Displaying items by tag: Sales

Japan: Mitsubishi Materials and Ube Industries have signed a letter of intent to start discussing a potential merger of their cement businesses and related concerns. If the discussions and a subsequent study are successful, the companies plan to sign a definitive agreement in late September 2020 ahead of an anticipated integration around April 2022. Any formal decision to merge the companies would be subject to approval from the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

The companies have decided to explore merging their cement operations following slowing demand and increased costs due to higher energy prices. They have worked together since 1998 in a joint venture called Ube-Mitsubishi Cement, which integrated their cement sales and logistics operations.

UK: Langley Holdings recorded a 42% year-on-year fall in profit in 2019 to Euro59.9m from Euro103m in 2018. There was a 3.3% decline in sales year-on-year to Euro820m from Euro848m. The company attributed its profit drop to its Marelli Motori acquisition and reorganisation of the Italy-based motor and generator producer. Langley Holdings Chairman Tony Langley said, “The group is now poised for the next phase of its development.”

Russia: Russian producers sold 2.4Mt of cement in January 2020, up by 9.6% from 2.2Mt in January 2019. This is in line with Unioncement’s optimistic forecast of 6% year-on-year demand growth. The coming construction season promises sustained growth due to the planned renovation of housing stock, the implementation of integrated development projects and an increased share of roads built using cement concrete, in line with the country’s 2020 Housing and Urban Environment programme and President Putin’s social initiatives.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s consolidated sales rose by 12% year-on-year to Euro3.22bn in 2019 from Euro2.87bn in 2018. The company saw a rise in cement sales volumes of 4.3% year-on-year to 29Mt from 28Mt. The company attributed the boost to its 0.9Mt integrated Testi plant in the Veneto region of Italy, which it commissioned on 1 July 2019, and two new grinding plants in Italy and Germany.

India: JK Cement has announced a rise in total comprehensive profit (net of tax) over the nine months ended 31 December 2019 of 130% to US$56.2m from US$24.5m in the corresponding period of 2018. Revenues rose by 14% year-on-year to US$567m in the period from US$495m over the nine months to 31 December 2018.

On 3 February 2020 JK Cement commissioned a 1.5Mt/yr and a 1.0Mt/yr grinding unit at its Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Mangrol, Rajasthan, plants.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement recorded a net profit of US$278m in the nine months to 31 December 2019, the first three quarters of the Japanese 2020 fiscal year. This corresponds to a 10% fall from US$310m in the nine months to 31 December 2018. Its nine-month sales fell by 4.3% year-on-year to US$6.04bn in the first three quarters of the present financial year, compared to US$6.31bn one year previously.

Taiheiyo Cement revised its forecasted full-year (to 31 March 2020) net profit down from US$570m, published in its six-month results on 12 November 2019, to US$364m.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement’s nine-month net profit over the period ending 31 December 2019 fell by 35% year-on-year to US$45.6m from US$70.3m over the corresponding period of 2018. Nine-month revenues were US$1.66bn, down by 3.3% year-on-year from US$1.71bn. Sumitomo Osaka Cement predicted revenues in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2020 of US$2.23bn, which would give it an estimated net profit of US$97.5m for the whole year, down by 27% from US$134m in the 2019 fiscal year.

India: Star Cement recorded a standalone net profit of US$6.43m in the period between 1 October 2019 and 31 December 2019, representing a decrease of 18% year-on-year from US$5.45m in the corresponding three-month period of 2018. The company attributed the decline to increased operating expenses, which rose by 16% year-on-year to US$51.9m from US$44.9m in 2019. Sales over the period rose by 6.9% year-on-year to US$60.1m from US$56.2m in the final quarter of 2018.

India: Sagar Cement’s consolidated production volumes at its integrated 2.4Mt/yr Mattampally, Telangana, and 1.0Mt/yr Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh, plants in January 2020 were 317,000t, up by 4.7% year-on-year from 303,000t in January 2019. Accord Fintech News has reported that consolidated sales in the period fell by 1.6% year-on-year to 315,000t from 320,000t in January 2019.

On 29 January 2020 the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change granted environmental clearance to Sagar Cements for and upgrade to all three dry lines of its 2.4Mt/yr Mattampally plant to raise its capacity to 5.0Mt/yr. Its clinker capacity will rise from 2.0Mt/yr to 4.8Mt/yr. The expansion also includes a 36MW coal-fired power plant and a 22MW waste heat recovery (WHR) power plant.

Vietnam: Thailand-based Siam Cement Group (SCG) said its revenue from sales in Vietnam dropped by US$64.7m in 2019, a fall of 5.8% year-on-year to US$1.27bn. The figure accounted for 9.0% of SCG’s total revenue of US$14.1bn for the year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, SCG earned US$319m in revenue in the Vietnamese market, a fall of 11% year-on-year, appearing to indicate acceleration in the rate of decline. A possible contributing factor to the lower sales is Vietnam’s huge cement overcapacity, although SCG operates across a wide range of other sectors in addition to cement production.