Displaying items by tag: Lithuania

Lithuania: Mandatory cement certification in Russia has forced Akmenės Cementas and other cement producers based in the European Union (EU) to send their exports elsewhere. The Lithuanian cement producer has compensated for this by moving its sales in other markets, according to the Verslo Zinios newspaper. Akmenes Cementas’s sales fell by 8% year-on-year to Euro51m in 2016 from Euro55.4m in 2015.

Around 60% of its sales revenue came from local sales in Lithuania, 20% from sales in other Baltic countries and Belarus and 20% from Scandinavian countries. Previously, exports to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad accounted for 30% of the company’s revenue. The company expects to generate sales of Euro54m in 2017 based on existing contracts.

Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas has reported that its revenue fell by 6% year-on-year to Euro55.4m in 2015 from Euro59.2m in 2014. It sold nearly 1Mt of cement in 2015. Nearly half of its revenue came from exports markets in Poland, Scandinavia and Kaliningrad, according to local press.

Akmenes Cementas CEO, Arturas Zaremba, told Verslo Zinios that cement consumption in Lithuania fell by 5% in 2014 and by 7% in 2015. He blamed this on increased competition from cement producers in Belarus.

Lithuania: Eternit Baltic UAB, the corrugated fibre cement sheet plant operating in Naujoji Akmene in the north of Lithuania, has begun the construction of new production facilities. The new production facilities will produce Cedral cement siding for the local market and for the Central and Eastern European markets.

Etex, which owns Eternit Baltic UAB, plans to invest approximately Euro34m in the construction of the new production facilities. Implementation of the project will take a little more than one year. Production is expected to start in early 2017. The new production facilities will enable the company to produce over 4Mm²/yr of cement siding. Approximately 50 new jobs will be created in the new production facilities in three years. Eternit Baltic currently employs approximately 150 people.

Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's only cement manufacturer, is about to complete the modernisation of its Naujoji Akmene cement factory in northwestern Lithuania. It's claimed to be one of the biggest industrial projects implemented in the country since restoration of independence. A new clinker manufacturing line, which cost around Euro107m, should begin operation late in November or early in December 2013, barring delays. The line should operate for around 50 years and investments are expected to be covered within a decade. The company used it's own funds to finance the bulk of investments, while banks provided around one-third of the total funding.

"Representatives of equipment suppliers are visiting the facility now. They are checking, fine tuning, testing the equipment and adjusting the programmes. We keep our fingers crossed and hope that everything goes smoothly," said Arturas Zaremba, CEO of Akmenes Cementas.

Lithuania: The Competition Council has blocked a sale of 51% of shares in Akmene Cement to the Betoneta group. The regulator concluded that the market share, which the potential buyer would obtain after the takeover, would be too large.

Subsequently, Concretus Materials, which sought to acquire 51% of Akmenes Cementas' shares and which, according to the panel, is part of Betoneta group, said that it had withdrawn its application for regulatory clearance and cancelled the deal on the acquisition of the cement manufacturer's shares.

Mexican cement group Cemex owns a 33.95% stake in Akmenes Cementas. Other shareholders include Simonas Vytis Anuzis with 13.67%, Olius Danyla with 13.55%, Arnoldas Mituzas with 12.76% and Edmundas Montvila with 9.8%.

Lithuania: Concretus Materials is planning to buy up to 51% of shares in the cement manufacturer Akmene Cement. According to the regulator Concretus Materials applied to the Lithuanian Competition Council on 27 December 2012 for approval of the deal.

The Mexican cement giant Cemex owns a 33.95% stake in Akmenes Cementas. Other shareholders included Simonas Vytis Anuzis with 13.67%, Olius Danyla with 13.55%, Arnoldas Mituzas with 12.76% and Edmundas Montvila with 9.8%.

Akmenes Cementas is currently implementing a modernisation project, worth Euro101m, moving to a dry production process. The company expects to complete its new production line in mid-2013. The producer's annual revenue rose year-on-year by 37% in 2011 to Euro63.1m as cement sales increased by 19% to nearly 984,000t/yr. in 2011 Lithuania remained its biggest market, accounting for 55% of the total sales. Akmenes Cementas's cement plant is located in Naujoji Akmene, in north-western Lithuania.

Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's biggest cement producer, is operating almost at full capacity as its strategy to push exports has provide successful. For 2012 Akmenes Cement is aiming for at least a 10% increase in annual sales and a rise of around 15% in revenues thanks to growing exports.

"Today we rely on exports for growth," said Akmenes Cementas CEO Arturas Zaremba. He added a forecast that cement consumption in Lithuania will decline by 5% in 2012.

Akmenes Cementas expects that its Euro101.4m modernisation project will further aid its efforts to gain a foothold in export markets. A new dry production line increasing the plant's capacity to 1.5Mt/yr is due to be completed in mid-2013. This line should reduce fuels costs by almost one third. Two existing lines, with a capacity of over 1Mt/yr, will then be decommissioned.

Lithuania: Akmene Cement, Lithuania's only cement manufacturer, has posted a revenue of Euro30.3m for the first half 2012, a 22% increase from Euro24.7m in the same period in 2011. The company's cement output rose by 7%, to 423,000t from 396,000t. Akmene has not disclosed its profit for the 2012 period.

"The demand in the export countries is more or less similar to that of 2011. We are exporting slightly more to Belarus," said Akmene Cement representative, Giedre Kundrotiene. In 2011 the company's revenue grew by 37%, year-on-year, to Euro62.8m. Volume sales rose by 19%, to nearly 984,000t.

Akmenes Cementas has completed 60% of an upgrade project worth Euro101m to shift from wet to dry cement production. Work is expected to be finalised by the middle of 2013 at the plant located in Naujoji Akmene, in north-west Lithuania.

Lithuania/Japan: Japan's Shimizu Corporation, seen as a prospective general contractor of Lithuania's planned new nuclear power plant, has shown interest in Akmenes Cementas, the only cement manufacturer in the Baltics.

Akmenes reported that representatives from the Japanese corporation were informed about the types and quality of cement, as well as delivery methods and supply terms, during their visit to the Akmenes factory in north west Lithuania on 28 March 2012.

Lithuania: Akmene Cement, Lithuania's only cement producer, says it will be affected by the European Union's sanctions against Belarus. Previously the producer sold cement to the Belarusian company Triple, owned by oligarch Yury Chyzh, which has been affected by the blacklist.

"We discussed it today at our company. It is hard to say what it is going to be like now," Arturas Zaremba, head of Akmenes Cementas, stated. "I do not know myself how those sanctions would work. Does it mean that we will not be able to maintain any business relations with them? We will need to clear that up."

EU foreign ministers decided to impose sanctions against 29 Belarus companies and 12 individuals related with Alexander Lukashenko's regime. Akmenes Cementas exported around 70,000t of cement to Belarus in 2011.