Displaying items by tag: Sales

Italy: Buzzi Unicem saw its cement sales remain flat at 27.4Mt in 2013. Overall net sales dropped slightly by 2.1% year-on-year to Euro2.75bn. In a preliminary results statement, the company reported growth in the US and Russia, recovery in central Europe in the second half of 2013 and continued market problems in Mexico, Italy and parts of eastern Europe.

France: The Vicat Group has reported that sales by its cement business fell by 4% year-on-year to Euro1.11bn in 2013 from Euro1.16bn in 2012. No reason was provided for this decline. The French building materials manufacturer produced 18Mt of cement in 2013. Across all business lines the company's sales remained flat at Euro2.29bn.

By region, Vicat saw cement sales fall by 7.6% year-on-year in France due to poor weather and 'challenging' economic conditions. Cement sales rose by 6.3% in the US, led by infrastructure growth in California. In Turkey cement sales rose by 16.7% and in West Africa sales fell by 4.7%.

Tanzania: Loesche GmbH has received an order from Tanga Cement Company Ltd in Tanzania for the supply of two vertical roller mills.

The order covers engineering and supply of two Loesche vertical roller mills, one LM 41.4, which will grind 200t/hr of cement raw material with a fineeness of 15% R 90μm, one LM 19.2 D coal mill with a grinding capacity of 20t/hr. and a fineness of 12% R 90μm. Included in the scope of supply is a rotary star feeder for the raw meal mill and a coal screw feeder for the coal mill. The delivery of the mill key parts is planned for July 2014.

This is Tanga Cement's first order from Loesche. Tanga Cement's plant, which was commissioned in 1978, has a production capacity of 3000t/day.

Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia has reported that its sales volumes fell by 2% year-on-year to 8.43Mt in 2013 from 8.58Mt in 2012, according to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). Its sales accounted for 14.5% of the domestic market share.

Nepal: Cement producers have reported that sales have risen by 10% year-on-year in 2013, according to the Nepal Cement Manufacturers' Association (NCMA). The country's cement demand has soared with the increasing construction of dams, bridges and housing projects.

"If you look at the overall capacity of the cement industry, demand can be fulfilled by domestic production. But some big projects have been importing cement and domestic products account for 85% of the total consumption in the country," said Tara Pokharel, general secretary of NCMA.

World: Quintiq, global provider of supply chain planning and optimisation, has announced that Lafarge has chosen Quintiq software to optimise sales and operations planning and transport management.

The company will benefit from the Quintiq software platform across the entire organisation for demand planning, supply chain planning and transport optimisation. All cement, aggregates and concrete business lines in all countries in which Lafarge operates will be able to implement this system. The solution will reduce production and transport costs while increasing customer satisfaction.

Real-time collaboration between Lafarge planners will also improve the quality and transparency of the planning process. The use of a single platform for all planning applications will simplify Lafarge's IT landscape. The flexibility of Quintiq's optimisation technology enables the solution to be used to cover all country-specific business requirements.

US: Lafarge has announced the sale of five aggregates quarries and related assets in Maryland to Bluegrass Materials for a total enterprise value of US$320m, subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

With these divestments, Lafarge has largely completed its strategy of refocusing on its core markets in the US. The company now operates a strong network of integrated positions mainly located in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River regions. These include nine cement or grinding plants and associated cement terminals with a combined capacity of 11Mt/yr, as well as related aggregates and concrete businesses in these markets.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales have dropped by 30% since the beginning of 'correction campaigns' against illegal foreign workers in early November 2013, according to Zamil Al-Miqrin, head of the National Committee for Cement Companies.

Speaking to local media, Al-Miqrin said the rate of sales reduction varies from one region to another adding that supplies currently surpass demand in the cement companies. The first week of the campaign saw a sharp fall in sales, as high as 50% for some companies, but Al-Miqrin expected an improvement in prices by the beginning of January 2014. He added that sales growth in cement had fallen by 10% in 2012 to 3% in 2013.

Saud Al-Araifi, CEO of the Northern Province Cement, said that cement producers in Saudi Arabia are unable to react to the crisis because exporting cement to foreign countries is banned by the Ministry of Commerce. He added that the crisis will be temporary until the current labour shortage in the construction market corrects itself. Other commentators have noted that the rate of stalled construction projects has been much higher in the private sector than in the government sector.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales dropped by 17% year-on-year to 3.65Mt in November 2013 from 4.37Mt in November 2012, according to local media. The decline in sales was blamed on a campaign against migrant workers following the end of an amnesty period on 3 November 2013.

Sales of all of the cement companies fell during November 2013 with the exception of Northern Province Cement Company, Arabian Cement Company and Madinah Cement Company, whose sales increased by 58%, 24% and 20% respectively, according to data from Yamamah Cement Company. Riyadh Cement Company and Jouf Cement Company posted the biggest drop in November 2013 at 45% and 44% respectively. Sales by Saudi Cement Company and Yamamah fell by 21% and 32% respectively.

Sales of clinker for the country's fifteen cement companies rose by 9% year-on-year to 4.75Mt in November 2013 from 4.35Mt in November 2012.

Bangladesh: Lafarge Surma Cement (LSC) earns up to US$60m/yr from sales of clinker to other cement companies in the country. The Bangladesh-based subsidiary of Lafarge imports limestone from a quarry in Meghalaya, India via a 17km belt conveyor to its cement plant at Chhatak, Bangladesh. According to the Financial Express, the setup is the only cross-border industrial venture between India and Bangladesh.