Displaying items by tag: Gypsum
China to retaliate on US tariffs on cement
07 August 2018China/US: China’s Ministry of Commerce has proposed placing retaliatory tariffs on products from the US, including cement. The list covers 5207 items and proposes adding import taxes of up to 25% on them. It includes clinker, white cement, limestone, quicklime, slaked lime, gypsum, refractory products and cement packaging machinery. The ministry said that the new tariffs will take effect at a date to be announced later on.
Will the US trade war on China affect cement?
18 July 2018The US government proposed placing tariffs on cement this week as part of its slowly-escalating trade war against China. The latest list will face a 10% tariff from the end of August 2018 following a consultation period. Of relevance to the cement industry, it will include limestone flux, quicklime, slaked lime, gypsum, anhydrite, clinkers of Portland, aluminous, slag, supersulfate and similar hydraulic cements, white Portland cement, Portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, refractory cements, additives for cement, cement based building materials and more.
Graph 1: Imports of hydraulic cement and clinker to the US from China, 2012 – 2017. Source: United States Geologic Survey (USGS).
Graph 2: Major exporters of hydraulic cement and clinker (Mt) to the US in 2017. Source: United States Geologic Survey (USGS).
At face value it seems unlikely that the tariffs will do much direct damage to the cement sectors in either China or the US. United States Geological Survey (USGS) data reports that the US imported 2Mt of cement and clinker from China in 2017 out of a total of 13.6Mt of imports. China was the third-largest exporter of cement to the US after Canada and Greece. Given the mammoth size of the Chinese cement industry - it sold 2.3Bnt in 2017 according to National Bureau of Statistics of China - it is unlikely that losing this export stream will cause the sector to lose much sleep. If the exports are coming from smaller producers though it might well impact upon them disproportionally. Any potential shortfall in the US is likely to be met by any number of the world’s overproducing cement nations. Vietnam, Iran (!) and Indonesia are the first few candidates that spring to mind.
The other point to consider from the USGS data is that the value of the cement imported from China in 2017 was on the cheaper side. Altogether the value of Chinese imported cement came to US$132m in 2017. Yet it was the fifth cheapest for cost, insurance and freight per tonne out of 32 importing countries. Add a 10% tariff to that and it is still only the eighth cheapest. If these figures represent reality then it seems unlikely that tariffs will cause the Chinese imports to slow down much.
All of this pretty much fits the general impression of China as a country that produces the most cement in the world but it actually exports very little of it. Consultancies like Ad and Marcia Ligthart’s Cement Distribution Consultants have made a point of downplaying China’s export market in recent years due to a lack of deep water terminals for plants and a general inward focus. Yet the sheer amount of production capacity could have big implications if it ever does get properly connected to the sea.
Other products facing the new tariffs that have relevance for the cement industry include input materials like gypsum or secondary cementitious materials (SCM) like slag and fly ash. Gypsum isn’t likely to be a concern given the presence of established exporters in Canada, Spain, Thailand, Oman and the like. SCMs are more mercurial but don’t appear to be too intrinsic to the US market. Ferrous slag imports grew to 2Mt in 2015 according to USGS data but the main sources were Japan, Canada, Spain and Germany. Charles Zeynel of ZAG International at the Global Slag Conference 2018 posited that Chinese exports comprised up to 6Mt or 25% of the world market of traded international slag.
All of this suggests a symbolic nature to the US tariffs on Chinese cement and related products. Perhaps the real news story to have noted this week was the framework agreement signed between Denmark’s FLSmidth and China’s China National Building Material (CNBM), the world’s largest cement producer and one of its larger cement equipment manufacturers.
Typically many of the new cement plant projects Global Cement has reported upon recently involve a Chinese contractor that may or may not be using European engineering from companies like FLSmidth who previously would have been managing the build themselves. The point here is that new plants, production lines and upgrades at US cement plants might well be built by a Chinese company through its European partners. The new upgrade to Lehigh Hanson’s Mitchell plant in Indiana has been budgeted at US$600m. This is far more than the value of Chinese cement imported into the US in 2017.
US government proposes tariffs on Chinese cement
11 July 2018US/China: The Office of the US Trade Representative has proposed placing a 10% tariff on mineral and other products from China including cement. The list includes over 600 items and it will come into force following a period for public comment in August 2018.
Mineral products affected by the proposed tariffs of interest to the cement industry include limestone flux, quicklime, slaked lime, gypsum, anhydrite, clinkers of Portland, aluminous, slag, supersulfate and similar hydraulic cements, white Portland cement, Portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, refractory cements, additives for cement, cement based building materials and more.
