Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: The attempts for an ultimate buyout of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) intensified on 30 April 2014 as interested parties made public announcements of their intention to acquire shares. That was to comply with the requirements of Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting shares and Takeovers) Ordinance 2002. Currently, Lafarge SA has a 73% stake in LPCL.

William Gordon Rodgers, authorised representative of Vision Holding Middle East Limited (VHMEL), made a public announcement of VHMEL's intention to acquire 75.86% of LPCL. He said, "The total number of issued shares of LPCL is 1.45bn. VHMEL intends to buy 1.10bn shares, constituting 75.86% of the total." Rodgers added that if VHMEL proceeds to buy the shares, it would make a public announcement of offer to acquire further ordinary shares of LPCL in accordance with the requirements of the Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting shares and Takeovers) Ordinance 2002.

DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC) also disclosed its interest in Lafarge. The company expressed its intention to acquire the 100% stake of Lafarge in LPCL. DGKC's company secretary, Khalid Mahmood Chohan, said, "The proposed transaction will be subject to the relevant approvals and legal formalities, including formalities under the Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting shares and Takeovers) Ordinance 2002."

LPCL has an installed capacity of 2.4Mt/yr with its plant located in Chakwal, Chakwal District.

Sri Lanka: Work on a Thatta Cement project in Sri Lanka has ended because the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has not yet executed the Land Lease Agreement (LLA). Basic engineering for the cement grinding, storing and bagging plant has been completed but the project has been suspended pending legal issues.

Thatta Cement secretary Taha Hamdani has complained to capital market regulators about the SLPA also signing an agreement with another company whose operational area lies close to its cement project. It appears to obstruct setting up of the cement project within the layout originally planned by the SLPA. The company officials say further progress on the project would recommence 'as soon as LLA is signed with SLPA'.

Zuari Cement's ground breaking of a new port-side packing terminal in Kochi, Kerala is the latest Indian cement news story with an eye on the sea. The Italcementi subsidiary's terminal won't be open until 2015 but the move shows that Indian producers are starting to tackle industry over-capacity through shipping lanes.

The Italcementi subsidiary holds two integrated cement plants and a grinding plant in Andhra Padesh and Tamil Nadu, two of India's biggest cement-producing states. In 2013 Italcementi reported that cement consumption fell for the first time in 10 years. Although Italcementi's cement and clinker sales rose by 1.6% in India in 2013, its revenue fell by 14% to Euro214m. Profit indicators like earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) also fell. Targeting Kerala, one of the country's smallest cement producing states (0.6Mt/yr in 2013), makes sense.

Zuari Cement isn't the only Indian cement producer with its eye on shipping or on Kerala. At the end of March 2014, Gujarat producer Sanghi Industries announced plans to invest US$25m in ships and sea terminals. It plans to acquire six vessels in the next five years. It is also in the process of setting up terminals at Navlakhi port in Gujarat and at Mumbai port in Maharashtra.

Sanghi has stated that its aims are to find new markets, reduce fuel costs and increase its distribution networks. In an interview with Alok Sanghi, the director of Sanghi Cement, for a forthcoming issue of Global Cement Magazine, Sanghi revealed that Kerala is one of the four markets the producer focuses on within India (alongside Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra).

Neighbouring Pakistan is no stranger to exporting its cement around the world. Frequent complaints from east and south African press and cement producers attest to this. However, this week's story about plans to build the country's first 'dirty cargo' terminal at Port Qasim, Karachi marks a change from the normal narrative.

According to a Pakistan cement producer who Global Cement interviewed earlier in 2014, coal is the most common fuel used to fire cement kilns following a shift from gas in recent years. Subsequently coal prices rose, leading to higher cement prices in the country. A new terminal with the capacity to handle 12Mt/yr of coal (growing to 20Mt/yr in a second phase of the build) could certainly help cut input prices for the industry.

The producer also mentioned that most of the coal that Pakistan currently uses is imported from Indonesia and South Africa. So, indirectly, the South African coal industry appears to be making money helping to make Pakistan cement that eventually arrives back in South Africa to undercut local cement producers! They say that market always finds a way. Ships certainly help.

Pakistan: A US$130m contract for the construction of Pakistan's first dirty cargo terminal, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT), at Port Qasim has been awarded to China Harbour Works.

The total cost of the PIBT will be US$250m, which will include the cost of equipment. In the first phase the terminal will have the capacity to handle 12Mt/yr of imported coal, 5Mt/yr of cement and 2Mt/yr of clinker. In the second phase the PIBT will expand its capacity of imported coal to 20Mt/yr to meet the growing energy demand of the country.

China Harbour Works will start civil work on the terminal within a month and complete it within two years. Coal imports to Pakistan are expected to grow given that most of the new power plants under construction are coal based and many old plants are also being converted to use coal.

