Displaying items by tag: Sales

Vietnam: State-owned Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) has sold 1.77Mt of cement and clinker in October 2013, a year-on-year increase of 5%.

1.47Mt of cement and clinker was sold in the domestic market, a year-on-year reduction of 8.3%, while 0.31Mt was exported, a 243.8% increase when compared with October 2012.

The Vietnamese company produced 1.34Mt of clinker and 1.32Mt of cement in October 2013, down by 5.9% and 7.1% respectively compared with October 2012.

During the first 10 months of 2013 Vicem's cement and clinker sales reached 17.7Mt, a 9.2% increase on the same period of 2012. 15.8Mt was sold in the domestic market and 1.8Mt was exported, representing increases of 4.8% and 74.2% compared with the same period in 2012. During the first 10 months of 2013, Vicem's cement output rose by 9.3% year-on-year to 12.39Mt.

Vicem projects that its cement and clinker sales will reach 1.91Mt in November 2013, and aims to produce 1.39Mt of clinker and 1.63Mt of cement in the same period.

Switzerland: Holcim Ltd said that falling demand in key markets, including India and Brazil, weighed on third quarter sales, but the Zurich-based cement maker still posted earnings ahead of expectations as business picked up in Europe and the Americas.

In the three months to the end of September 2013 Holcim's net income rose to Euro381m from Euro319m for the same period of 2012. Revenue fell to Euro4284m from Euro4668m year-on-year, as demand in India and Mexico fell.

Holcim said that cost cutting helped boost earnings but cautioned that the volume of cement it sells will likely slip below its expectations for the whole of 2013. Holcim gets the vast majority of its sales outside of Switzerland, with its biggest market, India, generating around a third of its revenue. The company still expects to post a rise in operating profit in 2013.

US: Eagle Materials has reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, which ended 30 September 2013. Total revenues were up by 53% to US$252.6m. Earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) were US$63.5m, an increase of 114% compared to the same quarter of the prior fiscal year.

Sales volumes were improved across all lines, with cement sales volumes of 1.4Mt providing earnings of US$32.4m, an 86% increase from the same quarter of fiscal 2013. The earnings increase resulted from increased sales volumes and average net cement sales prices, which were 3% higher than the second quarter in fiscal 2013.

India: The Indian high court in Gujarat has ordered that a US$600m deal to sell the Kutch cement plant from Jaypee Cement to UltraTech Cement will be subject of outcome of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by local villagers.

According to the Times of India, the Kharai panchayat has filed a PIL complaining that the cement company has encroached upon grazing land, water bodies and public roads. The PIL demands that the encroachment should be removed and that the high court should intervene to make the area free from pollution caused by mining and the dumping of dust.

Counsel Mehul Sharad Shah contended that over 5000 hectares of land was given at a cheap rate to Gujarat Anjan Cement to create a cement plant for a lease period of 1997 to 2008 on the condition that the company would put up construction within two years. After not following the condition, it transferred the lease for US$120m to Jayprakash Associates, which merged with the J P Corporation. The PIL alleges that the company encroached on gauchar land, water bodies, public roads and began polluting by dumping alkali dust. Cuts in jobs for local labourers has also added to tension in the area.

The high court has said that the transfer of lease will be subject to final outcome of the PIL.

India: Jaypee Cement plans to sell a 51% stake in its 5Mt/yr cement plant in Gujarat to Ultratech. The value of the deal has been placed at around US$633m. A Jaypee official described the deal as 'finalised' to the Press Trust of India.

Jaypee and Ultratech have been in negotiations over the deal for a year. Ultratech reported to the Bombay Stock Exchange in December 2012 that it had not issued any press releases on the rumoured sale in a bid to calm market speculation.

In 2008 the owner of Jaypee Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, purchased purchased Bina Power Supply (BPSL) from the owner of Ultratech, Aditya Birla Group.

Honduras: Lafarge has sold its cement operations in Honduras to Cementos Argos for Euro232m. Sold assets include a 1Mt/yr cement plant and a 0.3Mt/yr grinding plant. The sale is subject to regulatory approval.

The transaction had a total enterprise value of Euro435m based on a 2012 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) multiple of 8.6. Lafarge owns 53.3% of its Honduran subsidiary, Lafarge Cementos SA de CV.

Turkey: Turkish cement producer Aslan Çimento said its parent company Oyak has proposed to sell its 24.24% stake in Aslan Beton to Aslan for US$4.52m.

After the acquisition, Aslan Beton will become a wholly-owned unit of Aslan Çimento while Aslan Beton, As-san Insaat, Birtas Birlik Insaat and Marmara Madencilik will be merged under the control of Aslan Çimento, Aslan Çimento said in a bourse filing. The managing board of Aslan Çimento will now assess the proposed move.

Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia has reported that market oversupply has caused lower cement sales in the first half of 2013 than in the first half of 2012. Sales volumes dropped by 1.3% to 4Mt between January 2013 and June 2013.

"The company had foreseen the contraction after a similar dip in the first quarter, the first time after eight consecutive quarters of growth," said Holcim Indonesia's president director Eamon Ginley.

In the first quarter, Holcim Indonesia reported that its cement sales volume had declined by 1.6% to around 2Mt. Ginley said the condition was temporary as demand would continue to increase over the medium to long terms, citing government and private sector investments in infrastructure and housing.

Indonesia: Indonesian cement sales growth has fallen to 7.5% at 27.8Mt for the first six months of 2013 from 25.9Mt in the same period in 2012, according to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). Year-on-year sales grew by 15% for the January to June period between 2011 and 2012. The deceleration in cement sales is expected to continue in the second half of 2013 due to a reduction in infrastructure development.

Reasons for slower national growth in the first half of 2013 include fewer infrastructure projects, falling commodity prices that have affected development in resource-rich provinces and more frequent rain, according to ASI chairman Widodo Santoso. Sales in Java, the main driver of growth in the first months of 2013, rose by 9.2% to 15.5Mt. Meanwhile, sales outside Java rose by 5.38% to 12.4Mt.

State-owned cement producer PT Semen Indonesia said that the 7.5% growth in nationwide cement sales was still higher than sales growth before 2011. Figures from the ASI showed domestic cement sales rose 14.5% in 2012, 17.7% in 2011, 6% in 2010 and only 0.9% in 2009.

Pakistan: Domestic cement sales in Pakistan reached 25.1Mt in the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year that ended on 30 June 2013, according to data released by All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association Pakistan (APCMA). This is the first time domestic sales of cement in the country have risen above 25Mt/yr. In 2011 – 2012 domestic cement sales stood at 24Mt.

Overall the industry despatched 33.4Mt of cement in the 2012 – 2013 year, with 8.3Mt exported. This is below the record of total cement sales set in 2009 – 2010 of 34.2Mt with 10.7Mt of exports. Data for June 2013 showed that construction activities slowed down, following the Pakistan general election in May 2013. Domestic cement despatches declined by 3% to 2.21Mt in June 2013 from 2.29Mt in June 2012. Exports fell by 9% to 0.67Mt from 0.73Mt.

A spokesman for APCMA hoped that the current fiscal year would lead the cement industry to high productivity as the new government is giving due importance to infrastructure and accelerated economic growth. He added that with proper planning and prudent economic policies, Pakistan has the capability to consume its entire installed cement production capacity of 44.7Mt/yr.