sale process. According to Fontana, Holcim and Lafarge have received more than 100 expressions of interest from potential buyers of the assets.

"We have had marks of interest from all kinds of prospective buyers," said Fontana. He added that potential buyers include private-equity groups and companies in the cement industry, including some from emerging markets. Holcim and Lafarge could also choose to sell some assets via initial public offerings.

Kenya: Strong sales of cement and fertiliser have boosted Kenya's ARM Cement's pre-tax profit by 20% to US$13.68m in the first half of 2014. Total revenue jumped by 16% to US$86.6m, after cement sales rose by 10% in Kenya and by more than 33% in Tanzania. The improved sales were attributed to an improved distribution network.

"The east African regional economies are growing briskly and demand for cement, as well as the other products, are expected to grow further," said ARM. The company expects earnings to grow further in the second half of 2014, mainly due to improving margins driven by investments in its plants in Tanzania and Kenya.

ARM has invested a total of US$171m in a clinker plant in Tanga, Tanzania and a cement plant in Dar es Salaam, also in Tanzania. The plants have a combined capacity of 1.8Mt/yr. The investments have helped the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to hold steady at 24% in the first half of 2014, defying pressure from higher input costs, such as energy.

Mexico: Cemex has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2014, which show that consolidated net sales reached US$4.2bn during the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 4% compared to the comparable period in 2013. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 1% during the quarter to US$737m compared to the same period in 2013. On a like-for-like basis and adjusting for business days in its operations during the quarter, consolidated net sales increased by 5% and operating EBITDA increased by 3% versus the second quarter of 2013.

Cemex said that the increase in consolidated net sales was due to higher prices of its products in local currency terms in most of its operations, as well as higher volumes in the US and the Mediterranean, South & Central America and the Caribbean and Asia regions.

Fernando A González, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased with the year-to-date trends we have seen in volumes for our three core products and the continued success of our value-before-volume strategy. We expect improved performance from our Mexican operations during the second half of the year which should lead to stronger overall EBITDA generation for the full year 2014."

Breakdown by geographical area

Net sales in Cemex's operations in Mexico decreased by 4% in the second quarter of 2014 to US$816m, compared with US$847m in the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA decreased by 1% to US$247m versus the same period of 2013.

Operations in the United States reported net sales of US$957m in the second quarter of 2014, up by 10% compared to the same period in 2013. Operating EBITDA increased to US$119m for the quarter, compared to US$80m in the same quarter of 2013.

In northern Europe, net sales for the second quarter of 2014 reached US$1.1bn, a 5% increase compared with the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA was US$121m for the quarter, 12% higher than a year earlier.

Second-quarter net sales in the Mediterranean region were US$449m, 12% higher than sales of US$400m during the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA increased by 6% to US$100m for the quarter versus the comparable period in 2013.

Cemex's operations in South & Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales of US$562m during the second quarter of 2014, remaining flat compared to the same period of 2013. Operating EBITDA was down by 16% to US$178m in the second quarter of 2014, from US$211m in the second quarter of 2013.

Operations in Asia reported a 2% decrease in net sales for the second quarter of 2014 to US$160m, versus the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was US$34m, down by 11% compared to the same period of 2013.

Croatia: Holcim Croatia is looking to post flat revenues in 2014, while hoping to raise them by 15% in 2015, according to the company's chairman Alan Sisinacki. Holcim Croatia currently operates one cement plant, two cement terminals, two concrete plants and three aggregates quarries.

In 2014 Holcim Croatia is hoping to cut its loss to Euro2.49m under its on-going '2015 Plus' programme, which should return the company to profitability in 2015. The turnaround plan is already yielding results, with Holcim Croatia posting an operating profit in the first half of 2014, the highest result over the last five years.

Sisinacki expects Holcim Croatia's cement sales to remain unchanged in terms of volume in 2014, with sales of aggregates also flat. The company's concrete sales are set to drop in terms of volume in 2014 due to the sale, closure or leasing out of a significant chunk of its unprofitable concrete-producing assets. Sisinacki said that his expectations for Holcim Croatia's 2014 performance are based on official statistical data showing a 4.0% year-on-year decline of building construction and 10% fall in other civil construction works in the first quarter of 2014 in Croatia.

During the first six months of 2014 cement demand dropped by 6.0%, according to data from the association of cement producers in Croatia. Market conditions in Slovenia and Italy, Holcim Croatia's biggest export markets, are not looking any better. Sisinacki said that Holcim Croatia is trying to offset this growth weakness by exporting to northern Africa, taking advantage of the cement plant conveniently located in the Koromacno port.

India: A new Inter-Ministerial Task Force (IMTF) has been constituted to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing coal resources and to consider feasibility for rationalisation of linkages.

The major recommendations of the IMTF include acceptance of the recommendations of Coal India Limited (CIL) to rationalise existing coal resources. CIL has received 31 applications for rationalisation, including eight from captive power plants, out of which it recommended rationalisation in seven cases. There were two applications from cement plants.

"The approved recommendations of the IMTF were sent to CIL," said Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal. "CIL and the coal companies have implemented the recommendations pertaining to rationalisation of coal resources to captive power plants, sponge iron and cement plants." With regard to the rationalisation of resources of power utilities, the IMTF's recommendations are all inter-linked and could be implemented only with the consent of all the consumers. However, the consumers concerned did not agree to the revised arrangement.

The government has also expedited environment and forest clearances and land acquisition processes to improve Indian coal production. According to Goyal, India does have adequate coal resources to meet demand. Steps have been taken by CIL and its subsidiaries to augment production, including capacity addition from new projects and the use of mass production technologies. As per official data, the total estimated quantum of coal resources in India is 301.56Bnt. Some 12.53Bnt of coal has been extracted between 1950 and 2013-2014, with 566Mt of that in 2013-2014 alone.

Turkey: Turkish cement producer Çimsa Çimento has agreed to take over Sançim Bilecik Çimento Madencilik Beton for Euro163m. Çimsa will purchase all 87.5 million shares of Sançim Bilecik Çimento from Turkish companies AUNDE Teknik Tekstil, E.N.A. Tekstil and six individual shareholders. Sançim Bilecik Çimento has 1.4Mt/yr of cement production capacity. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.