Displaying items by tag: GCW167

There were two telling stories from Vietnam this week that show the level to which demand has been overestimated in the centrally-planned cement sector. Firstly, the country reported that exports in the period between January and July 2014 increased by nearly a quarter year-on-year to 13.1Mt. Secondly, the Prime Minister announced that another five cement plant projects were to be axed, following nine others that bit the dust in 2013.

All this is against a backdrop of chronic lower-than-expected domestic cement demand. When we look at the figures, it’s not hard to see that domestic consumers have had trouble consuming all the cement produced in Vietnam. The government forecast for cement production in 2015 is in the region of 75 - 76Mt. If this was spread evenly between Vietnam’s 88.8m people, each person would have to consume ~850kg of cement. That’s possible but it is quite a lot for a lower middle income economy. However, separate reports state that a 10% rise in domestic sales on 2013 levels would lead to just 60Mt of domestic cement sales in 2015. This equates to a more realistic 675kg/capita.

These figures leave a massive and increasing amount of cement for export. Read again that figure from the first seven months of 2014 – 13.1Mt – Roughly the capacity of South Africa (~12.5Mt/yr), Tunisia (12.9Mt/yr) of Colombia (12.9Mt/yr)! Also, while cement exports volumes were up by nearly a quarter, the value of those same exports rose by only 20%. This indicates a drop in export prices and represents additional pressure to halt capacity expansion.

Against a backdrop of 90Mt/yr expected capacity in 2015 and falling export prices, the latest cement project cull certainly makes sense but even in a best-case scenario the country is looking at a capacity utilisation rate of just 66 - 67%. Some cement plant project owners have even found themselves trapped by the situation. Having indebted themselves on the promise of ever-increasing cement demand, they now face the prospect of throwing good money after bad, continuing to build and operate just to service debts. This is a very unenviable position indeed. The lifting of trade restrictions within the ASEAN Community on 1 January 2015 might help export volumes, but might also also drive prices down further.

Culling new cement plant projects is one thing, but could the next step be more drastic? North of the border, China is gradually reducing its overcapacity by removing older and less efficient capacity. Perhaps Vietnam would do well to follow suit.

Africa: With effect from 1 August 2014, Demelza Mulligan has assumed the management position of Haver Southern Africa. After having completed her Master’s Degree from the Polytechnic University of Münster in Germany, she worked for the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in South Africa.

The business administration specialist joined Haver Southern Africa in 2013 as its marketing manager. Mulligan will succeed Joachim Hoppe, who directed Haver Southern Africa for three years and who laid the foundation for positive future business development for southern Africa. Hoppe is returning to his work at the Oelde-Germany headquarters, where he will found the new business unit of Bergbau / Mining.

Spain: The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of the Spanish operations of the Swiss building materials group Holcim by its Mexican peer Cemex following an in-depth investigation.

Japan/China: Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement has dissolved a joint venture agreement with Xinjiang Tianye in Xinjiang, Chinese in response to Chinese government efforts to reduce excess capacity in the sector.

Taiheiyo Cement Investment, the company’s Chinese arm, signed the agreement with Xinjiang Tianye in December 2012. After receiving government approval, they set up a joint venture in April 2013, planning to produce 1.2Mt/yr of cement. However, in 2013 Beijing increased measures to curb investment in the cement industry to counter overcapacity. This cast doubt on whether the venture could build production facilities as planned. With the business environment for the region's cement industry worsening, Taiheiyo and Xinjiang Tianye opted to end the agreement.

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) has released a statement outlining its plans to refinance Euro969m of debt. In the short term, CPV is struggling to keep on top of maturing debt and has released a statement confirming that it has received the unanimous agreement of all of its creditors to extend the maturity of Euro50m of debt from 30 June 2014 to 30 September 2014.

Ecuador: Peru's UNACEM plans to invest US$58m in Condorcocha, Junin and Atocongo, San Juan de Miraflores in 2015, following US545m of investments in 2014. The sum will primarily be allocated to the acquisition of Lafarge's cement plant in Ecuador.

A total of US$374m will be invested in the Atocongo and Condorcocha plants between 2014 and 2018, with a focus on the cement mill, the development of the Carpapata III hydroelectricity project and the construction of bagging facilities in Condorcocha. UNACEM will invest US$939m over the next five years, while it anticipates sales of US$190m in 2014. The company expects its revenues to exceed US$200m form 2016 and projects a turnover of US$256m in 2020.

Nigeria/Dubai: The Investment Corp of Dubai (ICD) has bought a 1.4% stake in Nigeria's Dangote Cement for US$300m. Dangote Cement spokesman, Carl Franklin, confirmed the sale, but provided no further details.

China: The NDRC, China's price regulator, has fined three Chinese cement companies a combined amount of US$18.6m for engaging in a price monopoly. The three companies are Jilin Yatai Cement Sales Co, Northern Cement Co and Jidong Cement Jilin Co.

India: Sagar Cements has completed the sale of its 47% stake in its joint venture company, Vicat Sagar Cement. Sagar had earlier obtained approval from the shareholders through postal ballot for the sale. Sagar and Vicat entered into the joint venture in June 2008 with the objective of setting up a 5.5Mt/yr cement plant in Gulbarga, Karnataka. The first phase of the plant, which was to reach a production capacity of 2.75Mt/yr, was completed in December 2012. Production commenced in January 2013.

US: Arcadis, a natural and built asset design and consultancy firm, has announced that it will oversee the construction on a multi-million dollar modernisation project set to transform Lafarge North America's Ravena cement plant in New York State into one of the most advanced dry-kiln facilities in the country.
Arcadis will oversee the replacement of the existing 50-year old kiln, supporting Lafarge's commitment to quickly implement industry-leading mercury emissions caps. The improvements will further reduce SO₂ and mercury emissions by an additional 20% over the next three years.

Slated for completion in 2016, the construction will create hundreds of jobs and retain over 100 current positions. Arcadis will coordinate all aspects of construction, including locating and purchasing materials, oversight of up to eight contracting companies, overall schedule coordination, management of materials and security of the site.