Displaying items by tag: Italcementi

Holcim agreed to sell its Indian assets to Adani Group this week for US$6.37bn. These include Holcim’s stakes in its local subsidiaries Ambuja Cement and ACC. The deal, if approved by the local competition body, should complete in the second half of 2022. This is one of the larger sales of cement company assets over the last decade. Adani Group, an Indian-based conglomerate with businesses across energy, transport and more, is now poised to become the second largest cement producer in India.

Global Cement Weekly previously covered a potential sale of Ambuja Cement and ACC in April 2022 when the story that Holcim was looking for a buyer first emerged in the Indian press. At the time local press speculated that the sale could generate as much as US$15bn for Holcim. So it is interesting to see that a figure of US$6.37bn has been agreed upon instead, less than half of the speculative figure. Roughly, as ever, this places a value of a little below US$100/t of cement production capacity. This seems like a relatively low pricing for these plants by international standards over the last decade. However, this doesn’t take into account many factors such as, for example, the condition of the plants, Holcim’s desire to change its business, the ease of selling up in India all in one go, other non-cement assets and so on. For Adani Group though, buying into heavy building materials production in a large market like India clearly seemed attractive. It is also worth noting that, similar to other cement sector acquisitions recently, here again is a buyer with a background in another carbon-heavy industry buying into another heavy emitter.

Table 1: Selected large scale acquisitions of controlling shares in non-Chinese cement production assets since 2012. Source: Global Cement news and company releases. Italcementi acquisition value reported by Reuters.

Table 1 above provides some historical context to Adani Group’s agreed acquisition by comparing it to other large completed deals in the cement sector over the last decade. Don’t forget that it is only looking at this from the cement sector. This list excludes changes in ownership in the Chinese cement companies in this period because, generally, there has been a government-driven consolidation in the industry through mergers rather than large-scale acquisitions. So, for example, the world’s current biggest cement producer CNBM had a reported production capacity of 350Mt/yr in 2012 and this rose to 514Mt/yr in 2020 as it absorbed other state-owned companies. The big merger it underwent during this time was with China National Materials (Sinoma) in 2018, primarily an engineering company that also produced cement.

The most obvious trend in Table 1 is the journey of Lafarge and Holcim from their merger in 2015 and the gradual realignment of the business subsequently. During this time the company has sold up in large markets outside of its core regions in Europe and North America. Latterly, it has also started to diversify away from heavy into lightweight building materials. One notable ‘nearly happened’ was LafargeHolcim’s attempt to sell its business in the Philippines to San Miguel Corporation for US$2.15bn in 2019. That deal collapsed when the Philippines Competition Authority failed to approve it within a year of its proposal. CRH enlarged itself from assets sold during the creation of LafargeHolcim and then picked up Ash Grove in the US in 2018. CRH’s head Albert Manifold memorably said in 2018 that his company was focusing on markets in developed countries and CRH’s large-scale acquisitions have largely followed this.

As for the others, HeidelbergCement’s purchase of Italcementi in 2016 almost appeared as a riposte to the formation of LafargeHolcim, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. It confirmed HeidelbergCement’s place as the world’s second largest non-Chinese cement producer. It is also one of the minority of truly multinational acquisitions on this list. Unlike LafargeHolcim and now Holcim though, HeidelbergCement hasn’t exhibited a desire to downsize or diversify at quite the same speed. UltraTech Cement’s acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates in 2017 confirmed its place as the largest Indian producer. That deal was publicly one of the longer lasting one as it originally started out in at least 2014 on a smaller scale and was later slowed down by the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Amendment Act. Smikon’s purchase of Eurocement in 2021 almost looks like part of the isolation of the Russian economy, especially with the benefit of hindsight given by the invasion of the Ukraine in early 2022.

