Displaying items by tag: Malaysia

Malaysia: Engineering company Christian Pfeiffer has released more information about a grinding plant that it completed at the Mambong cement plant for Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) in 2016. The engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract was originally signed in mid-2014 and it also included raw material handling, finished product storage silos and an automated packing plant.

The grinding plant consists of a two-compartment ball mill with a diameter of 4.8m x 15m effective grinding length equipped with a QDK 248-Z separator designed to produce 150t/hr of cement with a fineness of 3500cm²/g according to Blaine. The mill is supported by slide shoe bearings and driven by a lateral drive unit consisting of a girth gear and two pinion gear box with a floating shaft and a 5600kW main motor. The feed materials - clinker, gypsum and limestone - are dosed separately via weigh feeders, while fly ash can be added directly to the separator by a bucket elevator.

The ball mill is equipped with progressive lifting and classifying liners and filled with Allmax grinding balls. The material flow from the first to the second compartment is regulated by a Christian Pfeiffer intermediate flow-control diaphragm in Monobloc design, to ensure an ideal material level and particle size for fine grinding in the second compartment. The fine ground cement leaves the mill by a discharge diaphragm, in a Christian Pfeiffer Monobloc design, and is fed to the separator circuit by a bucket elevator. Separation of the ground cement is achieved by a bag filter application with minimum remaining dust content in the clean gas of below 10 mg/Nm³.

The cement produced is stored in two interchangeable 10,000t silos. One is a mono-cell and the other duo-cell, allowing for the production and storage of three different types of cement. Each silo is equipped with two bulk loading devices for conventional silo truck loading. Cement for the adjacent packing plant is transported via air slides and a bucket elevator. There, it can be filled into big-bags or cement paper bags by a rotary packer at a rate of 3000 bags/hr. At this stage the single packed cement bags can either be directly loaded on trucks or be transferred to a palletiser. The automated palletising system is designed for both pallet and palletless operation.

CMS officially launched the 1Mt/yr grinding plant in late 2016.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB) has officially launched its 1Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Mambong for a cost of US$45m. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the unit was awarded to Germany’s Christian Pfeiffer Maschinenfabrik GmbH in April 2014. Construction at the site started in July 2014, production ramp-up commenced in December 2015 and it was fully commissioned earlier in 2016. The plant comprises a 150t/hour ball mill, a high efficiency separator, 2 units of 10,000t concrete silos, four-line bulk loaders and a 3000 bag/hour packing and palletising machine.

“This third plant will increase CMSB’s total annual rated cement production capacity by almost 60% to 2.75Mt/yr, well above current local demand of around 1.7 – 1.8Mt/yr.” said Richard Curtis, Group Managing Director of CMSB. The plant joins the company’s integrated cement plant at Mambong and a grinding plant at Bintulu. CMSB intends to meet growing cement demand in Sarawak, including from big projects such as the Baleh Dam and the Pan Borneo Highway.

The official launch also included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CMS Clinker and ZHA Environmental to enter into negotiations for the use of shredded rubber tyres as an alternate fuel in the production of clinker. CMSB has also signalled its intent to use slag in its cement manufacture as sources become available.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia is facing clean-up costs following the release of dust from its Langkawi cement plant on 12 September 2016. Dust from the plant was accidentally released due to repair work on a clogged processing unit. It was then blown by the wind to three nearby villages comprising around 1000 houses, according to the Free Malaysia Today newspaper. Management at the plant has apologised for the incident and has agreed to cover the cost of the clean up.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia Bhd's management has said that for the first half ended June 30 2016, core net profit was down 69.4% mainly due to lower cement revenue (-5.3%) due to weaker demand for cement on the back of a slowdown in the property market and delay in the commencement of mega projects such as KL118 Tower project, Tun Razak Exchange; Holcim 'synergisation' costs of about US$4m and a higher effective tax rate (+13.8%) from lower capital allowances.

Management expects the effective tax rates to be normalised in the 2017 financial year from capital allowances from its newly-commenced Rawang (Selangor) and Kanthan (Perak) plants expansions.

With the new capacity expansion in the Rawang and Kanthan plants commencing in March and April 2016 respectively, management revealed that this would provide savings in overall transportation costs as clinker is no longer required to be delivered from Langkawi (Kedah) to its grinding units in Pasir Gudang (Johor) which can now be delivered from Kanthan instead - which is approximately half the travelling distance.

Malaysia is due to see an increase in overall cement production capacity of 13% in 2016 due to the completion of expansion projects and the weak market is expected to become tougher-still. Besides looking out for further cost-saving avenues, Lafarge Malaysia is also looking for differentiation in this competitive market through higher investment in dry-mix cement and strengthening of its brand name through more aggressive marketing.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia, part of LafargeHolcim, saw its net profit fall by nearly 72% to US$5m in the first quarter of 2016, from US$17.9m in the same period a year earlier. It reported lower contributions from its cement segment, following prolonged price competition. The one-off costs of integrating Holcim Malaysia within the company also affected earnings. Lafarge Malaysia’s quarterly revenue slipped by 3.8% to US$162m from US$168.8m in the first quarter of 2015.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia Bhd has bought Holcim Sdn Bhd from PT Holcim Indonesia in a deal worth US$71.2m.

"With this merger, our installed cement capacity will rise to 14.1Mt/yr from 12.9Mt/yr through the combined strength of three integrated cement plants, two grinding stations, over 40 ready-mix concrete batching plants and six aggregate quarries," said Lafarge in a statement. Lafarge Malaysia has now become part of LafargeHolcim.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has seen its profit rise by 28% year-on-year to US$16m for the third quarter of 2015. The boost has been attributed to higher sales revenue from its cement segment, improved plant performance, and higher foreign exchange gains. Overall revenue grew slightly to US$155m for the quarter. Lafarge Malaysia commented that the outlook for the construction sector remains positive in 2015.