Iraq: Lucky Cement has started production at a cement grinding plant in Basra, southern Iraq. The US$40m plant is a joint venture between Pakistan-based Lucky Cement and the Al-Shawy family. It has a production capacity of 3000t/day or 0.8Mt/yr. The plant is intended to supply cement for the southern Iraq market.

In comments reported by Mena Report Lucky Cement CEO Muhammad Ali Tabba said that the completed grinding plant is the first phase of development at the site. Lucky Cement may continue development at the plant investing US$125m to build an integrated cement production line with a capacity of 1.25Mt/yr.

Tabba added that Lucky Cement is also working on building a US$240m plant in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It has a 50-50 agreement with the Rawji Group, a local company, to start production via a company called Nyumba Ya Akiba. When operational, the plant in DRC will produce 1.2Mt/yr of cement.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement is planning to start building a new cement plant at Hub, Balochistan in 2015, according to a company official. The plant will have a production capacity of 2 – 2.5Mt/yr and the project will cost US$250m. The plant will become operation by the end of 2017.

"At present, we are in the phase of finalising vendors for the construction site. In the next phase, we will open letter of credit," the official said.

DG Khan Cement is forecasting development in Balochistan and Sindh and it also hopes to increase movement of its products between provinces in Pakistan. Dispatching cement from the proposed Hub plant will incur lower freight charges compared to transporting cement from DG Khan's existing plants in Punjab.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to exclude cement from the 'Third schedule' of the Sales Tax act or to fix the maximum retail price (MRP) on the basis of two different zones in the upcoming budget of 2014 - 2015.

In a letter to the FMR chairman the APCMA said, that as the dynamics of every province and region are different, collection of sales tax on the basis of a single MRP across the country would force producers to restrict sales to nearby markets. It added that this would restrict sales to further-away markets reducing the potential revenues the FBR could collect.

The APCMA has proposed a zone-based MRP to protect both local consumers from paying excess prices and producers from paying more to sell cement in outlying markets. It also asked the FBR to introduce a uniform tax rate for the corporate sector.

Cement in Pakistan is subject to various taxes including: Corporate Income Tax - 34% of taxable income; Minimum tax – 1% of turnover; Federal excise duty (FED) – US$3.8/t; and Sales Tax 17% of the MRP. The APCMA has also proposed removing the FED and reducing the duty on alternative fuels to zero. Further suggestions included restoring the initial allowance on plants and machinery to 50% (from 25% at present) to encourage production capacity development and reducing import taxes on raw materials and capital goods for industrial development from 5 to 1%.

Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement has appointed Tariq Saeed Saigol as the chairman of the company from 1 January 2014 for a three year term.

Saigol studied Law at University Law College, Lahore. He started his career in 1968 at Kohinoor's Chemical Complex at Kala Shah Kaku and became the chief executive of Kohinoor Textile Mills, Rawalpindi in 1976. Since 1984, he has been chairman of Kohinoor Maple Leaf Group, which has interests in textiles, energy and cement production.

He has also been chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association in 1992 - 1994, president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for 1995 - 1997 and chairman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association from 2003 - 2006.

Pakistan: Exports of cement from Pakistan to Afghanistan have fallen year-on-year for the first four months of the Pakistan fiscal year that started on 1 July 2013, according to figures from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturing Association (APCMA).

For the first four months of the 2013 fiscal year Pakistan exported 1.46Mt of cement, less than one third of the 4.4Mt of cement exported in the entire 2012 fiscal year. Exports to India are also down year-on-year, at 0.14Mt for the first four months of the 2013 fiscal year.

Commentators in the Pakistani media attributed the fall in exports to competition from Iranian exports in Afghanistan and falling demand in India. Once NATO troops leave Afghanistan the cement consumption in that country is expected to become volatile depending on whether civil unrest grows or if government development programmes continue. Cement exports to Afghanistan currently comprise 50% of Pakistan's cement exports.

Tajikistan: A Lafarge Pakistan (LP) delegation, led by CEO Amr Ali Redahas, met with the Ministry of Energy and Industry (MoEI) to discuss trade and economic cooperation. They agreed that the cement production issue would be tabled to the agendas of the commission's sessions. While in Tajikistan, the LP representatives intended to meet with senior representatives of Tajikistan's largest cement producers Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant) and Huaxin Gayur Cement.

A 1Mt/yr Greenfield cement plant, built by Huaxin Gayur Cement in Yovon, Tajikistan, started operation in August 2012. Cement demand in Tajikistan is currently well ahead of production levels and imports continue to play an important role. However, the Tajikstan government has attracted foreign investment to expand its cement production base.