Displaying items by tag: GCW295

China: China National Building Material Company’s (CNBM) sales revenue rose by 1% year-on-year to US$14.8bn in 2016 from US$14.6bn in 2015. Its profit rose by 1% to US$410m from US$406m. The group’s sales of cement and clinker grew by 4.2% to 291Mt in 2016. Despite earlier reporting falls in operating revenue and profit of over 5% for the first nine months of 2016 the cement producer attributed the turnaround to production efficiencies and adherence to state-mandated supply-side reforms. It added that despite a ‘grim’ national economy the cement sector underwent a ‘weak’ recovery as reforms kicked in leading to growth in cement prices.

Philippines: The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has reduced the permit requirements for cement producers and other mineral extractors. Following orders by President Rodrigo Duterte to reduce red tape and redundancy in government the bureau says that cement producers and contractors holding quarry and industrial sand and gravel (ISG) permits are no longer required to secure mineral processing permits (MPP). The change is effective immediately. It has also clarified that the actual production of cement is covered already under the manufacturing sector and does not require an MPP. The MGB added that it is reviewing other existing policies on mining tenement requirements.

India: The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to delay a deadline for compliance to emission standards by two years to 2019. New regulations covering emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter for plants that do not co-process alternative fuels were due to be implemented from 31 March 2017, according to the Financial Express newspaper. However, the DIPP says that it doesn’t think that the industry is ready to adhere to them yet.

Rwanda: The Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Affairs has said that the value of cement imports dropped by nearly half to US$42m in 2016 from US$80m in 2015. The development comes as the government looks for ways to strengthen capacity for local production to meet growing housing demand and reduce expenses on imports, according to the New Times newspaper. Local producer Cimerwa, a subsidiary of South Africa’s PPC, is currently building a new 0.6Mt/yr cement plant in Bugarama, Rusizi, that will be ready for production in mid-2018. It has also called for imports of cement to the country to be restricted.

Ivory Coast: Cement prices have risen sharply following a housing boom, congestion in transport links and renovation work at the port in Abidjan. The Association of Cement Producers of Cote d'Ivoire (APCCI) has also blamed a lack of vehicles due to competition with the coffee and cocoa markets, according to Financial Afrik. The association has called for haulers and dealers to exercise ‘restraint’ when setting prices. The country has a cement production capacity of 4.15Mt/yr according to the APCCI. The local market is currently estimated to be 3.6Mt/yr.

China: Anhui Conch returned to rising sales revenue and profit in 2016 after a problematic year in 2015 beset by a poor market for cement. Its revenue rose by 9.7% year-on-year to US$8.12bn in 2016 from US$7.40bn in 2015. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker rose by 8% to 277Mt. Its net profit rose by 14% to US$1.24bn from US$1.09bn. The group says that its adoption of a flexible marketing strategy for different regions and plants and a focus on lowering production costs delivered sales growth and operating savings. However, its full year results are in contrast to its ones for the first nine months of 2016, in which it reported small declines in its revenue and net profit.

During the year the cement producer finished building six clinker production lines at Yingjiangyunhan Cement and Yiyang Conch Cement and it completed 18 cement grinding plants at Wenshan Conch Cement and Ganzhou Conch Cement. In addition to purchased the assets of Anhui Chaodong Cement. Outside of China the group completed lines in Indonesia and Myanmar, started buildings projects in Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos and started early work on new projects in Russia and Myanmar. At the end of 2016 the group says it has a clinker and cement production capacity of 244Mt/yr and 313Mt/yr respectively. It also reported that it had completed 15 waste treatment projects by the end of the year to feed cement plant kilns with domestic waste.

China: Huaxin Cement’s sales revenue rose by 1.9% to US$1.96bn in 2016 from US$1.93bn in 2015. Its cement and clinker sales rose by 5% to 52.7Mt and its net profit rose sharply to US$65.6m from US$14.9m. It attributed its result to following government-promoted supply side reforms such as cutting production costs. The cement producer noted that its had increased its usage of alternative fuels in the second half of the year following an increase in the cost of coal.

During the reporting period Huaxin Cement put its 3000t/day Tajikistan Sughd clinker production line into operation. It also purchased 15 cement plants from LafargeHolcim, including four grinding plants, located in Yunnan, Chongqing and Guizhou provinces. Altogether the new cement and clinker production capacity is expected to reach 10Mt and 15Mt respectively. The company also added that it had 25 alternative fuels co-processing projects operating or under construction with a capacity of 5Mt/yr.

Guinea: Guinee Industries Ciments (GIC) has awarded KHD Humboldt Wedag a contract to upgrade its cement grinding plant located in Conakry. GIC will integrate a Comflex system into GIC’s existing ball mills. The system will be the third Comflex system with roller press technology that has been installed in West Africa. The new system is expected to double the production capacity of the grinding line.

KHD’s scope includes the engineering and delivery of mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as the supervision of erection and commissioning for the new Comflex SC16-3500. The core equipment includes a RPS 16-170/180 roller press with Rolcox system for control and monitoring, a VS 620 cascade separator as a static classifier, a SKS-VC 3500 Sepmaster separator as a dynamic classifier and a HKSK 212-275 system fan. Commissioning of the Comflex system is scheduled for the end of 2017.

Bolivia: Imasa, with ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions and Valoriza, has been awarded the contract to build a 1.3Mt/yr cement plant for Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL) at Chiutara in Potosí. The contract is worth US$241m and it is expected to take three years to complete. President Evo Morales signed the deal with representatives of the European engineering companies.

Imasa is also building a similar sized plant for ECEBOL at Jeruyo, Caracollo that is scheduled to be finished in mid-2018. Elsewhere in Latin America the Spanish engineering firm is building a 2600t/day clinker production line for Unión Cementera Nacional (UCEM) at Riobamba in Ecuador.

Greece: Titan Cement’s turnover grew by 8% year-on-year to Euro1.51bn in 2016 from Euro1.4bn in 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 28.7% to Euro279m from Euro216m. The group attributed its success to continuing growth in the US and a recovery in Egypt.

By region, the US was the main source of growth for the group providing 53% of sales and 52% of operating profit. Its turnover in the US grew by 169% in 2016 to Euro794m. In Greece cement consumption remained similar to 2015 and the group continued to export a large proportion of local production. Despite this both turnover and EBITDA fell. In southeast Europe the group reported mixed results with rising sales volumes, falling prices and turnover and rises in profitability. In Egypt the market picked up and grinding and solid fuels upgrades at Titan’s plants compensated for local currency devaluation. Subsequently, turnover grew by 3.5% to Euro249m. Finally, the group’s partly-owned subsidiary in Turkey, Adocim, reported a modest increases in profit despite local currency effects.