Displaying items by tag: GCW291

Tunisia: Finance Minister Lamia Zribi has said that the Tunisian government has decided to sell its share in Carthage Cement. It owns an estimated 41% share of the cement producer, according to Tunis Afrique Presse. Zribi said that the decision was due to financial problems at the company as well as issues with production and export. Carthage Cement's chief executive Ibrahim Sanaa has blamed a rise in production costs on a poor construction market and production overcapacity.

Colombia: Cementos Argos’s sales volumes of cement fell by 5.5% year-on-year to 3.44Mt in 2016 from 3.64Mt in 2015. Despite increasing its presence in the US with the acquisition of the Martinsburg, West Virginia cement plant, its sales volumes in Colombia fell by 19% in 2016, more than the market, due to its ‘higher exposure’ to the infrastructure and industrial segments and increasing volumes of imports. Despite this, its sales revenue rose by 7.7% to US$2.95bn from US$2.74bn and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 8.7% to US$572m from US$526m.

“We are very satisfied with the results of the US regional division, as they ratify the visionary decision taken 11 years ago by the company, to enter with our value proposition into the largest economy and the most demanding market. Our diversification strategy allows us to balance different market cycles, drives our results and supports value generation for our shareholders,” said Juan Esteban Calle, chief executive officer of Cementos Argos.

The US became the cement producer’s biggest market in 2016 contributing about half of its revenue. By region, cement sales volumes grew in the US by 18.5% to 3.97Mt from 3.36Mt. Sales volumes in its Caribbean and Central American region rose by 4.7% to 4.95Mt from 4.73Mt. It added that it had decided to postpone the expansion of its Sogamoso cement plant in Colombia. Instead it plans to increase its production capacity by 1Mt at its Rioclaro and Cartagena plants in 2017 and 2018.

France: Sales in the US have supported Vicat’s revenue in 2016. Its consolidated sales in the US rose by 6.2% year-on-year to Euro363m in 2016 from Euro342m in 2015. Overall the company’s sales fell slightly to Euro2.45bn in the year, although they rose by 4.1% at constant scope and exchange rates. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3.2% to Euro458m from Euro444m. Sales volumes of cement rose by 10.5% to 21.9Mt from 19.8Mt.

"Vicat performed well in 2016 against the backdrop of a very difficult geopolitical and monetary climate. Operating margins rose and results reflected the good sales momentum achieved by the group's staff, combined with a very firm grip on costs. The year was marked by renewed growth in Egypt and France, and our operations continued to improve in the US," said group chairman and chief executive officer Guy Sidos.

By region, notably, sales volumes rose in France by 6% in domestic and export markets, boosted particularly by export sales, with sales revenue up also. Elsewhere in Europe sales fell but volumes rose after a difficult first half of the year. Sales volumes in the US rose by 4% driven by ‘strong momentum’ in the Southeast region, making up for a decline in California caused by a strong previous year and poor weather. In the group’s Asian region its sales revenue fell mainly due to currency variations in Turkey and particularly in Kazakhstan. Finally, in its African and Middle East region, sales revenue in Egypt rose by 3.5% despite a devaluation of the local currency driven by a ‘sharp’ increase in volumes. Two coal grinders that entered into service in late 2015 also helped to grow its EBITDA.

Croatia: HeidelbergCement has appealed against an investigation by the European Commission into the proposed joint purchase with Germany’s Schwenk Zement of Cemex Croatia. The cement producer asserts that by considering Schwenk and itself rather than Duna-Dráva Cement (DDC), a subsidiary that both companies own equally, the commission has given the transaction a ‘Union dimension,’ according to the Official Journal of the European Union. Although DDC is based in Hungary, within the European Union (EU), it imports cement into Croatia (in the EU) from Bosnia & Herzegovina, a country outside of the union. The appeal was made in late December 2016 but only reported in late February 2017.

The European Commission revealed that it was investigating the proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk in October 2016. The commission was concerned that the transaction would merge the biggest producer in the area with the biggest importer, potentially reducing local competition.

