Displaying items by tag: Government
Suez Cement publishes first half 2020 results
08 September 2020Egypt: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Suez Cement recorded a net loss of Euro38.0m in the first half of 2020, up by 99% year-on-year from 19.1m in the first half of 2019. The company made sales worth Euro145m over the period, down by 18% from Euro177m. The causes of the decline were market saturation and reduced demand in the short term due to the coronavirus lockdown from 19 March 2020 to 27 June 2020.
Asia Cement becomes sole owner of Taiwan Chiahui Power Corporation
08 September 2020Taiwan: Asia Cement has bought all shares in Taiwan Chiahui Power Corporation belonging to co-owner Electric Power Development Company (J-Power). Electronic News has reported that the two companies have jointly owned Taiwan Chiahui Power Corporation since December 2002. The deal awaits ratification by the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs Investment Commission.
India: The Odisha State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) has approved two cement and slag grinding plant projects in Odisha. It has granted JSW Cement permission for an upgrade to its upcoming 1.2Mt/yr Kalinga Nagar, Odisha slag cement grinding plant that will increase the finished plant’s capacity to 2.4Mt/yr at an additional investment cost of US$359,000. JSW Cement restarted work on the facility, which will grind Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), in September 2018 after suspending the project due to leasing issues in 2016.
Sagar Cements subsidiary Jajpur Cements has also received clearance from the SLSWCA for the construction of a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant on the site of the existing 0.5Mt/yr Jajpur Cements grinding plant in the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in Jajpur District, Odisha. The project, valued by the company at US$44m, is scheduled for completion in March 2021. Sagar Cements acquired Jajpur Cements on 7 May 2019 for US$16m.
Votorantim Cimentos considering buying majority stake in McInnis Cement
02 September 2020Canada: Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos is in talks with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) over possible acquisition of the investment company majority stake in McInnis Cement. Quebec Premier François Legault said, “Quebecers have already invested a lot in the cement plant. For nationalism reasons, I would like a Quebec company to be ready to invest,” according to the Journal de Montreal newspaper. Béton Provincial has registered for a government grant of US$115m in order to acquire the stake, which has been for sale since January 2020. Investissement Québec and the Beaudier Group are both minority shareholders.
India: JK Cement’s profit in the three months ended 30 June 2020, the first quarter of the 2021 financial year, was US$6.85m, down by 62% year-on-year from US$18.1m in the first quarter of the 2020 financial year. Revenues fell by 28% to US$138m from US$191m. The company said, “The operations and business performance of the group during the quarter ended 30 June 2020 was adversely impacted by the shutdown of the group's plants at various locations due to the lockdown announced by the government after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.”
Uzbekistan: State-owned Uzpromstroymaterialy has announced the start of cement production at a new 0.1Mt/yr integrated cement plant, called the Qurilish Ashyo Sifat Servis cement plant, in Fergana Region following a total investment of US$25.0m. The company has reported that the new plant represents part of the country’s efforts to increase its installed cement capacity by 60% to 20.0Mt/yr in 2020 from 12.5Mt/yr in 2019.
Adelaide Brighton secures Sellicks Hill quarry lease
28 August 2020Australia: Adelaide Brighton has extended its lease over its Sellicks Hill quarry in South Australia until 2090. The Advertiser newspaper has reported that the signing of the lease, which secures the company’s local supply of limestone, “coincides with a rise in local cement consumption due to the government’s South Australia HomeBuilder building and renovation subsidy scheme,” according to the company. In August 2020 Adelaide Brighton signed supply contracts with BHP and OZ Minerals for infrastructure projects in the state.
Pakistani producers lobby for tax cuts
27 August 2020Pakistan: Leading cement producers have said that prices will rise by 10% before 2021 if a reduction in Federal Excise Duty (FED) to US$5.95/t of cement from US$11.9/t does not materialise. DG Khan Cement owner Nishat Group chair Mian Mansha said, “Failing this, producers will take a US$119m total hit on revenues,” according to the Express Tribune newspaper.
Paraguay de-restricts cement imports
25 August 2020Paraguay: The government has re-opened borders to imports of cement due to a national shortage. The Última Hora newspaper has reported that importers will be free to bring cement into the country without having first applied for a provisional import licence. The situation is the result of growth in demand after the coronavirus lockdown and the suspension of production at Yguazú Cementos due to ‘a problem with a transformer.’ The government has already issued Yguazú Cementos with a 15,000t/yr cement import licence due to this.
Vietnam: The government has adopted a cement industry development strategy under which all plants below 0.9Mt/yr capacity must make investments to improve their productivity, product quality, energy saving and environmental protection by 2025. In order to facilitate this, the government says it will improve institutions and policies and improve the efficiency of raw materials exploitation, scientific research and industrial application, promoting domestic consumption, increasing available training and tightening environmental protections, according to Việt Nam News. Plants which fail to increase productivity in the specified ways will face closure.
The government says that strategy aims, “to develop the cement industry to an advanced and modern level, to produce cement of international standard quality with economical and efficient use of energy, giving high competitiveness in the international market, while meeting the needs of the domestic market, completely eliminating out-dated, natural resource-consuming and polluting technology for production.” The measure specifically targets the country’s overcapacity issue in its efforts to develop demand and its emphasis on product quality.