The inclusion of additional products to a tariff list follows an earlier decision by the US government to tax imports from China worth US$34bn that came into force in early July 2018.
GICA aims to export up to 1.5Mt of cement in 2018
20 June 2018Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d’Algérie’s (GICA) aims to export 1 - 1.5Mt of cement in 2018. The Ministry of Industry and Mines said that the group has signed a deal to export 30,000t via its SODISMAC subsidiary, according to the Algeria Press Service. GICA is also in discussion with foreign partners to export other products such as limestone and gypsum. The cement company handles its exports via the ports of Arzew and Djendjen.
In 2017, the group recorded record cement production of nearly 14Mt compared with 12.6Mt in 2016. It exported 45,000t of cement in May 2018 under a contract with a total volume of 200,000t.
Germany’s Knauf announced this week that it is set to buy North American wallboard producer USG. The news is relevant for the cement industry because both companies are prominent gypsum producers. They are leading gypsum wallboard producers, with assets around the world, including gypsum mines. Although their focus is on wallboard a significant proportion of raw gypsum ends up being used in cement production. Hence, the takeover of a major North American producer by a European one deserves attention.
First a little background on the deal between Knauf and USG. The takeover has been a particularly acrimonious one at times, with both parties throwing strong language at each other and, although it has avoided being a hostile takeover, at times it seemed close. The deal became public in March 2018 when USG publicly said that it had rejected a bid of US$5.9bn from Knauf. It described the offer at the time as ‘wholly inadequate.’ Knauf then fought back by sending a letter to USG’s shareholders urging them to vote against director nominees at the next annual general meeting. Knauf owns 10.5% of USG’s shares. Then, in April 2018, Warren Buffett, the chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, USG’s largest shareholder with a 31% stake, swung behind Knauf’s scheme. At this point it was revealed that Buffett had facilitated the initial talks between USG and Knauf. He even described the investment in USG as ‘disappointing.’ Buffett’s public move against USG in April 2018 signalled the death knell to USG’s independence. The US$7bn deal between Knauf and USG was agreed and announced on 11 June 2018. The transaction is expected to complete in early 2019.
USG operates 12 mines or quarries in North America. It also has other assets around the world including three gypsum mines in Oman, Thailand and Australia respectively that it runs in conjunction with its USG Boral joint venture in the Middle East and Asia. By contrast Knauf held over 60 quarries in 2014 with a focus on Europe.
The interesting implications from the merger may arise from what Knauf plans to do in certain regions. North America for example saw a reduction in raw mined gypsum production since the financial crash in 2008 as building markets suffered. Rising levels of synthetic gypsum production from coal power plants partly compensated for this. Buying USG gives Knauf a truly global base of natural gypsum production with which it can supply both itself and any cement customers. Knauf has a real shot of cornering the market in raw gypsum production provided it can keep the price low enough to stop enough rival mines being opened. Knauf might decide, as the construction market continues to recover in the US, to bring in the extra gypsum from elsewhere if it proved cost effective. Hooking up USG-Boral gypsum resources in Asia with Knauf’s might have implications for cement producing countries that lack sufficient gypsum supplies such as India. Oman is building itself up as the major gypsum exporter to Asia and USG-Boral is a part of it, with major gypsum resources in the country.
In terms of the cement industry it seems likely that there will be no immediate shakeup of gypsum supply. Long term supply contracts with either USG or Knauf should remain as they were and will stransfer to the new enlarged company. Knauf’s main market for gypsum is to use it to make wallboard but gypsum use for cement is a significant market as well. The ‘fun’ starts when or if Knauf starts to reorganise its supply chains. As its focus is on the wallboard business there may be implications thereafter for cement users. And since Knauf’s only major competitor at scale is Saint-Gobain, the market has just shrunk.
Gypsum supply in West Africa
21 March 2018Lots of facts stuck out from the inaugural Global GypSupply Conference that took place in Brussels last week. One was that Spain exported 1.49Mt of raw gypsum to West Africa in 2016. The data point from Spanish customs popped up in a presentation by Mohamed El Moustapha, the managing director of a gypsum mining company based in Mauritania. He was using the figures to reinforce the opportunities for his company to supply the growing cement industry in West Africa. Yet the size of the market has implications for the oft-repeated claims of cement sector self-sufficiency that various countries in the region have cried out for.
