Displaying items by tag: SCG Cement

US: Heat Battery developer Rondo Energy has concluded a financing round with US$60m raised in investments, Renewables Now News has reported. Investors included Siam Cement Group and Titan Cement Group, as well as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, the Climate Innovation Fund, Rio Tinto, SABIC, Aramco Ventures, SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust and John Doerr. Rondo Energy’s Heat Battery is a means of connecting cement plants and other industrial facilities to a constant supply of electricity ultimately derived from renewable energy sources.

CEO John O'Donnell said “Our Strategic Investor Advisory Board will help Rondo focus on the simplest, fastest ways to power their operations with low-cost clean energy and shape our priorities for ongoing research and development.”

Malaysia: YTL Cement and Thailand-based SCG have signed a memorandum of understanding with Innocement, a joint venture between the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA). The agreement is intended to strengthen the cement supply chain, secure the reliability of supply and stabilise prices in the region, according to the Star newspaper. In January 2023 representatives of the SEDC and the BDA had visited SCG in Bangkok. At this time it was reported that a joint venture between the SEDC and the BDA wanted to import 0.5 – 1Mt/yr of cement from SCG.

Taiwan Cement said this week that it is aiming for cement to account for less than half of its sales by 2025. At the annual shareholders’ meeting chair Nelson Chang defended the cement sector as a core business but said that the company was expanding more into the green energy sector through its energy storage and vehicle charging lines. Chang directly linked the strategy to growing carbon taxes around the world, such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, where the carbon price has been occasionally close to pushing past Euro100/t since early 2022. Taiwan Cement formed a joint venture with Türkiye-based Oyak Group in 2018 that runs Cimpor in Portugal.

Table 1: Cement business share by revenue of selected cement producers. Source: Corporate annual reports.

Taiwan Cement’s plan to decrease its reliance on cement is becoming a familiar one. Holcim notably revealed in 2021 that it was growing its light building materials division. Its cement division represented 60% of sales in 2020 with concrete and aggregates making up most of the rest to 92% and the remaining 8% on other products including light building materials. This started to change with the acquisition of roofing and building envelope producer Firestone Building Products in 2021. Other similar acquisitions have followed. Holcim’s current target is to grow the Solutions & Products division to around 30% by 2025, with cement reduced to somewhere between a third and half of sales. Earlier this year Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement said it was doing a similar thing as part of its medium-term strategy to 2035. In its case cement represented 70% of its sales in 2022 but it is now aiming to reduce this to 65% by 2025 and 50% by 2035.

A common pattern for the business composition of European cement companies is a mixture of heavy building materials made up of cement, concrete and aggregate. However, not every cement company follows the same route. Some cement companies are simply parts of larger conglomerates. UltraTech Cement, for example, is mostly just a cement company. However, it is also part of Aditya Birla Group, which runs a wide range of industries including chemicals, textiles, financial services, telecoms, mining and more. Depending on how one looks at it, UltraTech Cement’s cement business ratio is large or Aditya Birla Group’s ratio is small. Siam Cement Group (SCG) in Thailand is another example of a cement producer operated by a conglomerate with other major businesses.

A different approach that some cement producers take is to mix cement production with complimentary businesses outside of heavy building materials. A good example of this is Votorantim Cement in Brazil, which manufactures cement and steel. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) is another Brazil-based cement producer that is also well known for steel production. Adani Group in India, meanwhile, was well known for logistics, power generation and airports before it purchased Ambuja Cements and ACC from Holcim in 2022.

The driver for cement companies looking to reduce cement as a proportion of their businesses has varied between the three examples presented above. Holcim’s approach has been in response to growing European carbon costs but it also fits with a general desire to broaden its business as the company has sought to reshape itself following the merger between Lafarge and Holcim. Taiheiyo Cement’s plans also have a sustainability angle but the Japanese market has been in slow decline since the 1990s and this has been made worse by the spike in energy prices since 2022. Investing in new businesses makes sense for either of these reasons. Lastly, Taiwan Cement says it is taking action in response to carbon prices around the world. However, its proximity to many other large-scale producers in the Far East may also be a factor. Whether more companies follow suit and also start to reduce the ratio of their cement businesses remains to be seen. Yet, mounting carbon taxes and global production overcapacity look set to make more of the larger cement producers consider their options in certain places.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group is among partners for property developer Central Pattana's planned raft of new sustainability investments worth US$289m. The Bangkok Post newspaper has reported that Central Pattana will implement initiatives with Siam Cement Group, alongside other partners, over the period up to the end of 2027. These will include new sustainability-linked financing arrangements and projects to reduce energy use.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) has forecast 10% year-on-year growth in its consolidated sales to US$19.1bn in 2023, from US$17.4bn in 2022. The Bangkok Post newspaper has reported that the group expects sales to rise due to the reopening of the Chinese market and an anticipated growth in Thai domestic tourism.

High value-added goods and services constituted 34% of SCG’s total sales in 2022. The group increased its installed renewable power capacity by 78% to 234MW throughout the year. SCG has planned capital expenditure investments of US$1.22 - 1.53bn in 2023.

SCG president and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash said "The economic outlook for 2023 seems to be better than last year, but we will continue to monitor risk factors that may affect our businesses.”

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) recorded consolidated sales of US$17.4bn in 2022, up by 7% year-on-year from 2021 levels. Its net profit was US$652m.

During 2023, SCG plans to invest US$1.22 - 1.53bn in capital expenditure.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to install carbon capture systems at cement plants in Southeast Asia. Reuters has reported that the producer signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a subsidiary of Nippon Steel to carry out the projects.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) will invest US$2.89bn in new renewable power infrastructure across its businesses. Major growth areas include 3000MW of solar power generation capacity. This will increase group solar capacity by a factor of 15. Saur Energy News has reported that the renewable power projects will support the company’s on-going decarbonisation investments in cement and other businesses.

SCG is committed to achieving a circular business model and net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) recorded revenues of US$11.8bn during the first nine months of 2022, up by 15% year-on-year from US$10.2bn in the corresponding period of 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 26% to US$1.37bn from US$1.86bn.

SCG recorded nine-month costs growth of 15%, to US$3.29bn from US$2.85bn. The Bangkok Post newspaper has reported that the group says that its monthly energy costs have risen by 50% since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. As such, it is currently focusing its investments on three ‘key’ business areas with smaller energy consumptions than cement. These are smart living, renewable energy and logistics.

SCG renewables subsidiary SCG Cleanergy aims to more than double its renewable power generation capacity to 500MW before 2026 and further increase it to 5GW before 2028. This will consist of wind farms and roof-mounted and floating solar power plants. Meanwhile, SCG Logistics Management secured approval to merge with JWD InfoLogistics on 26 October 2022.

US: Thailand-based Siam Cement Group (SCG) has invested in Rondo Energy, developer of the Heat Battery. The cement company aims to help its various business lines to decarbonise their operations through deployment of Rondo Energy’s technology. Rondo Energy said that the partnership will support and earlier expansion of its product’s footprint across Southeast Asia and worldwide.

Rondo Energy chief executive officer John O’Donnell said “Rondo is excited to be working with SCG. Rondo’s technology opens a new pathway for SCG to achieve their deep decarbonisation goals and simultaneously reduce their operating costs. SCG’s deep capabilities in execution and quality will enable Rondo to deliver reliable energy infrastructure rapidly and at scale. Together, Rondo and SCG have the global footprint to deliver deep decarbonisation projects, including heat as a service projects in Southeast Asia and worldwide.”