Mega-deals have lots of moving parts but two of the most tangible to broader audiences are the price and the timing. Cemex infamously got both of these wrong with its acquisition of Rinker in 2007 as it paid high just as the US subprime mortgage crisis started a wider global financial one. This was despite Cemex’s emergence over the previous 15 years as a multinational force to be reckoned with due in part to the so-called ‘Cemex Way’ approach to management, acquisitions and integration. Clear winners from the big acquisitions over the last decade are harder to spot but CRH and UltraTech Cement look strong so far. Adani Group has certainly picked a lively time to make a purchase on this scale following a global pandemic with ongoing global supply chain issues and disruptions to energy and food markets.

Italy: Colacem plans to stop grinding cement at its Maddaloni Plant in Campania from the start of October 2021. The unit will be converted into a sales and logistics site, according to the Il Mattino newspaper. The cement producer purchased the Maddaloni plant from Italcementi in mid-2018 as part of the measures required by the Italian Competition Authority when Italcementi acquired Cementir. The kiln at the plant was later shut down in early 2019.

The latest piece of China-based Huaxin Cement’s global ambitions slotted into place this week with the news that it is preparing to buy plants in Zambia and Malawi. Its board of directors has approved plans to spend US$150m towards acquiring a 75% stake in Lafarge Zambia and US$10m on a 100% stake in Lafarge Cement Malawi. The move will gain it two integrated plants with a combined production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr in Zambia, and a 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant in Malawi.

This latest proposed acquisition represents the next step for Huaxin Cement in Africa following its purchase of African Tanzanian Maweni Limestone from ARM Cement in mid-2020. The company has also been busy along the more traditional Belt and Road Initiative land routes in Asia. It started up the kiln at its new 2Mt/yr Jizzakh cement plant in mid-2020. Elsewhere in Central Asia it runs two plants in Tajikistan and one plant in Kyrgyzstan via various indirectly-owned subsidiaries. While in South Asia it runs a plant in Nepal and in South-East Asia it runs one in Cambodia. If the plans in Zambia and Malawi pay off then it will give the Chinese producer a growing presence in East Africa, with plants in three countries.

The China Cement Association ranked Huaxin Cement as the country’s fifth largest clinker producer in 2021 with an integrated capacity base of just under 63Mt/yr. Domestically, the company operates 57 cement plants and most of these are based in the Yangtze River Economic Belt region. In 2020 it reported cement and clinker sales of 76Mt, a small decrease from 2019. Its operating income fell by 6.6% year-on-year to US$4.58bn and profit dropped by 12% to US$1.2bn. This performance was blamed on the emergence of Covid-19 at the start of 2020 and then floods later in the year.

Compared to the other larger Chinese cement producers, Huaxin Cement roughly appears to be holding rank with its overseas expansions. The leaders, CNBM and Anhui Conch, hold subsidiaries with plants in South-East and Central Asia and CNBM’s engineering wing, Sinoma, has a far bigger reach, building plants all over the place. Information has been scarce since mid-2020 on the long heralded 7Mt/yr plant in Tanzania due to be built by Sinoma and local subsidiary Hengya Cement. At that time local residents in Mtimbwani, Mkinga District were reportedly being compensated for their land. Other than this, one of the other big players internationally is Taiwan Cement. In 2018 it invested around US$1.1bn for a 40% stake in Turkey-based Oyak Cement. As well as a presence in Turkey this also gave it a share of plants in Portugal in 2019 when Oyak completed its acquisition of Cimpor.

Elsewhere this week, carrying some of the themes above with expansion in Central Asia, two new integrated cement plant projects were announced in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan respectively. Meanwhile, Italcementi said it will invest Euro5.0m to restart clinker production at its Trentino cement plant in Sarche di Madruzzo, Italy. The unit has been operating as a grinding plant since 2015. This might be viewed as an unexpected decision considering the high local CO2 price but it shows some level of confidence in the local market by Italcementi and its parent company, HeidelbergCement. The next step will be when or if a European producer decides to build a brand new integrated plant in Italy or elsewhere.

