Displaying items by tag: Suspension

Paraguay: The government has re-opened borders to imports of cement due to a national shortage. The Última Hora newspaper has reported that importers will be free to bring cement into the country without having first applied for a provisional import licence. The situation is the result of growth in demand after the coronavirus lockdown and the suspension of production at Yguazú Cementos due to ‘a problem with a transformer.’ The government has already issued Yguazú Cementos with a 15,000t/yr cement import licence due to this.

India: Low demand for power due to the 25 March 2020 – 31 August 2020 nationwide coronavirus lockdown has caused Shree Cement to suspend some of its power plant operations due to a lack of buyers. The Business Standard newspaper has reported that 300MW of Shree Cement’s 650MW power generation capacity produces power for sale to other users on the national grid. Joint managing director Prashant Bangur said, “Owing to the lockdown, power demand was impacted and some of our power capacities were shut. Power demand has not completely recovered yet. Right now, power plants are shut because there is no demand; viability is the second part.”

The first stage of lifting lockdown was announced on 1 June 2020.

Fiji: Pacific Cement has been forced to suspend production at its 0.1Mt/yr-capacity integrated Lami cement plant in Rewa Province following the issue of a stop order by the Department of Environment on 7 August 2020. Truck drivers employed by the company say that they are losing US$300/day as a result, according to the Fiji Times newspaper.

The Lami cement plant previously suspended operations subject to a stop order from the Department of Environment due to complaints about dust emissions on 7 December 2018.

Egypt: The Ministry of Local Development has announced the start of a six-month period in which it will issue no construction licences for private buildings in Greater Cairo, governorate capitals and major cities from 27 May 2020. Egypt Today has reported that the suspension also affects licences for building modifications and extensions.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has ordered that mega-infrastructure projects should continue, subject to additional protective measures against the COVID-19 outbreak. Al-Sisi postponed the inauguration ceremonies for the newly constructed New Administrative Capital and Grand Egyptian Museum.

US: Boral North America has fully or partly suspended operations at four plants and made more than 1700 of its 6900 employees redundant. The Financial Review newspaper has reported that Boral North America chief executive officer (CEO) David Mariner will resign at the end of May 2020.

Australia-based Boral predicted a 3 - 5% year-on-year decrease in net profit in the first half of 2020. Boral chief financial officer (CFO) Ros Ng said, “Boral had US$839m of cash and undrawn liquidity at the end of April 2020.” The group announced a reshuffle of its debt facilities on 15 May 2020.

Vietnam: Vietnam Cement Association (VCA) chair Nguyễn Quang Cung has announced the suspension of all cement plant projects scheduled to begin in 2020. Cung said that oversupply and a lack of financial liquidity have made it unfeasible for cement producers to finish cement plant projects, according to Vietnam News Brief Service. The average cost of an integrated cement plant in Vietnam is US$194m.

Two projects - the 2.5Mt/yr Tan Thanh cement plant and 2.3Mt/yr Long Son cement plant - will be completed in 2020, bringing the domestic integrated production capacity of Vietnam to 106Mt/yr across 86 plants.

South Africa: PPC has reported a predicted 95% year-on-year decline in its sales of cement in South Africa in April 2020 due to the impacts of the coronavirus. Sales in Rwanda and Zimbabwe, where production resumed in mid-late April 2020, are expected to decrease in the month by 80-85% year-on-year.

PPC says that PPC South Africa is preparing to resume production in line with the government’s risk-based regulations announced on 25 April 2020. The group said, “The uncertainty around the further development of the containment of the coronavirus makes it necessary for PPC to work with various scenarios.”

Philippines: Holcim Philippines’ first quarter profit declined by 29% year-on-year to US$9.91m in 2020 from US$13.9m in 2019. Revenues over the period were US$144m, down by 10% from US$160m in the corresponding period of 2019.

The Manila Times reported that Holcim Philippines attributed the declines to ‘softer prices’ and ‘lower volumes in March.’ The latter was due to the government-implemented enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon, which suspended construction in the capital. The company's Visayas and Mindanao cement plants continue production, but have faced a drop in demand due to various local lockdown measures.

Holcim Philippines says that it is ‘shifting its focus to providing food and medical supplies.’

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has suspended the operation of its manufacturing plant in Davao as the city goes on lockdown until (at least) 19 April 2020 in order to contain the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. This was due to a 4 April 2020 order by Mayor Sara Duerte that imposed enhanced community quarantine protocols. Holcim plants are now suspended in the whole of Luzon and in Davao City, prompting the company to announce that it could miss its full-year goals.

Luzon is now on the fourth week of a month-long isolation order that is formally due to end on 12 April 2020. However, government officials have already sounded the possibility that this could be extended.

Mexico: Cemex has temporarily stopped production in Mexico following a government decree issue by the Health Ministry of Mexico in response to the coronavirus epidemic. The building materials company says it has maintained communication with the federal government to resume operations should the authorities decide that the construction industry should be prioritised.

“For Cemex, the health and safety of our employees, contractors, suppliers, customers and communities is a top priority,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cemex. “As soon as the COVID-19 threat emerged, we activated our Rapid Response Teams to implement preventive measures in response to this unprecedented health crisis.” He added that 90% of Cemex’s customers use it Cemex Go online sales platform. The company had also identified US$200m in cost-saving initiatives for 2020 and it is evaluating the delay of certain capital expenditures that had been planned for this year, among other measures.