A common refrain in the notes accompanying multinational corporate balance sheets are the adverse effects of currency exchange rates. So it goes this week with separate complaints from the Cement and Concrete Association of Malaysia and ARM Cement in Kenya. In Malaysia its local currency, the Ringgit, has fallen in value by 24% against the US Dollar since January 2015. The fall has been blamed on low prices for crude oil and for other commodities such as palm oil.

For the cement industry this is creating problems due to imported key inputs such as a coal and gypsum that are paid for in US Dollars. Similarly, clinker imports have risen by 20% as part of the same effect. The government hopes that infrastructure projects will prop up the construction sector for the time being. Local market leader Lafarge Malaysia has concurred with this cautiously. However, it is right to be realistic about the situation, as the problems with the falling value of the Ringgit seem to be reflected in its financial results.

Lafarge Malaysia has seen its revenue fall by 2.5% year-on-year to US$318m for the first six months of 2015 from US$326m for the same period in 2014. Net profit has fallen by 9% to US$32m. This follows a 3.8% year-on-year fall to US$640m for 2014 as a whole compared to US$666m in 2013. The drop in revenue was partly blamed on lower cement prices, aggravated by higher operating costs arising mainly from the increase in input and delivery costs. It also fits with the start of the fall in value of the Ringgit compared to the US Dollar since around the middle of 2014. Lafarge Malaysia's first half-year results in 2014 saw rises in revenue and net profit.

Lafarge Malaysia is far and away the market leader in cement production capacity in the country with a production capacity of 12Mt/yr, giving it a market share of nearly half the country's total capacity of around 25Mt/yr. However, it isn't the only cement producer struggling at present. YTL Corporation reported a 12.7% drop in revenue to US$3.85bn for its financial year that ended on 30 June 2015. Net profit fell by 31% to US$257m. Although the company operates across many business sectors, it too partly blamed the losses on its cement sector. This followed gains in profit, bolstered by its cement business, in the financial year that ended on 30 June 2014.

By contrast Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) Cement has benefitted from a construction boom in Sarawak state on the island of Borneo, a region separate from the rest of the country. On-going work on the Pan Borneo Highway has helped sales with other projects on the way. The sole producer with an integrated cement plant in the state ordered a cement grinding plant from Christian Pfeiffer in 2014 with commissioning planned for early 2016. It will be the company's third grinding plant in the state.

The effects of currency depreciation can be seen starkly in the financial results of Lafarge Malaysia and YTL Corporation. Infrastructure spending offers one route out of this as Lafarge are hoping and CMS Cement are experiencing in the relative isolation of Sarawak. However, a sustained low price of oil will test this even for a diversifying economy like Malaysia's. Cement producers in other oil producing nations should take note.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia Bhd has said that it will be able to achieve a targeted level of growth despite the overall subdued economic situation.

CEO Thierry Marie Robert Legrand said this was possible because of continued government spending in several key projects such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transits (LRT) lines after the Budget 2016 was announced.

"We are cautiously optimistic of growth this time. The growth has been quite good in the past few years and this is expected to continue," said Legrand. He added that property projects were also continuing and would help it sustain its business.

Malaysia: The protracted slump of the Malaysian Ringgit against the US Dollar, which has plagued importers and harmed consumer sentiment with the threat of imported inflation, has also cast its shadow over the cement industry.

The Cement and Concrete Association of Malaysia (C&CA) Chairman Datuk Yeoh Soo Keng said that some items crucial to the cement industry, such as coal and gypsum, are purchased in US Dollars. "Coal and gypsum, which are important components of our industry, are imported in US Dollars. With the current weak Ringgit levels, this has an impact on the industry," said Yeoh Soo Keng, who is also the CEO of YTL Cement Bhd, a member of C&CA.

Lafarge's former president and CEO Bradley Mulroney said that the weak Ringgit had also impacted imports of clinker. "The import of clinkers has gone up by about 20% due to the impact of the weak Ringgit," he said.

Hume Industries Bhd Managing Director Quah Thain Khan said that cement players are working to mitigate the impact of the weak Ringgit by managing the usage of raw materials, such as coal, more efficiently. "We also negotiate for cheaper sources of coal," said Thain Khan, adding that the industry is also challenged by the increasing cost of foreign labour. "I think that the industry needs to place more emphasis on automation and be less labour-intensive by investing in precast concrete systems and industrialised building systems."

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that the construction industry would see 'reasonable growth' in 2016, fuelled by infrastructure projects under the 11th Malaysia Plan, such as Mass Rapid Transit Line 2, Light Rail Transit Line 3 and the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway. "It will not be double-digit growth, but it will be reasonable growth. As for the slow-down in the property sector, the softening is more in the high-end housing segment; the affordable housing segment continues to be reasonably strong," said Mustapa.

Mustapa added that Malaysia's cement and concrete industry is an important economic pillar, contributing about 4% of the country's gross domestic product. "The industry has also contributed to Malaysia's export earnings, with exports to countries such as Australia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India, but, at the same time, Malaysia is still a net importer when it comes to clinker." From January to August 2015, Malaysia imported US$81.4m of clinker, compared with US$77.9m in the same period of 2014. "It is hoped that more integrated cement plants will be set up in Malaysia to produce our own clinker and reduce imports," said Mustapa.