Displaying items by tag: Nigeria

Nigeria: BUA Cement has broken ground at the site of its upcoming 3.0Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement plant in Guyuk, Adamawa State. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri proposed nearby Yola as the site for a second BUA Cement plant in the state, which he said would “further diversify the economy away from sole reliance on petroleum products.”

The company is currently building a 50MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant in Lamurde, Adamawa State.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has made a donation of US$1.29m to the battle against Covid-19 in Nigeria. Business Day news has reported that the money will go towards “various initiatives aimed at fighting the pandemic.” Lafarge Africa previously gave the use of three of its facilities and donated personal protective equipment (PPE) for the isolation and treatment of Coronavrius patients in April 2020.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has warned local cement producers to rein in their more outlandish claims. In a letter reported upon by the Economic Times newspaper this week, the government department has accused some manufacturers of making both objective and subjective claims about their products that strained credulity and didn’t fit the corresponding official standards. One industry source from the newspaper blamed the crackdown on some producers claiming that their cement products helped protect people from Covid-19! In their view the bureau was now over-enforcing its rules in retaliation. Given the severity of the outbreak in India - it has the second highest number of reported cases in the world this week - the response of the authorities is understandable to say the least.

The distinction between objective and subjective exaggeration that the BIS makes it worth looking at in more detail. For example, objective or supposedly fact-based claims the BIS cited included: ‘Protect Steel in Concrete’; ‘Protect Concrete from Corrosion’; ‘Corrosion Resistant’; ‘Weather Proof’; and ‘Damp Proof.’ Then, there were subjective, or more emotionally evocative, claims along the lines of ‘strong’ or ‘high performance.’ The BIS then outlines the specific ways in which objective and subjective assertions can be used. Objective claims should be avoided on marketing and packaging material. Subjective claims should, “explicitly indicate that such claims are not covered under the scope of BIS licence granted to them and the responsibility of such claims lies with them.”

Marketing is a big part of standing out in the crowded Indian cement market with producers sponsoring major sports teams. This might seem odd to readers elsewhere in the world but it demonstrates the target market, the importance of cement as a commodity to the general public and the power of brand awareness. Amubja Cement’s logo of a man with a Charles Atlas style physique cuddling a building sums up the message they want to convey: strength. No wonder producers are wary of the BIS wading in.

Standards also appeared in another news story this week with the announcement that Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) had obtained the first cement product carbon footprint label issued by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in the country. Its products will be marked with carbon footprint labels from the fourth quarter of 2020.

This shows a general trend in cement products towards showing sustainability credentials from putting environmental footprint data in front of specifiers for large projects towards making it a more basic retail selling point. Lots of other cement producers around the world have done and/or are doing similar things, from the dedicated slag cement manufacturers to the larger producers routinely releasing and promoting new low-CO₂ products. To pick one example from many, in July 2020 LafargeHolcim France introduced ‘360Score CO₂ emissions reduction ratings’ to its bagged cement range. The score, between ’A’ and ’D,’ corresponds to the factor of CO₂ compared to CEM-I Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), with ‘A’ products producing less CO₂ than ‘D’ products in their overall creation.

To look at an older example of the need for standards generally, building collapses in Nigeria appeared to increase post-2000, with the misuse of lower-grade cements blamed for the situation. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) took action in 2014, local producers introduced higher strength cements and the problem was reduced. Given the intangible nature of measuring sustainability in cement products there is a need for reliable standards. Unlike performance metrics, such as a strength or durability, the CO₂ footprint of a cement product will generally remain utterly intangible for most end-users. The effects of CO₂ emissions are continually analysed and debated, but the negative climate effects of cement products are more akin to someone else’s house flooding on the other side of the world 50 years later, than one’s own house falling down a decade later due to using the wrong strength cement. So, some form of trustworthy enforcement for sustainability standards is crucial. Standards may represent ‘boring’ bureaucratic red tape at its most officious but we need them. In India and elsewhere though, the debate on enforcement continues.

Nigeria: BUA Cement’s revenue grew by 12.7% year-on-year to US$261m in the first half of 2020 from US$232m in the same period of 2019. Its profit after tax rose by 13.7% to US$89.8m from US$78.9m. In comments reported by the Daily Independent newspaper, Yusuf Binji, the managing director of BUA Cement said that, “In a bid to further drive cost efficiencies and sustainability, we entered into strategic alliances for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Kalambaina, Sokoto State and the management of our mining operations.”

