Displaying items by tag: GCW394

Nigeria: Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Cement, says that his company is targeting exports of US$600m/yr to sub-Saharan Africa. He made the comments at the Dangote Cement Distributors’ Award Night in Lagos, according to the Nigerian Guardian newspaper. He added that Dangote Cement will become the largest exporter of cement in the region in 2019. It plans to focus on African countries with limited limestone reserves. The company is building new terminals at Onne and in Lagos. He also expressed hope that congestion at the Port of Apapa would be cleared soon to help the company meet its export targets.

Kenya: Trade and Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya says that the government has started work on a rescue strategy for the East African Portland Cement (EAPCC). It has conducted due diligence to reduce the company’s losses and looked into changing the management and upgrading its Athi River plant, according to the Standard newspaper. The cement producer reported a US$12m loss in the half year to 31 December 2018. It also has debts of US$108m.

The EAPCC is planning to sell land it owns for up to US$150m but the government does not believe that this will be sufficient to revive the company. It is currently operating at 50% of its production capacity due to financial restraints. It also plans to further reduce its workforce to cut costs.

South Africa: Sephaku Cement’s revenue fell by 3.1% year-on-year to US$161m in 2018 from US$167m in 2017. Its net profit dropped by 19% to US$3.3m from US$4.07m. The subsidiary of Nigeria’s Dangote Cement said that the general poor economy in the country led to an estimate 5 – 10% decline in industry sales volumes. It blamed ‘intense’ competition between clinker grinding plants, producers and importers. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 6.4%.

Egypt: Suez Cement’s sales rose by 15% year-on-year for Euro375m in 2018 from US$326m in 2017. It reported a profit of Euro6.14m in 2018 compared to a loss of Euro57.2m in 2017, according to Mubasher.

Philippines: Eagle Cement says that it is not involved in any discussion for the acquisition of Holcim Philippines. However, it did say that its chairman Ramon S Ang had expressed interest in a potential purchase of the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim. Eagle Cement made the announcement following local media reports that Ang had formally submitted a bid to buy Holcim Philippines. In January 2019 LafargeHolcim was said to be to be considering selling its business in the country.

Kenya: ARM Cement has extended its bidding period to mid-march 2019 following requests by potential buyers. Administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which took over the cement producer in August 2018, originally set the deadline to the end of February 2019, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Bidders have asked for a longer period to complete due diligence tests and decide what they think the value of the company is.

14 companies have already made non-binding bids for the cement producer. These will later be shortlisted before a winning bidder is selected. No bidders have publicly been announced but Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Oman’s Raysut Cement are believed to be interested, according to local media.

Cameroon: The electricity supply in parts of central and southern Cameroon has been disrupted whilst a substation at Nomayos near Yaoundé is connected to the main network. The disruption is necessary ahead of the commissioning of Cimencam’s Nomayos cement grinding plant, which is scheduled for the first quarter of 2019, according to Business in Cameroon. The new plant will have a production capacity of 0.5Mt/yr. It has an investment of around US$40m.

Sweden: Cementa says that it plans to stop production of cement and clinker at its Degerhamn cement plant at the end of April 2019. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement said that it made the decision due to low profitability at the site and tightening environmental regulations.

The unit will continue to be used as a terminal and port operations will carry on at the site. Microcement will also continue to be made at the plant. The site’s quarry permit will be withdrawn but Cementa will continue to own the land and it will be gradually be restored. Six staff members will work at the site and a new site manager, Tommy Pettersson, has been appointed.

US: Cemex USA has unveiled a new train at its Victorville cement plant in California. The train was built by Knoxville Locomotive Works it comes with an MTU-4000 Series engine. It will be used to transport clinker at the plant. The engine has been selected to meet US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board Tier 4 Emissions requirements. A portion of the cost of the new train was covered by a federal grant secured with the assistance of the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District.

US: Lehigh Cement’s Mitchell plant in Indiana has won a 2019 Governor’s Workplace Safety Award for innovations as a medium-sized company. The awards are issued by the Indiana Department of Labor.

The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement recorded no lost-time accidents in 2018 and the plant has not had a lost-time accident since September 2015, according to the Herald Times newspaper. The company uses a Safety Action Plan with specific targets that focus on areas of significant risk, including critical risk management and zero fatalities. It also runs weekly safety conversations between employees to raise health and safety issues with management.