Displaying items by tag: Philippines

Southeast Asia: LafargeHolcim has signed an agreement on biodiversity conservation with Fauna & Flora International (FFI). Under the agreement, FFI will perform an independent external review of the group’s existing biodiversity management plans (BMP) at sites in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines; contribute to the development of a group-wide strategy on karst management; identify opportunities for enhancing biodiversity in quarry rehabilitation; and organise a stakeholder dialogue bringing together an external expert group, local government, local non government organisations and LafargeHolcim staff to consult on BMP recommendations. The agreement is intended to help LafargeHolcim meet the biodiversity aspects of its 2030 sustainability plan.

“Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge. We aim to be good stewards of the land where we operate and demonstrate that proper management of quarries can reduce and reverse our impacts and even generate positive change for biodiversity. The new engagement work with FFI will play a key role in achieving our commitment,” said Caroline Hempstead, Group Head of Communications, Public Affairs & Sustainable Development at LafargeHolcim.

Philippines: Republic Cement has released more information about its US$300m investment programme to increase its production capacity. The joint venture from Ireland’s CRH and Aboitiz Equity Ventures plans to increase the capacity of its plants at Luzon and Mindanao by 2019 in the first phase of the project, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. This will then be followed by a second phase that will build new clinker production lines.

Little additional detail was released but the cement producer intends to install several grinding mills to increase its cement production capacity by 3Mt/yr. In addition it will install improved process technology to increase clinker output from all of its plants in Luzon that it says will be equivalent in capacity terms to a new kiln line investment.

Philippines: The Board of Investments (BOI) is seeking investment in the cement sector as it expects demand to double to 40Mt/yr by 2020 due to a peak in government infrastructure spending. At the same time Department of Trade and Industry (TI) Undersecretary for industry promotions group Ceferino S Rodolfo confirmed that two companies are preparing to build new integrated plants, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. Both companies are obtaining permits for their projects but Rodolfo would not confirm their identifies. DMCI Holdings was reported in the local press as being interested in building a plant Antique's Semirara Island in early June 2017.

Philippines: Eagle Cement has ordered a coal mill from Loesche for its Barangay cement plant in San Ildefonso. The vertical roller mill is intended for the third line at the plant and it is designed for grinding 54t/hr of mixed coal or 34t/hr of pet coke. The grist is ground to a fineness of 12% (coal) or 3% (pet coke) sieving residue with 90µm. The scope of supply also includes an LSKS-classifier and corresponding filters, blowers, an inertisation unit, the gas analysis and the main drives. All components are scheduled to be delivered before the end of 2017.

Philippines: DMCI Holdings has once again hinted that it is looking to enter the cement sector, with a potential US$340m investment to make use of low-grade coal and vast limestone reserves in Antique's Semirara Island. DMCI chair and president Isidro Consunji said that the island, where DMCI’s Semirara Mining and Power Corporation already mines coal, has around 1Bnt of limestone. He hinted at a capacity of around 5000t/day, saying, “You only need two 2Mt/yr, so the limestone can last for 500 years if we don't expand.” Consunji added that the cement plant would be capable of using lower grade coal that DMCI cannot use or sell for other purposes. 

The company previously made a similar announcement of intent in December 2016.

Philippines: Cemex Philippines and CBMI Construction have signed a contract for the construction of a 1.5Mt/yr production line at the Solid Cement Plant in Rizal. The scope of the deal covers quarry crushing to package and dispatch, including engineering, equipment supply, civil work, erection, training and commissioning. CBMI say it is the first collaboration between the subsidiary of Sinoma and Cemex. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Philippines: Republic Cement & Building Materials has approved a five-year capital expenditure programme to increase its clinker and cement production capacity to meet local demand. One of the cement producer’s owners, Aboitiz Group, announced that it was making the investment to take advantage of infrastructure development plants by the Duterte administration, according to the Philippines Star newspaper. The upgrade is expected to increase the company’s production capacity by 1Mt/yr from its current level of 7Mt/yr. The investment will be spent on both production efficiency improvements at existing plants and by building a new kiln.

