Displaying items by tag: Lafarge
Lafarge India talking to US$240m investor
30 April 2013India: Baring Asia is in advanced talks with Lafarge India to invest around US$240m in the cement producer, according to private sources quoted by Reuters. Private equity firm Baring Asia is negotiating the investment for a minority stake.
Lafarge has four cement plants in India with a combined production capacity of 7.75Mt/yr. It has been selling assets around the world as part of an on-going debt reduction programme. Recent sales include that of a Ukrainian plant to CRH in late April 2013, the sale of a portfolio of its UK operations to Mittal Investments for US$439m in November 2012 and the sale of two of Lafarge's cement plants in North America to Eagle Materials for US$446m in September 2012.
Lafarge to sell Ukraine plant to CRH
26 April 2013Ukraine: France's Lafarge has announced the sale of its cement activities in Ukraine to Ireland's CRH for an enterprise value of Euro96m. The deal comprises one wet process cement plant located in the Lviv region, in the western part of the country. The Global Cement Directory 2013 lists the plant's capacity as 1.7Mt/yr.
The transaction, which is expected to close before the end of 2013, is subject to the relevant Ukrainian authorities' approval. Lafarge retains a presence in Ukraine through three aggregates quarries serving the Ukrainian, Russian and Polish markets.
Philippines: A consortium, including a Lafarge subsidiary, has officially opened a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) facility at the Payatas landfill in Quezon City in the Philippines. Mundo Verde consists of Lafarge Industrial Ecology International SA, landfill operator IPM Environmental Services (IPM- ESI), waste management consultancy Basic Environmental Systems & Technologies (BEST), as well as engineering consultancy Pennies and Pounds Holdings.
"The facility will help reduce the volume of waste in the Payatas landfill, while at the same time produce RDF, an alternative fuel that can be used in the cement-making process," said Mundo Verde in a statement.
The facility started operations on 22 January 2013 and it is expected to increase RDF production to 150t/day from 50t/day. The landfill site receives an estimated 1200t/day of solid water of which about 30% will be processed by the facility. Waste processing is expected to prolong the lifespan of the landfill by three to four years.
The facility's RDF will be used at Lafarge Republic cement plants. Currently, coal comprises 75% of the cement producer's fuel with the remaining 25% made up of alternative fuels such as rice husks, discarded plastics, and sludge. RDF comprises 5 - 10% of the producer's alternative fuel use.
Slovenia: Lafarge Cement plans to try again to obtain an environmental permit for a highly disputed waste-burning furnace at its Trbovlje plant, local media has reported. The move follows the second time Lafarge's request was rejected by Slovenia's Environment Agency in March 2013.
Pakistan: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Lafarge Pakistan Ltd and the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) for provision of health and safety training and awareness to all its members. Amr Reda, CEO of Lafarge Pakistan observed, "The cement industry operates in an environment with multiple types of hazards, making it our priority to ensure the safety of all people, working directly and indirectly, in it."
The APCMA welcomed the initiative and is encouraging all of its members to not only study and apply these safety standards and take the initiative to share the best practices across their organisations. Aizaz Sheikh, CEO of Kohat Cement and Chairman of APCMA stated, "APCMA is thankful to Lafarge Pakistan for coming forward with the idea and are happy to embrace this initiative. The proposal was unanimously approved by the council and the APCMA looks forward to further initiatives under this MoU".
Amr Reda expressed his delight on the APCMA agreement, saying, "We are happy to share our learning and best practices with other companies through the platform of the APCMA. As part of our long-term commitment to health and safety, Lafarge Pakistan will continue to impart knowledge and awareness on this subject to other industrial establishments in Pakistan."
Hima loses limestone rights in Uganda
03 April 2013Uganda: Hima Cement has lost its mining rights to limestone deposits in Uganda following a High Court decision. The court transferred the rights to limestone deposits in Kasese, western Uganda, from the subsidiary of Lafarge to the East African Gold Sniffing Company.
The court ruled that Hima's lease was for 21 years, ending on 31 December 2011, and it had already lapsed without any renewal in accordance with Section 47 of the Mining Act. East Africa Gold Sniffing contested a decision by the Ministry of Energy that restored Hima's mining rights after Hima managed to secure an exploration licence over the same area. The ruling means that mining of limestone and processing of cement must cease until and if an appellate court overturns the decision.
Lafarge considers expansion drive
03 April 2013Malaysia: Lafarge Malayan Cement, Malaysia's largest cement producer, is considering an expansion drive to help meet buoyant domestic demand. Lafarge Malaysia has a 40% share of the local market, in which the total industry production averages 20Mt/yr.
