Displaying items by tag: Taiwan Cement Corporation

Taiwan: Ta-Ho Maritime has announced its decision to buy a new cement carrier. The subsidiary of Taiwan Cement said that the investment cost would be up to US$50m. The bulk shipping company transports dry bulk commodities around the world, including cement. Its fleet consists mostly of ‘Kamsarmax’ sized ships and cement carriers with a total deadweight upwards of about 700,000t. It operates five dedicated cement carriers, two of which use alternate maritime power (AMP) that are used to reduce pollution.

Taiwan: Zhang Anping, the chair of Taiwan Cement, has expressed doubts about the strength of the Chinese market in the short term. Whilst being interviewed by the state-owned Central News Agency at a community event, he said that increased raw material and energy prices looked set to remain high until at least mid-2022. The price of coal in China had more than tripled in 2021 before easing somewhat. He also raised the risks of growing global market uncertainty from an anticipated rise in interest rates in the US by the Federal Reserve and the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement plans to build 87.5MWh and 250MWh large-scale energy storage units at its integrated Suao and Hualien plants respectively. Once complete it will become the largest energy storage field in the country. The company will also install a 4MW solar plant at Hualien.

Italy: Taiwan-based Taiwan Cement has successfully acquired a 60% stake in battery and hydrogen power systems supplier Engie EPS for Euro132m. The building materials producer is attempting to become a global supplier in the sector.

The latest piece of China-based Huaxin Cement’s global ambitions slotted into place this week with the news that it is preparing to buy plants in Zambia and Malawi. Its board of directors has approved plans to spend US$150m towards acquiring a 75% stake in Lafarge Zambia and US$10m on a 100% stake in Lafarge Cement Malawi. The move will gain it two integrated plants with a combined production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr in Zambia, and a 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant in Malawi.

This latest proposed acquisition represents the next step for Huaxin Cement in Africa following its purchase of African Tanzanian Maweni Limestone from ARM Cement in mid-2020. The company has also been busy along the more traditional Belt and Road Initiative land routes in Asia. It started up the kiln at its new 2Mt/yr Jizzakh cement plant in mid-2020. Elsewhere in Central Asia it runs two plants in Tajikistan and one plant in Kyrgyzstan via various indirectly-owned subsidiaries. While in South Asia it runs a plant in Nepal and in South-East Asia it runs one in Cambodia. If the plans in Zambia and Malawi pay off then it will give the Chinese producer a growing presence in East Africa, with plants in three countries.

The China Cement Association ranked Huaxin Cement as the country’s fifth largest clinker producer in 2021 with an integrated capacity base of just under 63Mt/yr. Domestically, the company operates 57 cement plants and most of these are based in the Yangtze River Economic Belt region. In 2020 it reported cement and clinker sales of 76Mt, a small decrease from 2019. Its operating income fell by 6.6% year-on-year to US$4.58bn and profit dropped by 12% to US$1.2bn. This performance was blamed on the emergence of Covid-19 at the start of 2020 and then floods later in the year.

Compared to the other larger Chinese cement producers, Huaxin Cement roughly appears to be holding rank with its overseas expansions. The leaders, CNBM and Anhui Conch, hold subsidiaries with plants in South-East and Central Asia and CNBM’s engineering wing, Sinoma, has a far bigger reach, building plants all over the place. Information has been scarce since mid-2020 on the long heralded 7Mt/yr plant in Tanzania due to be built by Sinoma and local subsidiary Hengya Cement. At that time local residents in Mtimbwani, Mkinga District were reportedly being compensated for their land. Other than this, one of the other big players internationally is Taiwan Cement. In 2018 it invested around US$1.1bn for a 40% stake in Turkey-based Oyak Cement. As well as a presence in Turkey this also gave it a share of plants in Portugal in 2019 when Oyak completed its acquisition of Cimpor.

Elsewhere this week, carrying some of the themes above with expansion in Central Asia, two new integrated cement plant projects were announced in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan respectively. Meanwhile, Italcementi said it will invest Euro5.0m to restart clinker production at its Trentino cement plant in Sarche di Madruzzo, Italy. The unit has been operating as a grinding plant since 2015. This might be viewed as an unexpected decision considering the high local CO2 price but it shows some level of confidence in the local market by Italcementi and its parent company, HeidelbergCement. The next step will be when or if a European producer decides to build a brand new integrated plant in Italy or elsewhere.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement’s revenue rose by 11.3% year-on-year to US$788m in the first quarter of 2021. Its income increased by 11% to US$119m. It attributed this to profit growth in its cement businesses in Taiwan and Europe despite ‘weak’ sales prices in China.

Chairman Nelson Chang said, “To reduce carbon emissions, using alternative fuel and material for cement production, adopting renewable energy, and expanding energy storage usage are crucial and Taiwan Cement aims to play our role in helping society achieving the goal of a low carbon environment.” In 2020 the group processed over 9Mt of alternative fuels in its Greater China business.

Italy: Taiwan-based Taiwan cement has agreed to acquire Engie’s 60% stake in battery and hydrogen power systems supplier Engie EPS. The aggregate value of the deal is Euro132m. The producer expects to close the deal in mid-late 2021, whereupon it will launch an all-cash mandatory tender offer for the company’s remaining shares. Taiwan Cement said that the transaction would provide the cornerstone for its strategic global blueprint in the future.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement has announced plans to establish a super battery plant in Kaohsiung. The plant will produce high-charge-discharge nickel ternary batteries developed by the company’s subsidiaries TCC Green Energy and battery specialist E-Moli. The maximum total investment in the facility will be US$350m. The plant will be the first of its kind in Taiwan and will have a capacity of 1.8GW/yr in battery power.

Chair Nelson Chang said, "Everyone has only one nationality, Earth."

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement’s revenue fell by 7% year-on-year to US$4.02bn in 2020 from US$4.32bn in 2019. Net income grew by 4% to US$881m.

Senior vice president Edward Huang said, "In 2020, Taiwan Cement made achievements in many aspects. In additional to our sound financial performance, we also committed to the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA)’s Climate Ambition aspiring to deliver carbon neutral concrete to society by 2050. Even though challenges such as Covid-19, global economic volatility and climate change remain in 2021, Taiwan Cement is well-prepared as we continue to see stable profits in the cement industry, expand our waste treatment and energy businesses and move towards our carbon emissions reduction targets."

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement’s revenue came to US$2.88bn in the first nine months of 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 6%. However, its operating income was US$800m, a 9% year-on-year increase compared to the first nine months of 2019. Its net income was US$640m, 4% higher than a year earlier.

“The fourth quarter is the traditional peak season for the cement market and we remain optimistic about our performance,” said Edward Huang, Senior Vice President and Spokesperson of Taiwan Cement.