Displaying items by tag: Holcim Croatia

Croatia: Holcim Croatia plans to invest Euro1.28m to upgrade the dosing equipment of its Koromačno cement plant’s kiln line. The planned upgrade will enable the line to increase the proportion of alternative materials used in its cement production, thus equipping the plant for low-carbon cement production. Innovation Norway has granted the producer Euro441,000 towards the cost of the project.

Managing director Nikola Kovačević said “Mineral admixtures in cement have a threefold benefit: on the one hand, different characteristics are created in the cement to meet the requirements of different types of construction; on the other hand, the exploitation of natural resources decreases. Thirdly, the carbon footprint of the cement is thus reduced through the lowering of the clinker factor.”

Croatia: Holcim Croatia has purchased Readymix Croatia for an undisclosed sum. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim said that the acquisition would allow it to invest in a fourth quarry in the local market located at Vranje near Lupoglav, Istria. Its aggregates business started operating in 2006 in Ocura in Varaždin County, then in 2007 in Plovanija and in 2008 in Šumber in Istria County. The building materials company operates one integrated cement plant in the country at Koromančnoa and two ready-mixed concrete plants.

Croatia: Holcim's Croatian unit has recorded an operating profit in the first quarter of the year, for the first time since 2009. Holcim Croatia said that its revenues fell by Euro463,000 in the first three months of 2015 compared to the same period of 2014. However, the revenues were 10% above its plan.

In July 2014, Holcim Croatia's board chairman Alan Sisinacki said that the ongoing 2015 Plus Turnaround Programme should get the company back to profitability in 2015. However, the company said on 8 May 2015 that it is still not certain that it will turn to profit in 2015. Holcim Croatia cut its loss to Euro1.78m in 2014 from Euro6.34m in 2013.

Croatia: Holcim Croatia is looking to post flat revenues in 2014, while hoping to raise them by 15% in 2015, according to the company's chairman Alan Sisinacki. Holcim Croatia currently operates one cement plant, two cement terminals, two concrete plants and three aggregates quarries.

In 2014 Holcim Croatia is hoping to cut its loss to Euro2.49m under its on-going '2015 Plus' programme, which should return the company to profitability in 2015. The turnaround plan is already yielding results, with Holcim Croatia posting an operating profit in the first half of 2014, the highest result over the last five years.

Sisinacki expects Holcim Croatia's cement sales to remain unchanged in terms of volume in 2014, with sales of aggregates also flat. The company's concrete sales are set to drop in terms of volume in 2014 due to the sale, closure or leasing out of a significant chunk of its unprofitable concrete-producing assets. Sisinacki said that his expectations for Holcim Croatia's 2014 performance are based on official statistical data showing a 4.0% year-on-year decline of building construction and 10% fall in other civil construction works in the first quarter of 2014 in Croatia.

During the first six months of 2014 cement demand dropped by 6.0%, according to data from the association of cement producers in Croatia. Market conditions in Slovenia and Italy, Holcim Croatia's biggest export markets, are not looking any better. Sisinacki said that Holcim Croatia is trying to offset this growth weakness by exporting to northern Africa, taking advantage of the cement plant conveniently located in the Koromacno port.