"We will probably expand... (but) it needs to be finalised by our board and I can't discuss it in advance," said Lafarge Malaysia president and chief executive officer Bradley Mulroney in an interview. He added that as market leader, the company has to make sure that it has sufficient capacity to maintain its position.
Lafarge Malayan Cement holds three integrated cement plants, a grinding plant and it operates five quarries. In 2012 the company reported a 10% growth in net profit while revenue grew 7% to US$887m.
Lafarge's rivals in the sector include YTL Cement Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd and Cement Industries of Malaysia Bhd (CIMA). Both YTL Cement and CIMA have planned capacity expansions of around 1.5Mt/yr. According to Bank Negara Malaysia, the construction sector will grow by 15.9% in 2013, helped by various projects under the government's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
Heracles Cement shuts production at Halkida
27 March 2013Greece: Heracles Cement has terminated operations at its plant in Halkida, as part of a restructuring program of its production structure. The production unit at Halkida has been idle since July 2011.
The plant at Halkida was hit by a plunge in construction activity in Attica, with sales falling by 80% between 2008 and 2013. The company said it would seek every possible solution to minimise the effect of its decision to close down the unit on its 236 workers. Heracles Cement said the decision will burden its 2013 results by Euro57m but it expects a positive impact of Euro18m/yr in subsequent years.
The restructuring programme is aimed to help the Lafarge subsidiary cope with Greece's recession in its construction sector. Under the new structure, Heracles Cement will continue cement production from its two units in Volos and Evia, exploiting their comparative advantages, mainly their port facilities, to support the group's activities in Greece and in the wider Mediterranean region.
Lafarge Surma to supply Madina Cement
20 March 2013Bangladesh: Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd signed an agreement with Madina Cement Industries Ltd at a ceremony organised at the company's headquarters. Under the terms of the deal, Lafarge Surma will supply its high quality clinker to Madina Cement from its integrated plant at Chhatak to produce 'Powercrete.' This will be subject to strict quality controls by employees of Lafarge Surma to ensure world-class quality that Lafarge Surma promises to deliver to its customers.
Furthermore the production process will follow the highest safety standards. Lafarge will shortly launch Powercrete, with the aim of strengthening its market position in Bangladesh.
Despite Europe - European cement production in 2012 continued
27 February 2013With the annual results for 2012 in from Lafarge, Holcim and CRH we now return to look at how the European markets coped.
Holcim summed up the mood perfectly in its media release on its annual results for 2012. First it pushed the big positive (net sales up overall) but then finished its first (!) sentence with: '...despite the difficult economic environment in Europe.'
Overall in Europe, Lafarge saw its cement volumes fall by 9% to 29.6Mt from 32.5Mt. Notably sales volumes fell significantly in Spain and Greece, by 26% and 37% respectively.
Holcim saw its cement volumes fall by 2% in Europe to 26.3Mt from 26.8Mt. There were specific country figures from Holcim but it did comment that the 'severe crisis' in southern Europe had 'contaminated' economies further north such as a France, Benelux, Germany and Switzerland.
CRH was less candid about its cement business in Europe although it did report that its sales revenues fell by 10% to Euro2.69bn in 2012 from Euro2.99bn in 2011. Notable losses occurred in Poland (11% volume decline), Ireland (17% decline) and Spain (30% decline).
These figures compare against a 4% decline in volumes in Western and Northern Europe to 22.1Mt from 21.3Mt by HeidelbergCement, a 13% drop in overall net sales to Euro3.05bn in Cemex's Northern Europe section and a 16% drop in volumes to 16Mt from Italcementi in its Central Western Europe region.
The question to ask at this point is how HeidelbergCement and Holcim managed to suffer smaller losses compared to everybody else. Less exposure to southern Europe is one answer. Depressingly though they both suffered similar drops in profit indicators such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to the others (20% and 33% respectively).
Both Holcim and CRH are expecting continued tough conditions in Europe in 2013. However, both companies are mildly optimistic that the worst has passed, with talk of the work of the European Central Bank supporting peripheral Eurozone economies showing some effect. Lafarge doesn't even mention Europe in its outlook.
As mentioned in Global Cement Weekly #87 on 13 February 2013, EU regional GDP growth is forecast to become positive in 2013. Everybody is going to be watching the European quarterly results for the cement majors in 2013 very carefully indeed. In the meantime all every cement producer with a presence in Europe can do is to carry on cutting costs.