Displaying items by tag: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has appointed John Stull as a non-executive director. Previously he worked as the chief executive officer of Holcim Philippines from 2018 until 2021. He is currently the Area Manager - East, South Africa & Indian Ocean for Holcim.

Stull, an American national, holds over 29 years’ experience with Holcim Group having joined it in 1992 as the operations manager at the Alpena plant in Michigan, US. Since then he has worked in a variety of executive roles around the world. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron and an Advanced Management Degree from Harvard University.

Zimbabwe: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has said that cement demand has increased by 34% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2020 following the end of the national coronavirus lockdown. Business Weekly News has reported that the company said that cement demand in July 2020 was the highest in that month since July 2003 due to a 7% year-on-year sales rise.

Company chair Kumbirai Katsande said, “As business activity progressively continued to gain momentum into the third quarter of 2020, the demand for cement consequently outstripped supply, causing considerable supply backlog.” Katsande said that the shortage will ease as demand decreases “associated with rainfall” in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Zimbabwe: Work has begun on a 43,000t/yr dry mortar production line at Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe’s 0.5Mt/yr Manresa plant in Harare. The plant, supplied by Turkey-based Varlik Industries, will increase the company’s mortar production capacity by 710% to 50,000t/yr from 7000t/yr. Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe chair Kumbirai Katsande said “The expansion project is three-pronged and will include doubling of cement capacity and tripling agricultural lime capacity as well as automation of the dry mortars plant.”

Zimbabwe: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has complained of implied year-on-year inflation of 350% in September 2019 having possible knock-on effects on its business. Company secretary Flora Chinhaire blamed a 19% year-on-year drop in domestic consumption on ‘declining demand from homeowners due to escalating mortgage financing costs’ and the effects of foreign currency constraints on payments to suppliers for capital expenditure projects. All Africa has reported that power supply issues and unplanned stoppages caused a 1% decline in productivity at Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe’s 0.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant, where it operates a single wet production line.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted a 5.3% contraction in Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019.

Zimbabwe: A blast at Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe’s Sternblick quarry on 15 August 2019 has killed one person and injured another.

Agence Ecofin has reported that two women were at home on Pangoula Farm, Harare, when debris from the quarry entered through the roof, striking 36-year-old Shupikai Chatsina, who lost her life instantly, on the head. She leaves behind a husband and five children. The second woman, Ms Chatsina’s aunt, is recovering in hospital.

LafargeHolcim’s contractor Afri Mining did not follow established blasting procedures. The disaster is under police investigation.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe is going ahead with plans to upgrade its plant to increase capacity from 390,000t/yr to 450,000t/yr. The upgrade will cost US$15 – 20m, according to Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe CEO Amal Tantawi.

"Lafarge has a nominal capacity. We could produce up to 450,000t, but we do have some challenges that we are working on. Beyond that, we want to stabilise and be able to reach our maximum capacity, but that will not come before 2016," said Tantawi. "The challenges that we are facing are the cement mills that cannot reach this capacity, but we are looking at installing new mills by 2016. Once we do the upgrade, we will be able to operate at maximum capacity of 450,000t."

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe is in a closed period and is due to release its financial results for 2014 by March 2015. Tantawi said that the year has not been a good one. Group revenue for the half year that ended in June 2014 declined by 12.5% to US$28.2m, while gross profit was US$9.4m, compared to US$14.1m in the same period of 2013.

"Traditionally, the second half of the year has always been better in terms of business growth and the trend is expected to continue in 2015. Going forward, the construction industry has positive growth prospects premised on the mounting housing backlog and the pressing need for overall infrastructural rehabilitation and development. The company is well positioned to take advantage of the expected growth in the construction sector," said Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe in a statement.