Displaying items by tag: Lucky Cement
Lucky Cement says all of its cement plants are operational
05 January 2017Pakistan: Lucky Cement says that all of cement plants in Pakistan are operating as normal. The plants are not facing any unscheduled shutdown and sales and cement dispatches are progressing as per the company’s regular routine.
The cement producer made its comments in response to a news story in the Nation newspaper alleging that a district authority had shut down Lucky Cement’s Pezu plant near Darru Pezu in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in early January 2017 due to breaches of environmental regulations.
Amendment: This story was amended following comment from Lucky Cement.
Competition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
05 October 2016News from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this week: Lucky Cement has nearly finished its new 1.2Mt/yr cement plant. The US$270m project is due to start commercial operation in October 2016, according to a report by Bloomberg. The news is fascinating because it marks the opening up of central sub-Saharan Africa to the cement industry and it puts the boots of Pakistan’s Lucky Cement on the African continent in a big way.
The Nyumba Ya Akiba plant is a 50:50 joint venture between Lucky Cement and a local conglomerate Groupe Rawji, with financing supplied from a group of international development agencies. Originally proposed in 2013 the plant is located in Kongo Central province in the far west of the country between Kinshasa and the port of Matadi near to the connecting main road and railway line. The kit for the plant was ordered from FLSmidth in 2014 for Euro68m, including crushers, pyro processing equipment and vertical mills for raw meal, coal and cement grinding. An overview from the International Finance Corporation also added that the plant intended to cut a deal to import South African coal via the railway from the coast. Limestone and clay will come from a captive quarry. Incidentally, FLSmidth reckoned in 2015 that the project was the first new cement plant in the country in 40 years.
From Lucky Cement’s perspective the project makes sense given the bad reaction it has had trying to import its cement into western and southern Africa. Local producers recoiled from cheap imports along the coast and then lobbied their governments to block them. So, putting down manufacturing roots in a target country with a local partner makes it that much harder to block additional imports. It may or may not be importing its own clinker from somewhere else to supplement local demand but it is definitely providing local jobs and supporting local development. Lucky Cement’s previous international adventure of this kind was the opening of a cement grinding plant in Iraq in 2014.
Naturally, like buses, one waits ages for a cement plant to be built and then two turn up at the same time. South Africa’s PPC is also building an integrated cement plant in the DRC at Kimpese, in the same province as Lucky Cement’s plant. PPC’s half year report to March 2016, released in September 2016, mentioned that its 1Mt/yr plant was 83% complete with all civic and structural work complete. Commissioning was intended for the end of 2016 with cement ready for sale in early 2017. It is being built by Sinoma. The cement producer already has a sales depot in Kinshasa and it exports 32.5N and 42.5N cement from South Africa to the territory. Given PPC’s falling revenues from cement in South Africa and growing revenue elsewhere in Africa the opening of this plant will be keenly awaited.
The local demographics may answer whether the DRC can support two new cement plants. The country’s cement consumption was just 24kg/capita with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$490 in 2015. These are some of the smallest figures in the world. A feasibility study ahead of the Nyumba Ya Akiba plant estimated that the country would have a demand of 1.8Mt/yr by 2015 compared to a local production capacity of under 1Mt/yr. Nature, and markets, abhor a vacuum. Lucky Cement and PPC are about to fill it.
Lucky Cement set to open plant in Democratic Republic of Congo
04 October 2016Democratic Republic of Congo: Pakistan’s Lucky Cement is set to open its US$270m Nyumba Ya Akiba cement plant in Bas-Congo later in October 2016. The 1.2Mt/yr plant will be operated with Groupe Rawji, a local company, under the name CIMKO. It is financed by the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, EKF and by Habib Bank among others, according to Bloomberg.
“We will take care of everything that can hinder your production, unfair competition, fraudulent imports, we will take care of that,” said Prime Minister Matata Ponyo Mapon to CIMKO executives in a show of support for the project at a recent meeting.
Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has fined four cement producers for deceptive marketing practices in violation of the Competition Act 2010. Fines of US$1.8m each have been levied on Al-Abbas Cement, Attock Cement, Bestway Cement and Lucky Cement.
A CCP official said that the commission is mandated under the Competition Act 2010 to ensure fair competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activities. The Competition Commission of Pakistan is committed to maintain transparency for enhancing economic efficiency and to protect consumers from anticompetitive practices, including deceptive marketing.