Germany: Haver & Boecker plans to launch its Quattro System Monitoring product at the Interpack 2017 exhibition, taking place at Düsseldorf in May 2017. The mineral processing and packaging technology company will also feature its newly developed Roto-Packer RVT packing system and Elementra inline packer. Its subsidiary Newtech Bag Palletizing will also be present at the event with its Terram 1000 palletizer.

The Quattro System Monitoring is a ‘smart system’ that allows real-time production and maintenance information on packing machines can be viewed on a variety of devices either locally or remotely via a secure connection. The company says that the system, ‘allows machines to be operated more profitably and processes to be laid out and planned more intelligently.’ The product can also be retrofitted to existing machines.

Haver & Boecker will also be running a parallel event at its headquarters in Oelde in May 2017 to invite customers to live machine demonstrations.

Morocco: LafargeHolcim Morocco plans to build two new cement plants at Tizgilt, Chtouka Ait-Baha and Tidmi, Taroudant in the Souss-Massa region. The project is budgeted at Euro720m and it is expected to create 1400 jobs, according to the Challenge newspaper. Marcel Kobuz, the chief executive officer for the cement producer, has met with region head Zineb El Adaoui to discuss the initiatives including the allocation of land.

Kyrgyzstan: Cement produced in Kyrgyzstan has become ‘uncompetitive’ since the country joined the Eurasian Economic Union. The State Committee for Industry, Energy and Mining has blamed this on high volumes of imports from Kazakhstan, according to the Tazabek newspaper. The country has five integrated cement plants.

Canada: The Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD) has struck a deal with Lafarge Canada to sell drinking water treatment residuals to the Richmond cement plant for use in cement production. The contract is for a three-year agreement up to a total cost of just under US$1m, according to Postmedia News. The deal follows a 12-month industrial trial that started in mid-2016.

The residuals will be used as a substitute for shale in the production process. Around 10,000t/yr of residuals will be used to replace 2100t/yr of red shale and conglomerate that are currently supplied from a quarry at Sumas Mountain, Abbotsford. The use of residuals doesn’t affect the plant’s Air Quality Permit following stack tests. As part of the agreement Lafarge will need to build additional storage capacity at its plant.

US: The US Customs and Border Protection plans to start awarding contracts by mid-April 2017 for a proposed border wall with Mexico. The agency says it will request bids on or around 6 March 2017 and that companies would have to submit ‘concept papers’ to design and build prototypes by 10 March 2017, according to the Associated Press. Finalists must then submit offers with their proposed costs by 24 March 2017. No details on where construction will start or how much it will be cost have been released.

Estimates for the cost of a 2000-mile border wall vary significantly. The Government Accountability Office estimates it would cost on average US$6.5m/mile for a pedestrian fence and US$1.8m/mile for vehicle barriers. However, an internal Homeland Security Department report prepared for department secretary John Kelly places the bill at about US$21m according to an anonymous source quoted by the Associated Press. It proposes that existing barriers built during the George W Bush administration be extended first in stages.

The cost of the wall will depend on the height, materials and other specifications of the project. Granite Construction, Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta Materials are all likely to be potential bidders and Mexico’s Cemex is also likely to benefit from any increase in demand for construction materials in the region.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad’s (CMS) cement division’s operating profit rose by 2% year-on-year to US$23.6m in 2016 from US$23.2m in 2015. However, its sales revenue fell by 6% to US$127m from US$135m. The group blamed its falling sales on ‘challenging’ market conditions. Overall the group’s sales revenue and profit fell in 2016.

“2016 was a challenging period for us in terms of group performance meeting targets as we had faced challenging market and operational conditions. These macro factors included low commodity selling prices, higher costs of raw materials in the Cement Division resulting from the strong US dollar, and generally the sluggish private and public sector demand attributable to bank lending restraints and the lack of any new big projects. Our group’s core businesses, however, remained resilient during this period and continued to report stable earnings,” said Richard Curtis, Group Managing Director of CMSB.