Displaying items by tag: Price

Estonia: Germany-based HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Kunda Nordic Tsement has announced the planned closure of its 0.8Mt/yr integrated Kunda plant in Kunda, Lääne-Viru County in March 2020. Business World Magazine has reported the plant closure will result in 80 redundancies. The company has stated the reason for the closure as being that the plant’s equipment, which produces cement by the wet method, is economically unviable due to its CO₂ intensity.

The price of EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) emissions permits fell to Euro15.24/t of CO₂ on 18 March 2020, down by 30% from Euro21.71/t on 18 March 2020.

China: Hebei province-based Tangshan Jidong Cement’s net 2019 profit was US$298m, up by 42% year-on-year from US$210m in 2018. Cement and clinker sales remained flat. Tangshan Jidong Cement attributed the growth to increased prices due to a 9.9% year-on-year increase in infrastructure spending to US$1.86tn. Throughout the year, the company said, it completed energy-saving optimisation and upgrades to improve efficiency, implemented strategic marketing and reduced the cost of material procurement.

Thailand: The coronavirus pandemic has caused Siam Cement Group (SCG) to postpone its initial public offering (IPO) for 30% of its packaging subsidiary SCG Packaging at a value of US$1.0bn, which was reportedly due to take place in early 2020. Reuters News has reported that the company has yet to set a new date for the IPO.

India: Representatives from Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech, Ramco Cements, India Cements, JSW Cement and KCP have met with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy and other state officials to negotiate the sale of their products to construction companies working on public projects ‘at lower prices.’ The Hindu newspaper has reported that the state forecasts a year-on-year rise in its annual cement consumption of 67%, to 30Mt in 2020 from 18Mt in 2019. India Cements’ vice chair and managing director Narendra Srinavasan said that all planned infrastructure projects ‘ought to be implemented in order to bail out the industry from the turmoil it has been undergoing.’

UK: Parliament has voted to grant Her Majesty's Treasury powers to implement a UK emissions trading scheme (ETS) in line with the Climate Change Act (2008). Accountancy Daily News has reported that the ETS will be linked to the EU ETS ‘if such is suited to both sides’ interests,’ but, if not, will be subject to an alternative pricing mechanism. The Treasury said that “in a standalone UK ETS, additional market stability mechanisms can be implemented.”

Sri Lanka: Norochcholai Coal Power Plant (NCPP) is courting buyers for its fly ash, of which it says it produces US$5.5m-worth annually. In 2019 NCPP sold US$3.3m to Sri Lankan cement producers. Daily News Sri Lanka has reported that the company has undertaken measures to increase the value of the fly ash to cement producers, in order to obtain a higher price. NCPP manager Indrasiri Gallage said, "By selling fly ash to cement producers the plant has also helped to free the country from reliance on clinker imports."

An expansion, including the installation of a new 300MW coal-fired power plant, will eventually bring the NCPP’s capacity to 1200MW. The plant is currently working to increase the value of its bottom ash for paving block production.

Vietnam: Producers exported approximately 2.82Mt of cement in January and February 2020, down by 49% year-on-year from 5.75Mt in the corresponding period of 2019. Vietnam News has reported that this is a result of the coronavirus outbreak. In February 2020 Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction said that Vietnamese cement exporters would face fierce competition as China and Thailand increase exports over the coming year.

Vietnam Cement Association president Nguyễn Quang Cung previously predicted that Vietnamese cement exports would hold steady at 34.0Mt in 2020 before falling by 26% to 25.0Mt in 2021 as a forecasted rise in domestic demand reduces the reliance on low-priced exports. China remains the primary importer of Vietnamese cement, which it buys at US$36.3/t. Domestic demand fell by 37% year-on-year to 2.88Mt in January 2020 from 5.43Mt in January 2019, according to Arab News.

Production rose by 0.1% year-on-year to 13.0Mt in January and February 2020 from 12.9Mt one year previously.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has announced a Euro1.95bn profit in 2019, up by 32% from Euro1.48bn in 2018. The profit was a company record, made possible by ‘lower restructuring costs and financial expenses,’ according to LafargeHolcim CEO Jan Jenisch. Sales were Euro25.1bn, up by 3.1% from Euro24.4bn, ‘driven by good growth in Europe and North America, good price dynamics across all business segments and higher prices in most markets,’ according to Jenisch. “We have achieved all our targets for 2019 and have moved our company to a new level of performance,” he said.

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has reported a profit of US$1.23m in the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year, between 1 October 2019 and 31 December 2019. This corresponds to a drop of 82% year-on-year from US$6.83m in the corresponding period of Pakistan’s 2019 fiscal year. The Express Tribune newspaper attributed the plunge to currency depreciation, lower retention prices and higher electricity tariffs. Sales in the three months to 31 December 2019 were US$34.4m, up by 5.5% year-on-year from US$32.6m to 31 December 2018.

The company said that the second quarter saw a 20% jump year-on-year in cement dispatches to 0.93Mt from 0.77Mt in the second quarter of the 2019 fiscal year. It expects a return to profitability in 2020.

US: Summit Materials recorded a profit of US$59.1m in 2019, up by 74% from US$33.9m in 2018. Summit Materials’ CEO Tom Hill attributed the growth to ‘sustained public sector demand coupled with improved pricing.’ The Colorado-based construction materials company’s cement section contributed sales growth of 3.5% year-on-year to US$291m from US$281m in 2018, with a 2.8% in cement volumes and a 1.7% price increase.