Philippines: Two cement importers have asked the Regional Trial Court of Makati to issue a temporary restraining order against a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) order restricting imports of cement. Fortem Cement and Cohaco Merchandising and Development allege that the Administrative Order 17-02 prevents imports of cement into the country, with the exception of importers operating integrated cement plants, according to the Manilla Bulletin newspaper. The importers say that the legislation will destroy their business. They also allege that the new rules violate anti-competition rules.

The DTI has defended its legislation, although it recognises the freedom of the importers to challenge it through the legal process. The government department says it issued the revised order to help safeguard the safety of consumers by requiring the strict conduct of standards compliance tests on cement imports. The order requires the application of the Philippine Standards licenses on foreign producers of cement imports, Import Commodity Clearance on cement imports and a minimum capitalisation level for importers to prevent smaller importers.

The Philippines has been messing up the balance sheets of cement producers so far in 2017. Over the last week Holcim Philippines, CRH and Cemex have each reported lacklustre first quarter results dragged down by poor performance in the country. CRH’s chief executive officer Albert Manifold seemed to receive the worst kicking when analysts in a conference call refused to let it pass that the company’s sales had dropped by 12% year-on-year in Asia. Although to be fair to him the group’s Asian division only represented 2% of global sales at Euro0.5bn…

CRH’s quarterly financial reports tend to be in the form of sparse trading updates. So this lack of detail and CRH’s plans to invest over Euro300m in the market may have prompted Manifold’s grilling. According to the Irish Times he blamed the situation on cheap imports from south-east Asia pulling down the price. He then defended the investment on the grounds that local producers would have an advantage as they increase production capacity due to constant production and ‘guaranteed’ regulation and certification.

CRH isn’t the only organisation that has been burned by the Philippines. Before Christmas this column was praising the local industry for being in a boom. Cement sales had risen by 10.1% year-on-year to 20.1Mt according to CEMAP data in the first nine months of 2016 and the Duterte Infrastructure Plan was starting to target hundreds of billions of US dollars towards infrastructure spending. In the end cement sales rose by 6.6% to 26Mt for the full year in 2016 and this was a solid performance despite being brought down by the fourth quarter.

From the cement producers mentioned above, Cemex reported that its Ordinary Portland Cement sales volumes fell by 9% in the first quarter. It blamed the fall on bad weather and a tough quarter to compare against in 2015. Holcim Philippines said that its net sales fell by 12% to US$176m and it attributed it to lower public infrastructure spending, tighter industry competition and higher production expenses. Eagle Cement meanwhile, the fourth of the country’s major producers, is preparing to float on the local stock market in May 2017 to fund an expansion drive. The poor results of the other three cement producers may dent its proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO).

The words CRH’s Albert Manifold used in his defence were that, “Brand matters over there.” Funnily enough the other big Philippines cement industry news story that has been rumbling away for the last few months is an investigation by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) into the conduct of the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) and some of the leading cement producers. Naturally this includes CRH’s joint venture Republic Cement. The enquiry was prompted in mid-2016 by the accusation of anti-competitive agreements by a former trade official. He also made direct allegations against Ernesto Ordonez, the head of CEMAP. The investigation is on-going and perhaps it will find out exactly how much ‘brand matters’ in the Philippines.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has blamed lower public infrastructure spending, tighter industry competition and higher production expenses for a drop in its financial performance in the first quarter of 2017. Its net sales fell by 12% year-on-year to US$176m and its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 32% to US$40m. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim also attributed its problems to rising fuel costs and a declining local currency. It estimates that cement demand in the country fell in the quarter year-on-year due to higher infrastructure spending in the lead-up to the election in 2016.

“Infrastructure and innovation are cited as pillars for the country’s 2017 productivity growth forecast at 6.4% gross domestic product (GDP) growth. These pillars are strengths of Holcim Philippines that we believe will buoy the company and make a big difference for customers. This region has been showing strong growth, giving us the optimism to continue to transform and serve our customers even better,” said chief operating officer Sapna Sood in a bullish mood.