Displaying items by tag: Sierra Leone

Italy: The Italian cement association Federbeton has appointed Stefano Gallini as its president. He succeeds Roberto Callieri in the position.

Gallini is currently the CEO of Heidelberg Materials Italia, a role he assumed at the start of 2024. Before this he was the West African Region Managing Director for Heildelberg Materials and the Managing Director for Sierra Leone. Gallini previously worked for Italcementi from 2000 to 2017 becoming the company’s Chief Commercial Officer Egypt in 2010.

Gambia: Heidelberg Materials has sold its business in the Gambia to iron and steel products company B5 Plus. The business consists of the Banjul cement terminal. Heidelberg Materials says that it will continue to supply West African customers through its operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia and Togo. The company sold its subsidiary in Sierra Leone in 2021.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement sales volumes in the first quarter of 2022 have been hampered by disruptions to gas supplies domestically and by high freight rates restricting its exports of cement and clinker to Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 3.6% year-on-year to 7.25Mt in the first quarter of 2022 from 7.52Mt in the same period in 2021. Its revenue grew by 24% to US$994m from US$801m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 18.6% to US$508m from US$428m.

Michael Pucheros, the chief executive officer of Dangote Cement, said “Our group volumes were down 3.6% mainly due to energy supply challenges in Nigeria. Our operations relying on cement and clinker imports – namely Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Cameroon - were impacted by the global supply chain challenges.” Additionally, its operations outside of Nigeria was also negatively affected by a cement plant in Congo being shut for over two months due to maintenance and repairs and extended power plant maintenance in Senegal.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s revenue grew by 33.8% year-on-year to US$3.33bn in 2021 from US$2.49bn in 2020. Its sales volumes rose by 13.8% to 29.3Mt from 25.7Mt driven by a strong domestic market, although international volume growth was strong. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 43.2% to US$1.65bn from US$1.15bn.

“Over the last two years, we have finalised the deployment of 6Mt new capacity in Nigeria. Looking ahead, we are now focused on a less capital-intensive expansion cycle, which includes building grinding plants across West and Central Africa to leverage and strengthen Dangote Cement’s regional integration. We are on track to deploy grinding capacity in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. In addition, our Alternative Fuel Project is at an advanced stage which aims to leverage waste management solutions, reduce CO₂ emissions, and source material locally. This year, we co-processed 89,000t of waste representing a 60% increase over 2020,” said chief executive officer Michel Puchercos.

The group noted that Cement demand in Nigeria was sustained by increasing housing infrastructure, commercial construction, and government projects including major highways, roads, and railways. In May 2021 it re-started exporting clinker from its Onne and Apapa terminals and delivered seven clinker shipments with a total volume of 197,000t in 2021. It also exported 706,000t in 2021 by road to Togo and Niger. Internationally, the group said that it performed well but it also faced challenges in Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone, where freight costs had increased substantially, causing volatility in the landing cost of cement and clinker.

Sierra Leone: HeidelbergCement has agreed to sell its 50% stake in Sierra Leone Cement Corporation to Diamond Cement Group. Sierra Leone Cement Corporation's assets consist of the 500,000t/yr Freetown grinding plant. HeidelbergCement said that its regional activity will now focus on its key markets of Benin, Burkino Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Togo.

Liberia: President George Manneh Weah has written to the Liberian Senate to agree investment and incentive agreements between the government and Starr Cement. The cement producer intends to build a 0.6Mt/yr grinding plant, according to the New Dawn newspaper. The project will cost US$41m. The proposed plant will supply cement locally and to other countries in the Mano River Union, including Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Nigeria: Domestic sales growth drove Dangote Cement’s financial results in 2018. Its local cement sales volumes grew by 11.4% year-on-year to 14.2Mt in 2019 from 12.7Mt in 2018. Sales in the rest of Africa remained stable at 9.4Mt. Sales revenue grew by 11.9% to US$1.71bn in Nigeria and by 9.6% to US$784m in the rest of Africa. Overall revenue grew by 11.9% to US$2.49bn from US$2.23bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 12.1% to US$1.20bn from US$1.07bn.

