Displaying items by tag: Sales

India: The Economic Times has reported a forecasted profit growth for UltraTech Cement of 122% to US$119m over the three months to 31 December 2019 from US$53.6m in the corresponding period of 2018. It explained the boom in terms of increased sales, which may have risen by 7% year-on-year to US$1.50bn from US$1.40bn, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) per tonne – up by 45% to US$15.8/t from US$10.9/t. It predicted volumes growth of 3% year-on-year, dragged down by UltraTech subsidiary Century Cement’s falling production.

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) Cement’s five members – Breedon Cement, Cemex UK, Hanson Cement, Lafarge Cement and Tarmac – saw their direct CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement rise by 0.6% year-on-year to 633kg in 2018 from 629kg in 2017. Refuse-derived fuel rates in 2018 were 43.2%, down by 0.5% from 43.8Mt in 2017. The industry achieved its seventh consecutive year in which producers sent zero process waste to landfill. Overall sales fell by 1.0% year-on-year.

China: Preliminary calculations from Huaxin Cement’s financial division have projected a net profit attributable to shareholders for 2019 of between US$0.88bn and US$0.95bn – an increase of 18% - 28% year-on-year from US$0.74bn. The company attributed the forecasted rise to an increase in the production and sales scale of its leading products.

China Cement Association Information Centre deputy director and Digital Cement Network CEO Chen Bailin estimated that demand will remain steady across China in 2020, according to Yicai News.

Gabon: Gabon produced 0.42Mt in 2019, exceeding production figures for 2018 of 0.33Mt by 21%. Sales were US$50.6m – up by 16% from US$42.5m. Direct newspaper attributed the growth to both domestic producers, reporting that CimGabon has improved the efficient use of production equipment, while CIMAF also ramped up production.

Brazil: Brazil has reported a growth in annual sales volumes for the first time since 2014. Producers sold 54.5Mt of cement – up by 3.5% from 52.8Mt in 2018 and exceeding SNIC president Paulo Camillo Penna’s January 2019 forecast of 3.0% growth. Penna has predicted a 3.6% increase to 56.5Mt in 2020. Valor newspaper has reported that Penna bases his assumption on favourable interest rates and low inflation of the Brazilian real as well as the government’s implementation of anticipated industrial policies favourable to production.

Saudi Arabia: Producers in Saudi Arabia sold 4.7Mt of cement in December 2019, representing a year-on-year increase of 24%. The figure exceeded November’s sales volumes of 4.3Mt by 9.3%.

Argentina: The total volume of Argentine cement sold in 2019 was 11.1Mt – down by 6.1% year-on-year from 11.8Mt in 2018. The year’s economic recession and currency devaluation hit December’s sales especially hard, with just 0.74Mt sold, of which 0.11Mt was exported. Esmerk Latin American News has reported that Argentina was self-sufficient for cement in 2019, with no imports throughout the year.

Brazil: Ireland-based CRH has engaged the US-based bank Citigroup to seek buyers for its Brazilian business, which consists of the integrated 0.7Mt/yr Arcos plant and 0.6Mt/yr Cantaglo plant and the 1.0Mt/yr Santa Luzia grinding plant, according to the Brazilian Valor newspaper. CRH acquired the assets from Holcim and Lafarge at the time of the merger of the Swiss and French companies.

Saudi Arabia: In a report on 17 Saudi cement companies including itself, Yamama Cement recorded a year-on-year increase of 24% in sales volumes to 4.27Mt in November 2019 from 3.45Mt the previous November. The volume produced was 4.30Mt, up by 22% from 3.54Mt in November 2018. Mubasher has reported that the country has 1.22Mt of cement in inventory, 3.8% more than the 1.18Mt it held at the end of November 2018. Southern Province Cement Company (SPCC) led the month’s sales, with 0.61Mt.

US: Colombia’s Cementos Argos has sold 28 ready-mix concrete plants. ValorFuturo has reported that Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete (SRM) has acquired the company’s Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia assets. Cementos Argos stated that the reason for the divestments was the failure of the plants to generate operational efficiency due to their small and isolated nature.

In 2018 Cementos Argos produced 5.3Mm3 of concrete at its 236 ready-mix plants in the US region, making it the second biggest domestic producer after Cemex. It ranked fourth for cement production over the period, supplying the US market with 4.7Mt of cement from its four integrated and three grinding plants.