Gypsum is used as a retarding agent to control the setting time of cement. It gets added whilst clinker is ground into cement. Roughly speaking, cement production requires about 5% of gypsum. So a 1Mt/yr cement plant would require around 50,000t/yr of gypsum. The crucial question for cement producers in West Africa is where is this gypsum coming from. Given that the Global Cement Directory 2018 places cement production capacity at just under 100Mt/yr in the region, this requires around just under 5Mt/yr of gypsum.
El Moustapha made out that there were no gypsum deposits in West Africa. This contradicts a study on Nigerian gypsum mining published in Global Gypsum Magazine in March 2016 estimated local reserves to be around 150Mt although to be fair to El Moustapha these appear to be relatively underused. This also doesn’t take into account sources of synthetic gypsum produced at coal-power plants although this is likely to be negligible at present.
Reserves in Mauritania appear to be much larger at 1.7Bnt. Instead, the problem here appears to be assisting the exploitation of mined gypsum by improving infrastructure and supply chain issues. El Moustapha’s company Samia reported that it exported 170,00t of gypsum to cement plants in West Africa, mainly via ship, but with a significant minority via truck overland to Mali. Another speaker at the conference from the Moroccan gypsum trader Cultura presented a snapshot of a more mature market with exports of 210,000t in 2017. However, similar issues with port infrastructure were also present. To this end the company was keenly looking forward to an upgrade project the Port of Safi due for commissioning in 2020 – 2022 that would allow larger ships to berth.
A market report on the gypsum and anhydrite market by Roskill in 2014 placed Egypt, Algeria and South Africa as Africa’s leading gypsum producers. In particular it singled out South Africa as the only sub-Saharan country producing more than 100,000t/yr of gypsum. In terms of usage of gypsum Roskill estimated that just over half of the world’s gypsum was used to make cement, followed by 38% for wallboard and plaster production and then 18% for agricultural usage. Although this compares to just over a quarter for cement production and most of the rest for wallboard production in the US, with its more developed wallboard market than the rest of the world, according to recent United States Geological Survey (USGS) data.
As the Global GypSupply Conference demonstrated plenty of raw gypsum is available around the world. However, since supply and price can vary considerably in the short term, cement producers are keen to secure steady sources. Developing gypsum sources in northern Africa are necessary to help build the West African cement industry, but the regions need to work together.
The 2nd Global GypSupply Conference will take place in spring 2020
Jamaica: Caribbean Cement plans to raise the production of gypsum and limestone from its quarries. It intends to increase the size of its Halberstadt Gypsum Quarry to 200,000t/yr and build a new 800,000t/yr limestone quarry at Harbour Head, according to the Gleaner newspaper. Both quarries will be near to the cement producer’s plant at Rockfort in Kingston. The plan requires approval from the National Environment & Planning Agency.
Caribbean Cement says that the expansions to its quarrying operations are required to secure supply of these materials. It has not commented on the size of the investment required for the project. Its quarries are operated through a subsidiary, Jamaica Gypsum & Quarries.
Punta Alegre gypsum mine supports Cuban cement plants
04 January 2018Cuba: The Punta Alegre gypsum mine near Ciego de Ávila supplied over 56,400t of gypsum to the local cement industry in 2017. The mine mainly supplied Cementos Cienfuegos, according to the Invasor newspaper. Despite the disruption caused by Hurricane Irma in mid-2017 the mine beat its annual production target of 50,000t. The unit installed a new mill from Chinese suppliers that increased its production capacity to 100t/hr in 2015.
Croatia: Zeljeznice, the Bosnia & Herzegovina railway federation, has signed a partnership with Croatia’s PPD Transport to transport gypsum to Nasicecement. The deal is to transport 20,000t of raw gypsum by the end of 2017 from supplier Rudnici Gipsa based in Donji Vakuf in Bosnia & Herzegovina, according to Klix media. Shipments were scheduled to start from the beginning of July 2017. No value for the contract has been disclosed.
Nigeria: Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, the chairman of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), has warned that the price of cement may rise if the Naira continues to devalue. He made the comments at the company’s Annual General Meeting according to the Nation newspaper. Imported inputs such as fuel, machinery, spare parts and gypsum would all be affected by local currency depreciation. The cement producer was forced to shut down its Sokoto cement plant for intermittent periods in late 2015 due to poor supplies of low pour fuel oil (LFPO) from the Kaduna refinery.
The subsidiary of BUA Group reported that its turnover fell by 14% year-on-year to US$41.4m in 2015 from US$48m in 2014. Its profit after tax fell by 37% to US$3.81m from US$6.09m.