Lucky Cement wins environmental award
07 September 2016Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has received the 13th Annual Environment Excellence Award 2016. The awards ceremony took place on the occasion of a conference titled 'Making our cities sustainable' organised by The National Forum for Environment and Health. Provincial ministers, the Secretary of the Environment, representative of United Nations and other notables were also present on the occasion.
Lucky Cement to build new US$190m cement plant
14 July 2016Pakistan: Lucky Cement has decided to spend US$190m towards building a new 2.3Mt/yr cement plant at Chakwal in Punjab province. The cement producer is currently working with the provincial government to acquire land for the project and it is finalising a contract for the equipment supplier. It is expected that the plant will be commissioned by the end of 2018. It will be Lucky Cement’s third cement plant in Pakistan, according to the Daily Times newspaper.
Lucky Cement reports US$60m net profit for second half of 2015
23 February 2016Pakistan: Lucky Cement has reported a 11.7% year-on-year rise in its net profit to US$60m in the half-year that finished on 31 December 2015. Its net sales revenue rose by 2% year-on-year to US$209m from US$204m. It attributed the rise to an increase in sales volumes.
Local sales volumes for the company for the period increased by 19.7% to 2.42Mt from 2.02Mt. However, export sales volumes fell by 27% to 0.9Mt from 1.23Mt.
Lucky Cement has also decided to set up another 10MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at its Pezu Plant, which is expected to be completed by December 2016. The company additionally reported on progress at other projects, including an integrated cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a 660MW coal-based power project, a 50MW wind farm and an electricity supply to Pesco and a WHR unit at the Pezu power plant.
Lucky Cement wins quality standard award
06 January 2016Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has received the Quality Standard Award 2015. The awards were held by The Consumers Eye Pakistan (TCEP) to encourage local manufacturers that are maintaining quality standards and have ISO/PSQCA certification in manufacturing standardised products.
Lucky Cement holds the largest share of cement exports from Pakistan and complies with PSQCA standards along with a range of international standards including those of India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. The company uses various methods like dry testing, wet chemical methods, compressive testing and X-Ray diffraction to ensure that product quality is maintained consistently.
"In a highly competitive local and international market, it is imperative for Lucky Cement to maintain its superior quality, while at the same time comply with the requirements of the potential markets," said Amin Ganny, Chief Operating Officer of Lucky Cement Limited.
Lucky Cement reports US$28.2m net profit for the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year
30 October 2015Pakistan: Lucky Cement's net profit rose by 11.2% year-on-year to US$28.2m during the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 September 2015. On a consolidated basis, its net profit rose by 13.8% to US$31.3m.
The company's net sales revenue declined by 1.2% to US$98.1m during the quarter. This was primarily attributed to a 2.7% decrease in sales volume, which was partially offset by a 1.5% increase in net retention due to an improved sales mix. Lucky Cement's domestic sales volume grew by 11% to 1.07Mt, whereas export sales volumes fell by 23.2% to 490,000t.
The Board of Directors have also decided to set up a 2.3Mt/yr capacity greenfield cement manufacturing plant in Punjab. The expected project cost is US$200m and construction work is expected to start in the first quarter of the 2016 calendar year. It is expected that plant will become operational in the second quarter of the 2018 calendar year. Lucky Cement also reported progress on its key foreign and local projects; namely an integrated cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo; a 660MW, supercritical, coal-based power project; a 50MW wind farm, electricity supply to the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO); and a waste heat recovery unit at its Pezu power plant.
Lucky Cement reports US$119m net profit for 2015
09 September 2015Pakistan: Lucky Cement has reported a net profit of US$119m for the year that ended on 30 June 2015, some 9.6% higher than in the prior year. On a consolidated basis, Lucky Cement's net profit grew by 15.7% to US$132m for the year that ended on 30 June 2015.
Its net sales revenue improved by 3.9% to US$429m. The increase in net sales revenue was attributed mainly to an increase in sales volumes. Local sales volumes grew by 7% to 4.42Mt, while export sales fell by 4.5% to 2.37Mt.
Lucky Cement has also reported progress on its key foreign and local projects, including its integrated cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a 660MW supercritical coal-based power project, a 50MW wind farm, the electricity supply to PESCO and a waste heat recovery project at PEZU power plant.