Displaying items by tag: GCW164
Russia: Stroigaz construction group plans to sell a controlling stake in a cement plant in the Altai region, Siberia. The deal should take place in the first quarter of 2015. Stroigaz holds 75% minus one share in the plant. The plant has a cement production capacity of 300,000t/yr. A strategic investor is expected to boost the plant's capacity. The deal is estimated at Euro22.4-37.3m. Stroigaz had previously held negotiations for the sale of the plant to Germany's HeidelbergCement in 2007, but the deal was not concluded.
CRH reports strong results in the first half of 2014
19 August 2014Ireland: CRH, the international building materials group, has reported its results for the first six months of 2014, which ended on 30 June 2014. Sales revenues increased by 4%, including 7% growth in Europe and 1% growth in the Americas. Like-for-like sales were up by 5%. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were 27% higher than in the first half of 2013. Euro130m was invested during the first half of 2014, while net debt fell from Euro4.2bn in the first half of 2013 to Euro3.7bn in 2014.
Reliance Cement to open two cement plants in Karnataka
19 August 2014India: Reliance Cement plans to set up a cement plant and raw material quarry in Sedam Taluk, Gulbarga District, as well as a 3Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Gowribidanur Taluk at a cost of US$114m.
As per the pre-feasibility report for the Sedam project, which was submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Reliance said that it will set up an integrated 5.5Mt/yr cement plant with 3.6Mt/yr clinker production capacity and a 75MW power plant. Reliance is also setting up a 5Mt/yr limestone mine in the Tilkur and Hebal Villages, both in Sedam Taluk. The project is expected to be completed in 24 months, once the Karnataka government has approved it. Reliance is awaiting the Terms of Reference (TOR) from the MoEF, for which it had applied on 7 April 2014.
The project cost is estimated to be US$428m for the Sedam cement plant. For mining activity, Reliance has placed the initial cost at US$52.5m. Reliance received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Department of Mines and Geology in Karnataka to mine on 9.29km2 at the Tilkur and Hebal villages. The mining activity in the leased area is scheduled to be for 5Mt/yr of limestone. The LoI was granted to Reliance cement on 30 July 2010.
Dangote invests US$250m in coal power plant
18 August 2014Nigeria: Dangote Group has invested US$250m in a coal-based power plant in its effort to provide an alternative source of power for is plants across the country to reduce the cost and difficulty accessing electricity.
Dangote Cement's Group CEO, Devakumar Edwin, said that the initiative will help the group in running its businesses in all parts of the country. He noted that the group has installed a 54MW coal power plant in Gboko, Benue State and is currently working towards installations at Ibeshe in Ogun state and Obajana in Kogi State. Edwin, who said that the group was currently importing coal from South Africa, revealed that it has started exploring coal opportunities in Nigeria, especially in Enugu State. It has also established a separate division for coal exploration.
Edwin noted that inadequate power supply due to Nigeria's low supply of gas has affected Dangote's cement production, while the cost aspect has also impacted on the economy and increased cost for consumers.
"In this country, the major issue is power," said Edwin. "Any economy will climb to double digits, once there is power at the right price. With affordable power people will produce products locally, will gravitate to the private sector, leading to the creation of a middle class and more employment in the country."
Nigeria set to end cement imports in 2017
18 August 2014Nigeria: With a national production capacity at over 28Mt/yr, which far outstrips national demand of 20Mt/yr, Nigeria looks set to effectively end cement imports by 2017, according to UniCem's managing director, Olivier Lenoir. This is coming on the back of on-going strong national production capacity expansion by virtually all of the major cement producers operating in the country. By 2016, Dangote Cement will have increased its production to 50Mt/yr, Lafarge 15Mt/yr and UniCem to 5Mt/yr.
Zambia: Lafarge Zambia's CEO, Emmanuel Rigaux, said that its profit went up by 66% during the first six months of 2014, largely driven by favourable volumes, the launch of cost-control measures, improved industrial performance and positive foreign exchange gains.
"Our priority to improve our level of customer service through innovative new products, a re-focused sales and customer service team and state-of-the-art logistical solutions, have started to show results," said Rigaux. "Together with improvements in operational and industrial performance at our Ndola and Chilanga plants, we have managed to attain encouraging first half results despite a challenging environment in Zambia and key export markets."
