Displaying items by tag: GCW210

India: Rising costs have reduced ACC's profit substantially in the April – June 2015 quarter, despite its revenues meeting expectations.

In spite of selling more cement, ACC's net realisation fell by 3% compared to the January - March 2015 quarter and was also slightly lower year-on-year. The fall was attributed to low cement prices in the June 2015 quarter, which is normally robust considering the fast-paced pre-monsoon activity, as well as a significant rise in operating cost per tonne. ACC's June quarter performance reflects the trend of cost pressures and weak realisations across the sector.

Costa Rica: Amid the controversy generated by changes in the rules for marketing cement in Costa Rica, Sinocem has announced that the first Chinese import and sale of cement in the country generated 'good results.' It stated that it will import more. The company says that the first batch was sold in December 2014 at a price 20% lower than the competition.

Nigeria: The Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) has concluded arrangements with LafargeHolcim, the owner of Ashaka Cement in Gombe State, that will see an investment of US$100m to create jobs and alleviate poverty caused by the activities of Boko Haram in the region.

The funding was announced by the Secretary of PINE, Mallam Umar Gulani, who was in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, with his team to distribute relief materials to victims of insurgency in the state.

US: Preliminary data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the US produced 7.0Mt of cement in May 2015. The country imported around 0.8Mt of cement during the month, giving an apparent consumption figure of around 7.8Mt. Production and imports in May 2014 were 7.5Mt and 0.6Mt, giving apparent consumption for that month of 8.1Mt. This is 0.3Mt more than in May 2015, a fall of 3.8% year-on-year.

In the year to 30 May 2015 the US consumed a total of 31.9Mt of cement, around 0.7Mt more than in the same period of 2014, when it consumed 31.2Mt.

Vietnam: The Ministry of Construction looks set to realize its target of allowing all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) at its helm to 'go public' at the end of 2015, according to Deputy Minister Le Quang Hung. He said, in a recent report, that seven out of 16 corporations and holding companies under the ministry have undergone equitisation and the remaining nine would go public between now and the end of 2015.

The SOEs subject to equitisation include Vietnam National Construction Consultant Corporation (VNCC), Building Materials Corporation No. 1 (FiCO) and Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM), among others.

A revised Enterprise Law, which took effect on 1 July 2015, says that SOEs are now defined as 100% owned by the state, instead of 51% or above as previously. Therefore, in addition to the construction ministry, the new law also helps other ministries complete restructuring and equitisation plans for SOEs under their respective umbrellas.

UAE: A report from Technavio suggests that cement exports from the UAE will decline in the four years to 2019 as a resurgence of building in the country takes hold.

The government will invest US$700bn over the next 15 years towards infrastructure development. As well as the Dubai EXPO 2020 and UAE National Vision 2021, major investments will be directed towards transport and power infrastructure projects, with the cement market forecast to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 7.56% in the period to 2019.

Poland: Cement production in Poland increased by 4.1% year-on-year to 1.55Mt in June 2015, while sales were up by 7.2% to 1.59Mt, according to the country's Cement Producer Association. Production in the first half of the year was up by 2.1% year-on-year to 7.19Mt and first half sales have risen by 2.5% to 7.33Mt.

Ethiopia: After some delay and with construction of its original project still ongoing, Habesha Cement is reported to be considering an additional expansion project. The firm hired Waas international Consulting Firm (WICF) in June 2015 to conduct a study to change its market strategy and establish the need for further expansion projects even though the construction of its 1.3Mt/yr cement plant is not yet complete.

WICF, which previously worked on the feasibility study for the overall company, will decide on the need for expansion by looking at the current demand for cement in the country and will restructure Habesha's market strategy accordingly. "We found it necessary to conduct the study because we expect to launch production and join the market in the coming year," said Mesfin Abadi, chief executive director of Habesha Cement, who added that the company's initial market strategy dated from 2013 and did not provide adequate information on market trends past 2015.

Rwanda: Cimerwa has officially unveiled its new 0.6Mt/yr dry process cement plant. It hopes that the new technology will help it to reduce its production costs and better compete with imported cement from Rwanda's neighbours. The plant previously relied on wet process technology.

Cimerwa has also installed a 15MW peat-powered power plant, which will help it address unreliable electrical supplies that have caused it to suffer high production costs for many years.