Italy: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi has announced a planned investment of Euro5.0m to restart clinker production at its Trentino cement plant in Sarche di Madruzzo. The plant will have an integrated production capacity of 0.25Mt/yr when it resumes full operation from January 2022. The company aims to establish a ‘reference plant for the Northeast’ at the facility. It will begin hiring 30 new staff in late 2021. The unit has been operating as a grinding plant since 2015.

Technical director Agostino Rizzo said, “The cement plant is equipped with the technologies necessary to guarantee high level environmental performance. To this will be added a landscape integration. The relationship with the region and local communities is of great importance for us.”

News has been dripping out slowly over the last few months about which assets HeidelbergCement is planning to divest. This week reporting from Bloomberg suggested that the German-based building materials producer might be seriously considering selling one or more integrated plants in Spain. The idea is reportedly part of a wider review of its portfolio in the country with the possible inclusion of cement plants at San Sebastian and Bilbao at a future date also. A proposed price of Euro300m for the national business was put forward by the sources to the reporters but it is unclear how many cement plants that figure includes.

HeidelbergCement announced in July 2020 that it had reduced the value of its total assets by Euro3.4bn following a review. It blamed this on reduced demand for building materials due to the coronavirus pandemic and the devaluation of its Hanson subsidiary in the UK, in part related to the UK’s exit from the European Union. A divestment plan followed at its Capital Markets Day event in September 2020 when it said it was simplifying its country portfolio and prioritising the strongest market positions. To this end it said it was setting up a watch list of underperforming assets to keep an eye on.

Over the next few months a number of corporate reorganisations and actual confirmed divestments occurred as well as plenty of speculation. HeidelbergCement-controlled Suez Cement started to acquire a 100% stake in its own subsidiary, Tourah Portland Cement, in September 2020. Suez Cement then sold its majority stake in Kuwait-based Hilal Cement in late January 2021. This week HeidelbergCement Bangladesh informed the local stock exchange that it is planning to amalgamate its subsidiary Emirates Cement.

Signs that European reviews had taken place could be seen later in the autumn of 2020. In November 2020 the Italian press picked up on rumours that HeidelbergCement was planning to move subsidiary Italcementi’s research centre from Bergamo, Lombardy, to Heidelberg in Baden Württemberg. Whether this was ever a serious proposition or not, this appeared to have been avoided in early February 2021 when an Italian union said it had agreed with Italcementi to keep the research centre in Italy as well as a preserving jobs generally. Meanwhile, also in November 2020, France-based subsidiary Ciments Calcia announced a major upgrade at its integrated Airvault cement plant but along with the conversion of two other integrated plants into a grinding unit and a terminal respectively, and changes at the French headquarters at Guervill.

Just before Christmas the bigger speculations started to appear in the press, with a story suggesting that HeidelbergCement was considering selling assets in California, US, with a target price of US$1.5bn for three integrated plants and associated concrete and aggregate units. That story is particularly beguiling given Cemex’s decision this month to reopen a kiln in Mexico to supply cement to the southwest US to meet shortages (See GCW 493)! Incidentally, readers should also note the story this week about a shortage of natural gas exports from Texas, US, that has caused cement plants in northern Mexico to shut down. This week, as mentioned at the start, has seen Spain added to the list of places that HeidelbergCement might be considering selling up in. The Spanish market like Italy has been rationalising heavily over the last decade particularly as export markets have dwindled. Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, reported that domestic cement consumption fell by 10% year-on-year to 13.3Mt in 2020 from 14.7Mt in 2019. On top of this Oficemen has repeatedly warned of the threat that CO₂ emissions prices pose for its members’ exports.