Cement production grew by 13% to 600,000t, despite domestic and export markets facing challenges with stiffening competition, cost inflation and a number of changes in the regulatory environment. Lafarge Zambia expects continued efforts on the customer and cost-control sides to enable the firm to grow profitably and meet the needs of domestic and export customers, with a strong focus on infrastructure and mining projects in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rigaux said that Lafarge Zambia's current capacity expansion projects in Ndola and Chilanga would also enable the company to remain the preferred supplier of construction solutions in Zambia and the DRC. He added that cement demand is expected to remain strong for the rest of 2014, saying that innovative products, services and solutions would be introduced as required to satisfy the growing demand in the construction sector.
Mexico's Cemex to build new cement plant in Colombia
15 August 2014Colombia: Cemex has announced that it will begin construction of a US$340m cement plant in Colombia. The first phase of the project includes construction of a new grinding mill that will begin to produce cement in the second quarter of 2015. The rest of the plant will be completed in the second half of 2016.
"We are proud to contribute to the development of Colombia and wish to continue to be a long-term partner on its path to a prosperous, sustainable future," said Cemex's CEO, Fernando Gonzalez. The investment by Cemex Latam Holdings is expected to boost production capacity in Colombia from 4.5Mt/yr to nearly 5.5Mt/yr.
The plant will be built in the north-western Colombian province of Antioquia, a region with high economic-growth levels. It is expected to create 1000 direct jobs in the construction phase and around 300 jobs once operations begin.
India: As a result of poor demand and unremunerative prices, several cement companies in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have shut down plants or are running them on a campaign basis. Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have nearly 25% of India's limestone reserves.
"Demand continues to be weak, but prices have started to improve now as manufacturers have decided not to sell below cost," said one unnamed cement producer. "Several plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have shut down or are in the process of a sale."
Among the plants that have shut down their operations temporarily is the Panyam Cements' 0.4Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh. "We had shut our plant due to internal financial issues, but that has been sorted out and the plant restarted 10 days ago," said a Panyam spokesperson. Bheema Coromandel, which has a 1.2Mt/yr plant near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh is only running its plant for 'token' production, according to local sources.
"There is practically no demand in South India," said N Srinivasan, vice chairman and managing director of India Cements. "The negative growth in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana has continued for far too long." India Cements has reported a US$493,340 net loss for the quarter that ended on 30 June 2014.
Cement production capacity in the south of India is around 110Mt/yr, while demand is only 70Mt/yr. Consequently, existing cement makers have trimmed their capacity utilisation to around 65% and are holding on to prices to ensure there are no losses.
"There are expectations of improvements in the sentiment with the new Union Budget proposals for reviving growth, stepping up investments in infrastructure and housing," said Srinivasan. "The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has also raised hopes for renewed economic activity under the new governments in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana."
Mongolia: Senj Sant is in the midst of constructing a new dry-process cement plant, which will be the first of its kind in Mongolia. The plant is being built to meet rising demand generated by a rapidly-growing economy. The new Senj Sant plant is strategically located in southern Mongolia about 450km from the capital city, Ulaanbaatar.
A deal with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to lend Senj Sant US$65m, following an earlier US$20m equity investment for a stake in Senj Sant that was agreed in May 2013, was signed recently by the EBRD's first vice president Phil Benett.
"This project represents yet another step towards the diversification of Mongolia's economy," said Bennett. Senj Sant, which is owned by Mongolia's Monpolymet Group, is using EBRD finance to continue funding the construction, commissioning and operation of the plant, which is expected to have a total capacity of about 3000t/day of cement with the start of production in 2015.
"The EBRD's long term finance, including equity, is not only helping us to build the first greenfield cement plant in Mongolia using the environmentally-friendly dry-process, but also supporting the company in raising business standards to international levels," said the CEO of Monpolymet Group, Munkhnasan Narmandakh. Mongolia's high levels of mining and infrastructure investment make investment in cement capacity key for future development.
Venezuela: On 21 July 2014 the president of Venezuelan cement producer La Corporación Socialista del Cemento, ángel Jesús Moreno Gudño, signed an agreement with the president of China's CATIC, Zou Kangning, for a new cement plant. The 1.2Mt/yr capacity plant will be located in Los Arangues, Lara State, Venezuela.