Displaying items by tag: GCW264

Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia has built a cement terminal in Lampung at a cost of US$30.6m. The 4.7 hectare facility will be able to process up to 1Mt/yr of cement. Holcim Indonesia’s Finance Director Mark Schmidt said that the company plans to operate the terminal in near time, according to the Jakarta Globe. The cement producer wants to use the terminal to strengthen cement sales and distribution in Lampung and South Sumatra.

Egypt: Arabian Cement plans to build a US$9m petcoke mill for its cement plant. It is preparing all the necessary legal and financial requirements for the project. The new mill will help the cement plant reduce its operating costs.

Nepal: Arghakhanchi Cement has obtained a consortium loan pledge to finance the expansion of its cement plant from 1200t/day (0.4Mt/yr) to 3000t/day (1.0Mt/yr). The company expects to spend US$38.6m, including US$27m in consortium financing led by Nabil Bank. Other banks involved include Nepal Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Global IME Bank, Prime Bank and Century Bank.

The company's promoters, the Siddhartha Group, Murarka Organisation, Kedia Organisation and India's Uma Cement International, will invest US$11.6m in the expansion project.

When it is completed by the close of 2017 Arghakhanchi Cement will be the largest cement factory in Nepal. "If we don't increase our capacity and achieve economy of scale, we will vanish once big plants with foreign investment start producing cement," said Rajesh Agrawal, Managing Director.

Nigeria’s Dangote Cement, China’s Hongshi Cement and Huaxin Cement and India’s Reliance Cement have all received approval to start operations in Nepal. Their combined foreign direct investment amounts to US$1.45bn and their proposed output stands at 22,000t/day (7Mt/yr).

Tanzania: Tanga Cement has seen its net operating profit rise by 55% in the first six months of 2016, despite intense competition from other cement companies and cheap imported products from abroad. The company more than doubled its clinker production, from 0.45Mt to 1.23Mt, after commissioning the second clinker line at its plant.

Lawrence Masha, Chairman of the Board, said, "In this year, the business is focusing on profitability, driven by operational efficiency and overall business effectiveness. This will enable the company to absorb the increase in production related costs, as far as possible, in order to remain competitive in challenging market conditions.”

Masha said the cement sector is witnessing fierce competition due to the new market entrants. He said imports of cheap cement from companies that enjoy tax benefits in their home countries further erode the local market and are causing significant injury to local producers.

Canada: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a pension and insurance fund manager, has taken control of the McInnis Cement plant currently being built on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. The US$850m project was facing ‘significant’ cost overruns and the CDPQ stepped in to protect its investment. It has agreed to invest an additional US$96.5m into the project with a US$96.5m debenture using funds managed by BlackRock Alternative Investors. The CDPQ has said that the US$193m of additional investment will be enough to complete the project.

“We believe that this project has high-quality fundamentals. For this reason, la Caisse has entered into a change-of-control agreement with Beaudier. With the new executive team in place and the new capital structure we are announcing today, McInnis Cement will be able to capitalise on attractive market opportunities and generate returns for la Caisse’s clients,” said Christian Dubé, Executive Vice-President, Québec, at the CDPQ.

McInnis Cement announced a change in its management on 2 August 2016 including recruitment for a new CEO.

Brazil: Magnesita’s sales revenue from its Industrial Minerals business segment, which includes sales to cement producers, has fallen by 8.2% to US$74.1m from US$80.6m. However, sales volumes rose slightly to 75,200t from 74,400t. Declining sales volumes in Brazil were offset by growing volumes elsewhere in Latin America and in the Middle East, Africa and northern Asia. In addition, negative currency exchange effects hit sales revenue. The company’s Industrial Minerals business segment serves the cement, nonferrous and glass industries

Magnesita’s total refractory sales volumes fell by 6.2% year-on-year to 0.46Mt in the first half of 2016 from 0.49Mt in the same period of 2015. Its net operating revenue fell by 9.4% to US$467m from US$537m. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 2% to US$77.2m from US$78.8m. The refractories producer blamed the result on steel production declines in South America and Europe and on cement production declines in Brazil.

“This decrease in volumes is partially due to our strategic decision to focus only on markets with adequate and sustainable margins. However, the outlook for the second half seems constructive in some markets, especially in the US, our largest market,” said Magnesita’s CEO, Octavio Lopes. He added that the company’s geographic diversification has never been greater and that the company is gradually reducing its exposure to any ‘specific’ market.

Denmark: FLSmidth’s sales revenue from its cement segment has fallen by 39% year-on-year to Euro199m in the first half of 2016 from Euro287m in the same period in 2015. However, its gross order intake increased by 67% to Euro388m from Euro232m although this fell year-on-year by 33% in the second quarter of the year. The industrial engineering supplier cited ‘widespread’ geopolitical crises as hampering incoming investment.

"Mining companies and most cement producers are postponing large investments and spending. They are focussing on equipment and critical spare parts directly linked to operations, as well as on services that can help to solve immediate problems and improve productivity. Our service activities are well positioned to benefit from these market conditions and we will continue enhancing our customer service offerings to maintain our competitive edge. In the light of a weak market outlook, we will continue with internal cost-reduction activities, such as supply chain and procurement optimisation, as well as management delayering. To further strengthen our revenue, we will invest in increasing our sales capacity," said Group CEO Thomas Schulz.

Specifically for the cement industry FLSmidth said that its priorities vary in different locations with cement producers in North America wanting to maximise production, producers in South America wanting to make cost savings, producers in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and southern India wanting to use cost efficiency to combat production overcapacity and producers in Pakistan, Algeria Kenya, northern India and northern Europe wanting to minimise downtime and increase production.

Overall, FLSmidth reported that its revenue fell by 19% to Euro1.06bn from Euro1.31bn. Its order intake remained stable at Euro1.29bn. Profit fell by 65% to Euro22.9m from Euro65.3m.

India: Birla Corporation’s sales revenue has risen by 16% year-on-year to US$134m in the quarter that ended on 30 June 2016 from US$115m in the same period of 2015. Its net profit rose to US$14.1m from US$3.73m. Its cement sales revenue rose by 31% to US$125m from US$107m. The company’s cement sales volumes rose by 11% to 2.17Mt from 1.96Mt.

Shri Harsh V Lodha, chairman of the company, said that operating costs at its Chanderia and Satna cement plants could be reduced following efficiency drives, improving fuel mixes and lower fuel prices. Packaging costs have fallen following a reduction in the cost of polypropylene granules. The use of petcoke at the Chanderia and Satna plants has also helped to reduce costs.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement’s revenue has fallen by 16% year-on-year to US$1.73bn in its first fiscal quarter which ended on 30 June 2016, from US$2.07bn in the same period of 2015. Its net profit more than doubled to US$151m from US$64.7m.