The cement producer has a production capacity of 8Mt/yr. It plans to increase this to 11Mt/yr when it commissions a new 3Mt/yr plant in Sokoto State in 2021.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has presented 82 brand new trucks to its distributors to improve product distribution logistics to other retailers. A ceremony was held at the Enugu assembly plant of Shacman Truck following a driver training session, according to the Punch newspaper. The cement producer said that the trucks were presented under its Truck Empowerment Scheme, where distributors pay for the trucks on a 50-month instalment basis.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim says that net sales in each of its five regions ‘returned to prior-year levels by the end of June 2020’ following the easing of coronavirus-related lockdowns. Its net sales fell by 10.8% year-on-year to Euro9.95bn in the first half of 2020 on a like-for-like basis due to the ‘severe’ impact of the lockdowns on construction sites in several of its main operating countries. It also blamed negative currency effects for an additional fall in sales. Its recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) dropped by 22% to Euro1.11bn. Its net debt decreased by 15.8% to Euro9.91bn from Euro11.8bn. Cement sales volumes fell by 13.1% to 87.2Mt, aggregates by 6% to 114Mt and ready-mix concrete (RMC) by 18.6% to 19.2Mm3.

Group chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said, “Our half-year results demonstrate the great resilience of our business. I’m encouraged by our team’s agility to weather the storm with the rapid execution of our ‘Health, Cost & Cash’ action plan, effectively driving cost savings ahead of expectations, improving net working capital and delivering record free cash flow.” He added, “The peak of the crisis is behind us. We expect a solid second half of the year based on June’s full recovery, the trend of our order book and upcoming government stimulus packages.”

By region the group noted the most severe coronavirus-related disruption in Asia-Pacific despite China delivering a full recovery and growing sales volumes by the end of the second quarter. In Europe lockdowns in the UK and France had a particular impact and it said that, “volumes suggest a V-shaped recovery in June 2020 for the majority of markets, except in the UK.” Significant impacts were noted in Ecuador, Colombia and El Salvador in Latin America. Sales volumes declined in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and South Africa in the group’s Middle East Africa region but Nigeria delivered a ‘resilient’ performance. Finally, North America was the groups best performing region with slight dips in cement and aggregate sales volumes but a rise in RMX and rising recurring EBIT. This was attributed to, “fast and effective cost management in the US.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded a net profit of US$422m in the first half of 2020, up by 5.8% year-on-year from US$308m in the first half of 2019. Net sales were US$1.23bn, up by 2% from US$1.21bn. Nigerian sales made up 70% of the total at US$861m, up by 1.2% from US$850m.

The company said, “Most Covid-19 lockdown measures started at the end of March 2020 and peaked in April 2020. The response by the authorities varied in nature from specific temporary restrictions in some countries to a complete temporary lockdown for non-essential businesses. Our operations in South Africa, Congo and Ghana were shut down due to full or partial lockdown in most of April 2020. By early May 2020, lockdown had eased, and all our businesses were operational.”

Regarding its Nigerian operations, it said, “Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states locked down from 31 March 2020 to 4 May 2020. As a result, April 2020 volumes were heavily impacted and 28% lower than in April 2019. Other states joined with complete or partial lockdown during the month.” It estimated that a recession would strike the economy before 31 December 2020, compounded by the Covid-19 outbreak and a first-half global oil price slump.

Nigeria: BUA Group subsidiary BUA Cement has shared plans to establish a 3Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement plant in Guyuk, Adamawa State. The Sun newspaper has reported that the company also plans to establish a 50MW power plant in nearby Lamurde, also in Adamawa State. BUA Group chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu said, “We will use new technologies to supply power to the proposed cement plant and communities of Guyuk and Lamurde.” The state’s limestone deposits with provide the raw material for clinker production.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has dispatched 27,800t of clinker to Senegal from its new Lagos cement terminal in Apapa Port, Lagos State. M2 Presswire News has reported that the terminal will now begin dispatches of 984,000t/yr of clinker to Cameroon. Dangote Cement aims to serve the whole of West Africa with 4Mt/yr of clinker exports from the terminal. Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) acting director general Chuma Oruche said, “The export of clinker by Dangote Cement will be beneficial to the Nigerian economy in terms of export earnings, job creation and wealth creation for families connected with these achievements.”

Nigeria: Sinoma Construction Nigeria says it has completed the construction of a second 6000t/d line at BUA Group subsidiary Obu & Edo Cement’s Edo cement plant, bringing the plant’s total integrated capacity to 5.5Mt/yr. The subsidiary of China-based Sinoma said that it completed the work in spite of an outbreak of malaria and electricity shortages. It said, “The successful fulfilment of the project has laid a solid foundation for the company's in-depth localised operation and comprehensive cooperation with the BUA Group.”