Displaying items by tag: Maple Leaf
Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement has commissioned a new 7300t/day production line at its Iskanderabad plant. The upgrade will increase the unit’s total production to 18,000t/day. The line was supplied by Denmark’s FLSmidth. The total cost of the project was US$184m. Commercial production on the new line is scheduled to start in late April 2019.
Update on Pakistan
24 October 2018As ever, there have been plenty of news stories from Pakistan recently covering the on-going fallout of the water shortage at the Katas Raj Temples in Chakwal, Punjab and an update on new production line at Maple Leaf Cement’s Iskanderabad plant. The two stories present two sides to the furious pace of the local industry and the potential price this growth might entail.
Graph 1: Cement despatches in Pakistan, 2012 - 2017. Source: All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association.
Graph 1 above sets the scene with an industry that has seen total despatches grow by nearly 30% to 42.8Mt in 2017 from 33.1Mt in 2012. About four-fifths of this is based in the north of the county. The big sub-story alongside this is that exports have fallen by half to 4.2Mt in 2017 from a high of 8.3Mt in 2013. The cause of this appears to be a decline in the Afghan market and a similar drop in waterborne clinker exports. Given the higher proportion of exports to the southern market this change has likely hit the industry in south harder despite overall depatches there rising. So far in 2018 similar trends are holding, except for exports, where the clinker export market has rallied significantly in the south.
The background to all this growth domestically is Chinese investment in the form of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC-related project include integrated road infrastructure, the modernisation of railways and the development of the city of Gwadar and its related infrastructure. In addition the local Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is also having an effect and demographic pressures, such as a housing shortage, are also expected to support the construction market.
Data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) placed cement production capacity at 54Mt/yr in September 2018 compared to 66Mt/yr in the Global Cement Directory 2018, which includes new capacity being built. This compares to around 10Mt/yr in the 1995 local financial year to an estimated 73Mt/yr by the State Bank of Pakistan in its third quarter report for 2017 - 2018. This rapid growth can be seen in recent stories such as the Iskanderabad plant expansion, Flying Cement’s mill order from Loesche, Kohat Cement’s mill order also from Loesche, a new solar plant at Fauji Cement at its Attock plant and the commissioning of DG Khan’s new plant at Hub. These stories are all from the last three months! The State Bank of Pakistan estimated that 11 producers hare now investing US$2.12bn on capacity expansions to add over 23Mt/yr by the end of the 2021 financial year.
One potential price for all of this growth is currently being illustrated in the ongoing legal wrangles about the use of water by cement plants near the Katas Raj Temples. What started as an investigation into why water levels were dropping at a pond at a Hindu heritage site seems to have transformed into a full scale inquiry into alleged corruption by local government around the setting up of cement plants. A report by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment Lahore to the Supreme Court has found irregularities committed by government departments in connection to the setting up of cement plants by DG Khan and Bestway Cement in Chakwal. It seems unlikely at this stage that this inquiry will cause too much trouble for the local cement industry but it will certainly make it more complicated and potentially more expensive to st up new plants in the future.
Read Global Cement’s plant report from the DG Khan’s Khairpur cement plant in Chakwal
Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s new 7300t/day clinker production line at its Iskanderabad cement plant is expected to start in the second quarter of 2019. The project has a cost of just below US$200m, funded through bank loans, a right issue and internal revenue. Denmark’s FLSmdith is supplying the equipment and Descon Engineering holds the contract for civil construction and mechanical erection work. 70% of civil work and 30% of plant erection was reported completed by the end of September 2018.
Maple Leaf Cement’s profit falls as costs rise
19 September 2018Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s profits have fallen due to mounting costs of goods. Its profit after taxation fell by 4% year-on-year to US$37m in the year to 30 June 2018 from US$39m in the same period in 2017. Despite this its sales rose by 7.5% to US$208m from US$194m. The cement producer added that it had approved a US$8.1m loan to its holding company Kohinoor Textile Mills to meet ‘working capital requirements.’
Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s new production line at its Iskanderabad cement plant is expected to start production by mid-2019. It is building a new 7300t/day line at the site to increase its total production capacity to 18,000t/day. The cost is US$206m. Denmark’s FLSmidth is building the line. Approximately 66% of civil work has been completed and 14% of plant erection work was reported complete at the end of June 2018.
Maple Leaf Cement sales grow by 11% to US$114m in first half
20 February 2017Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s sales revenue increased by 11% year-on-year to US$114m in the first half of its financial year to 31 December 2016. Its profit rose by 12% to US$25m, according to the Dawn newspaper. Growth was attributed to cement sales in the local market despite a significant drop in exports to Afghanistan and an increase in the price of coal.
FLSmidth receives plant order from Maple Leaf Cement
17 January 2017Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement has ordered a 7300t/day cement production line from FLSmidth. The plant will be located in Iskanderabad in the Mianwali District. The order has been placed at above Euro75m and it will be completed by the end of 2018.
The order will include an ATOX 52.5 vertical mill for raw grinding, an ATOX 27.5 vertical mill for coal grinding, an EV 200x300 Hammer Impact Crusher, stacker and reclaimer systems for storage, a ROTAX-2 rotary kiln with low NOx ILC calciner, a FLSmidth Cross-Bar cooler, a JETFLEX burner and two OK 39-4 vertical mills for cement grinding.
"This is the latest project to underline FLSmidth's strength as the leading supplier of the most productive and energy-efficient equipment and technology - and our position as the preferred supplier of complete production lines to the Pakistani cement industry," said FLSmidth’s Group Executive Vice President, Cement Division, Per Mejnert Kristensen.
Maple Leaf applies for licence for captive power plant
17 October 2016Pakistan: Maple Leaf Power has submitted an application to National Electric Power Regulator Authority (NEPRA) for a power generation license for a 40MW coal-based thermal power plant. The plant will be used to supply power to the Maple Leaf Cement plant at Mianwali in Iskanderabad, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The project will cost US$52.5m and it expected to start operation in December 2017.
Maple Leaf Cement posts US$33.6m profit
11 September 2015Pakistan: Higher volumetric sales and lower coal prices helped Maple Leaf Cement beat market expectations as the company boosted its profits by 22% to US$33.6m during its 2015 financial year that ended on 30 June 2015.
Maple Leaf Cement's revenue grew by 9.2% year-on-year to US$199m. The growth in earnings was due to higher dispatches and expansion in margins. Monetary easing and deleveraging helped ease Maple Leaf Cement's finance cost, which was US$9.59m, down by 26% from US$14.4m in its 2014 financial year. The company has announced a plan to invest US$47.9m in Maple Leaf Power Limited to set up a 40MW coal-fired power plant.
Pakistan: The inauguration of the Dasu dam has reinforced optimism in the local cement industry, which has been banking on the continuous increase in local demand owing to mega construction projects.
The Dasu dam, one of the mega dam projects, is expected to increase cement demand in Pakistan by 1Mt/yr for the next five years. The 4320MW dam will be completed in two phases at an estimated cost of US$4.8bn. Since the Dasu dam is located in the north, the cement for the project will most likely be procured from nearby cement plants. Cement companies like Maple Leaf, Fecto, Bestway, Cherat, DG Khan, Fauji are the most likely to benefit from the dam construction.
Analysts say the construction of big dams like Dasu and Basha will supplement the already improving cement demand in Pakistan. "Dasu dam will add an additional 1Mt/yr of cement demand, which will be significant for the local industries," said BMA Capital analyst Sajjad Hussain. "It will increase the already escalating cement demand in the country."
"The launch of the Dasu dam is important for the cement industry in northern region of the country," said Standard Capital Securities analyst Saad Hashmi. "Other major infrastructure projects that are expected to start soon will further increase cement demand and it may jump 5% in fiscal year 2015."