Group chairman Dominik von Achten told Reuters this month that the company plans to sell the first of the five assets in early-to-mid 2021. Of course he wouldn’t say where, except for adding that the company would stay in ‘rock solid’ markets like Northern Europe. Indonesia has been seen as a candidate for disposal by analysts, likely due to local production overcapacity levels and LafargeHolcim’s own departure in Indonesia 2018. All Von Achten would say on the matter was that Indonesia was an ‘important’ market for the group. Whether it’s seen as important for reducing company debt or building value remains to be seen. HeidelbergCement hasn’t exactly been shy about saying what they are doing over the last half year or so but they are only going so far and they won’t comment on speculation. So in the meantime we must wait to find out more.

Italy: An agreement between Italcementi and its unions has confirmed that its Bergamo research centre to stay in Italy. The agreement with the FenealUil, Filca-Cisl, Fillea-Cgil, Italcementi RSU unions is intended to preserve jobs at the company, maintain at least 15,000 hours/yr of research at the site and dedicate at least 1% of the company’s profits towards research and innovation. Parent company HeidelbergCement was reportedly considering a relocation of the centre to Heidelberg in Baden Württemberg, Germany in late 2020.

Separately, Italcementi’s grinding plant at Salerno has been approved to continue producing white cement. The decision follows staff cuts at the cement producer, according to the Il Mattino newspaper.

Italy: Germany-based HeidelbergCement is reportedly considering a relocation of its subsidiary Italcementi’s research centre from Bergamo, Lombardy to Heidelberg in Baden Württemberg, Germany. The Italia Oggi newspaper has reported that Italcementi said, "The reorganisation of innovation and product research activities will be concentrated on a global level to better enhance the important skills acquired in Bergamo, making them available to all the countries that are part of the group. The process of relocation to Heidelberg of the research activities will be defined in detail during 2021 and at the same time all the possible solutions for the workers involved will be implemented through internal or external relocation offers."

The proposed move has attracted local resistance. Chamber of Deputies member for Lombardy Maurizio Martina said, “All the institutions, from the national government to the regional council, must promote an initiative to discuss with the owners the choice of moving the HeidelbergCement research centre to the German headquarters. The agreements signed in 2016 were different: we are talking about one of the most important research centres in the world, which brings quality employment and added value to Bergamo and Lombardy, and it is essential to do everything to ensure that it remains in our territory."

Germany: HeidelbergCement says that it has supplied concrete for the construction of an 80m² two-storey detached house in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The concrete contains i.tech 3D, a ground sulphoaluminate clinker developed by HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi for use as an additive in concrete for 3D printing. Engineering & Innovation head Jennifer Scheydt said, “The development of a cement-bound material for 3D printing is a major challenge. It should be easy to pump and extrude. It must also quickly develop sufficient load-bearing capacity so that the lower layers do not give out under the load of the upper layers. At the same time, the bond between the layers must be ensured.”

The property, the first of its kind, will consist of three-shelled insulation-filled walls when completed in late 2020.

Italy: Italcementi and Calcestruzzi have supplied specialists and products, including 67,000m³ of concrete, for the Genoa-San Giorgio Bridge. The new structure has been built to replace the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in mid-2018. Products from the integrated Calusco d'Adda cement plant, the Novi Ligure grinding plant and Calcestruzzi’s concrete plants in Genoa supported the project.

Italy: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi’s Chiaravagna concrete plant in Genoa, Liguria has received international sustainability certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). The certificate, rating silver, acknowledges responsibly-sourced concrete across five categories: pre-requisites, management, environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. It aims to validate the entire process chain, from transportation to the recycling of raw materials.

The plant uses CEM-III ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement from Italcementi’s Novi Ligure grinding plant in Alessandria, made from clinker from the company’s Calusco d’Adda plant in Bergamo. The cement has specific CO₂ emissions of 500kg/t. It is supplying concrete for the reconstruction of the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in 2018.

Italcementi said, “This result adds to those already achieved by Italcementi and Calcestruzzi in terms of sustainability, such as the new range of Eco.build green concretes capable of meeting the requirements of green procurement, and the availability of the environmental product declaration (EPD) for different types of cement and concrete.”