“This is a record financial performance by Dangote Cement, driven by a strong increase in our home market, Nigeria, despite heavy rains and uncertainties about the election,” said Joe Makoju, group chief executive officer. He added that, although Pan-African volumes were unchanged in 2018, he was confident that the group would see an increase in 2019, driven by higher volumes in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Congo and Sierra Leone. Elsewhere in Africa the cement producer said that plant shutdowns in Tanzania due to delays to a gas turbine installation, civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction of imports from Nigeria to Ghana had reduced its sales.

Nigeria: Domestic sales volumes of cement by Dangote Cement grew by 11.7% year-on-year to 10.8Mt in the first nine months of 2018, from 9.6Mt in the same period in 2017. However, sales in Sub-Saharan Africa grew slightly to 7Mt due to lower sales in Tanzania, disruptions due to civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction in exports from Nigeria to Ghana. This was mitigated by growing sales volumes in Zambia. Sierra Leone and the start-up of operations in the Republic of Congo. The cement company’s revenue rose by 13.5% to US$1.89bn from US$1.66bn and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 14.6% to US$928m from US$810m.

“Nigerian sales were affected by serious flooding in September 2018 and although Pan-African sales were flat, we will see soon increased sales from Tanzania, now that its gas turbines are installed, and from Ethiopia as local community issues are resolved. We have launched new products in Nigeria that we believe will help us improve our leadership position in Africa’s most exciting market for cement,” said Joe Makoju, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s sales revenue rose in 2017 but its sales volumes of cement fell. Its revenue rose by 31% year-on-year to US$2.23bn in 2017 from US$1.70bn in 2016. However, sales volumes of cement in Nigeria fell by 15.9% to 12.7Mt from 15.1Mt. Altogether, its sales volumes rose by 8.4% to 9.37Mt in the rest of Africa and fell by 7% to 21.9Mt in total. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 50.9% to US$1.08bn from US$713m.

“Although Nigerian volumes were lower in 2017, our Pan-African operations increased volumes by 8.4% and now make up 42% of the Group’s total cement sales, demonstrating the robust diversification of our business,” said Joe Makoju, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement. He added that the cement producer had increased its footprint from eight countries to 10 during the reporting period with the opening of new facilities in the Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, while its operations in Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia achieved ‘strong’ sales growth during the year.

Regionally, Dangote Cement said that its estimate for the total Nigerian cement market fell by 18% to 18.6Mt in 2017 due to a recession in the first half of the year and higher prices. It also noted that its Gboko plant in Benue State was mothballed for ‘most of the year.’ Elsewhere, it said that it exported 174,000t of cement from Nigeria to Ghana. In Senegal it introduced 32.5R cement to its product range. In Sierra Leone it opened a 0.5Mt/yr terminal and bagging plant in Freetown in early 2017. In Tanzania it said that its plant at Mtwara had lost earnings due to its reliance on temporary diesel generators. Gas turbines are scheduled to start operation in March 2018.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s sales revenue and earnings rose in the first quarter of 2017 due to higher prices despite a significant fall in cement sales volumes in its home country. Its sales revenue increased by 48.1% year-on-year to US$682m from US$460m in the same period of 2016 and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 42.3% to US$337m from US$237m. However, its cement sales volumes fell by 6.4% to 6.03Mt from 6.44Mt caused by a drop of 16.5% in Nigeria.

“Dangote Cement produced record financial results in the first three months of 2017. Despite lower group volumes, we delivered significantly higher revenues and EBITDA after realigning prices late in 2016. Our new pricing strategy meant every tonne worked harder for us in Nigeria, delivering 78.4% more EBITDA/t than the same quarter last year,” said chief executive officer Onne van der Wijde. He added the group has started sourcing coal from Nigerian mines run by its parent company, Dangote Industries, and that this had improved margins, reduced its need for foreign coal and the foreign currency required to buy it.

The group has continued to grow its operations outside of Africa to the extent that they represent 28% of its revenue. It reported a ‘good’ start for a new import and bagging facility in Sierra Leone that began operations in January 2017 and stated that it expects to start a 1.5Mt/yr plant in Congo in May 2017.