Displaying items by tag: Japan
Nippon Paper to sell fly ash
28 May 2014Japan: Nippon Paper Industries has announced that it will jointly launch a new project with Zerotechno, located in Oita city, to produce and sell fly ash to the cement industry. Both companies will establish the Nippon Paper Zerotechno Tohoku limited liability partnership on 1 July 2014, which is to be based at the site of Nippon Paper Ishinomaki Mill in Ishinomaki city, Miyagi prefecture. The purpose of the project is to contribute to restoration of Tohoku district from the earthquake disaster by expanding use of carbon-free fly ash derived from coal ash that coal-fired boilers emit at Ishinomaki Mill.
Cement producers to boost shipping capacity in Japan
08 January 2014Japan: Cement producers in Japan aim to upgrade their shipping fleets following brisk demand from the reviving construction industry. Three cement producers are expected to spend more than US$95m to acquire new and used vessels in early 2014 according to Nikkei Report. Roughly 70% of cement is moved by sea in Japan.
SumitomoOsaka Cement will spend US$65m, first adding a large ship that can carry 8000t in February 2013 and then purchasing two 2000t ships and one 5500t ship after April 2015. Following the decommissioning of three ships the company will expand its fleet to 20 ships with a combined capacity of 93,000t in 2015 from 19 vessels with a capacity of 82,000t in 2013.
Ube-Mitsubishi Cement plans to start using three new large ships, each with a capacity of roughly 7000 - 12,000t, from February 2014. The company is expected to spend about US$14m on the additions, two of which will be newly built and the other rented.
Taiheiyo Cement will add three large ships for about US$19m in 2014 or later.
Japanese cement producer reduced their shipping fleets following declines in the market in the early 1990s. A reversal of this trend has been attributed to growing construction in large cities, rebuilding after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and an anticipated rise in demand ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Taiheiyo sales rise by 12% to US$1.91bn in Q1 2013
14 August 2013Japan: Taiheiyo's sales revenue rose by 12% year-on-year to US$1.91bn for the first quarter of the 2012 - 2013 Japanese financial year that ended on 30 June 2013. In the quarter ending on 31 March 2012 it was US$1.70bn. The Japanese cement producer attributed the increase to rebuilding following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, increased private sector construction investment in urban areas and favourable policies by the Japanese government.
The company returned to a net profit, making US$20.8m from a loss of US$54.8m in the same period as the prior year. For Taiheiyo's cement business sales of cement to external customers rose by 10% to US$1.20bn from US$1.09bn.
Sumitomo Osaka Cement profits rise sharply in Q1 2013
06 August 2013Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has reported that its operating profit rose by 77% to US$38.5m in the first quarter of the 2012 - 2013 Japanese financial year that ended on 30 June 2013. In the quarter ending on 31 March 2012 it was US$21.8m. The Japanese cement producer noted that public-sector demand for cement was increasing due to reconstruction following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster and that private-sector demand had also increased in urban areas.
The company's sales revenue rose slightly in the first quarter of the 2012 – 2013 financial year to US$547m from US$539m. Net profit increased by 151% to US$25.8m from US$10.3m. Sales from the company's cement business in the quarter were US$440, a slight increase year-on-year.
Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement plans to invest US$12m to install waste heat recovery (WHR) systems at two of its cement plants. The company has decided to build WHR technology at its Tochigi plant and to a plant in Aomori Prefecture operated by a subsidiary. Previously Sumitomo Osaka installed WHR systems at its Ako plant in Hyogo Prefecture and at its Kochi Precture plant.
Sumitomo Osaka Cement ups cement production in China
19 June 2013China: Sumitomo Osaka Cement intends to increase cement production by 80% in China's Yunnan Province by 2016. The Japanese cement producer has been making cement in Yunnan Province since 2007 in partnership with a local steelmaker and a Hong Kong construction materials company. That operation involves four plants, each run by a separate joint-venture firm.
With infrastructure investment still active in Yunnan, the plan is to build two more cement plants with a combined production capacity of 6.4Mt/yr. This will make the operation the province's largest, with a capacity of 14.6Mt/yr.
The first new plant will be built in December 2014 and the second in 2016. Sumitomo Osaka Cement will invest around US$42m for its share of the project.
Ube plans first new mine in 35 years
04 April 2013Japan: Ube Industries Ltd has announced that it will develop a large limestone mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture in anticipation of a further recovery in domestic demand for cement in Japan. The company will likely invest US$84m in what would be its first mine development in 35 years. Production is slated to kick off around 2017. Ube plans to operate the mine, which has estimated reserves of some 300Mt, for about 40 years.
Of the company's three domestic cement plants, two mainstay facilities in Yamaguchi have been procuring limestone from a mine near the new site. This existing mine, which produces 8Mt/yr of limestone, has been dug as deep as 140m and has been in production since 1948. High costs from deep mining prompted the company to look for a new site.
After sinking at one point to as low as 40Mt/yr, half of 1990 levels, Japanese cement demand has recently rebounded due to the reconstruction of areas devastated by the March 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami disaster. This trend will likely continue for a while, as efforts to repair and update ageing infrastructure are expected to pick up while reconstruction projects go on.
The Japan Cement Association estimates domestic demand in the current year (to March 2014) will grow by 3.4% year-on-year to 46Mt. Taiheiyo Cement Corporation and other cement makers are also gearing up to boost domestic supplies by curbing exports and taking other measures.
Japan: UBE Industries plans to install a generator powered by waste heat at its cement plant in Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture. The generator will meet about 40% of the plant's electric power consumption reducing production costs. The US$52.1m project will start providing power as early as the second half of 2015.
The Kanda plant currently produces 11% of its own electricity using a diesel generator. UBE's decision follows similar schemes at UBE's two other domestic cement plants in Japan. The company previously put off this upgrade because of a lull in domestic demand for cement. UBE is acting now because Kyushu Electric Power Co. is preparing for a rate increase in April 2013 that will impact upon production costs.
Taiheiyo returns to profit in first half
14 November 2012Japan: The major Japanese cement producer Taiheiyo Cement has released its financial results for the first half of the current fiscal year, which began on 1 April 2012. For the six months to 30 September 2012, the company took a revenue of US$4.43bn up from US$4.35bn in the same period of 2011. However, Taiheiyo went from a making a loss of US$42.3m in the six months to 30 September 2011 to a profit of US$6.7m. It did not provide an operating result for the 2011 period.
Looking forwards, the company has forecast revenues of US$9.2bn for the year ending 31 March 2012, with an operating profit of US$500.4m, a pretax profit of US$381.6m and a net profit of US$125.1m.
Demand rises in Sri Lanka
04 July 2012Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's post-war reconstruction and floods have helped boost demand for cement in the country, according to Tokyo Cement. The Sri Lankan and Japanese joint venture said that much of the demand has come from the government's large scale infrastructure projects.
Total cement consumed in Sri Lanka during 2011 rose by 21.6% year-on-year to 4.58Mt. Local cement production in 2011 rose by 13.6% to 1.97Mt.
According to Tokyo Cement, the private sector has been mainly engaged in building housing and housing schemes as well as hotels. In its 2011-2012 annual report, Tokyo also pointed out that a surge in private credit had contributed towards higher demand for cement.