Displaying items by tag: UNICEM

Nigeria: An affiliate of Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Cement Holdings (NCH), has completed a 100% acquisition of Nigeria's third-largest cement manufacturer United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM). Lafarge did not disclose the purchase price. NCH owned 70% equity in UNICEM before agreeing to the deal in November 2014 to buy the remaining 30% from Flour Mills. UNICEM cement plant in Cross River has a production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr and is undergoing an expansion to 5Mt/yr, to be completed in 2016.

Nigeria: According to This Day Life, United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (UniCem) has denied claims that it was making plans to relocate from Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to Lagos.

UniCem debunked the claims following a publication made by the Cross River State-owned Weekend Chronicle to the effect that the alleged planned relocation had caused internal crisis in the company. However, UniCem has reacted to the speculated relocation plan through a press statement and said that there was no truth in the report.

"United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (UniCem) has declared as false a publication on the front page of the Weekend Chronicle of 19 June 2015 with the caption 'Crisis rocks UniCem over relocation plan,'" said the statement, which was signed by UniCem's corporate affairs director Ayi Ita Ayi. Ayi said that, "The report is false, misleading and lacking in truth." He added that UniCem operates in Calabar and will never be relocated to Lagos for any reason. He questioned why anyone would contemplate that UniCem, with such a huge investment in Cross River, would relocate its assets to Lagos and expressed surprise over why, a reputable media organisation such as the Nigerian Chronicle, did not cross-check facts before going to press on such a sensitive issue.

Nigeria: The management of United Cement Company of Nigeria (UniCem) has disclosed that the company will suffer losses totalling US$45.2m in 2015 due to the economic downturn currently affecting Nigeria, including devaluation of the Naira.

"The devaluation of the Naira impacts negatively on our business because most of our transactions, like procurement of spares and materials, payment of some of contractors (Macmahon and CBMI), energy cost and servicing of foreign creditors, are basically US$-denominated. Cumulatively, we will have a revenue loss of US$45.2m in 2015 due the devaluation of the Naira," said managing director Olivier Lenoir.

The construction of the line II project at Mfamosing, Akamkpa in Cross River State is on course and will provide employment for hundreds of workers. "This project will at peak employ a total manpower of 1915. At this moment the manpower working in the project is 1290. The operations will determine what the manpower need will be when we handover the project," said Lenoir. "The captive power plant is 85% complete and the civil construction of the second line is at 38%." He added that the major challenges in the project are non-technical and include high level of malaria infection, heavy rainfall and customs clearance problems. Lenoir said that, despite these hitches, UniCem is optimistic that the project will be completed on schedule by September 2016.

Germany/Nigeria: United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) has ordered the largest Loesche mill to date, a LM 70.4+4. The new LM 70.4+4 will have an output of 370t/hr at 4,700 Blaine in UNICEM's new line in Calabar, Nigeria. The delivery period is 14 months.

The 4+4 concept follows mill types with 2+2 and 3+3 rollers. The 4+4 grinding concept is intended to allow high throughput capacity or it can run in 2+2 roller operation, generating a mill output of 60%.

Loesche will use the Cope gearbox, which was developed in cooperation with Renk and offers a redundancy of up to eight motors at the motor end. With all eight motors in operation, a capacity totaling 8.8MW is achieved. The new Cope gearbox contributes the feature of working without a variable speed drive and operating with a reduced number of motors

Nigeria: The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has spoken at the ground breaking ceremony of a new line at the 2.5Mt/yr Akamkpa cement plant, owned by United Cement Company of Nigeria (UniCem) in Cross River State. The company, which already operates a 2.5Mt/yr line on the same site, is the third largest producer of cement in Nigeria and aims to further secure this position when the new line comes online in 2016.

President Jonathan used the event to highlight the rapid development of the Nigerian cement industry. "In 2002 the Federal Government of Nigeria formulated the Backward Integration Policy (BIP) in the cement industry with a view to making Nigeria a self-sufficient cement producer," he said. "Within a decade, we have witnessed phenomenal growth in the industry from 2Mt/yr of cement produced locally in Nigeria to 28Mt/yr of installed capacity in 2013."

"Today's event by UniCem is yet another milestone for the company, the industry and the nation at large as this event brings additional 2.5Mt/yr to the nation's existing capacity," he continued. "I am particularly impressed that after five years of inauguration of the first line, we are gathered here today to break ground for the additional 2.5Mt/yr cement line."

Nigeria: With a national production capacity at over 28Mt/yr, which far outstrips national demand of 20Mt/yr, Nigeria looks set to effectively end cement imports by 2017, according to UniCem's managing director, Olivier Lenoir. This is coming on the back of on-going strong national production capacity expansion by virtually all of the major cement producers operating in the country. By 2016, Dangote Cement will have increased its production to 50Mt/yr, Lafarge 15Mt/yr and UniCem to 5Mt/yr.

Nigeria/South Africa: French cement maker Lafarge intends to combine its businesses in Nigeria and South Africa. The new company Lafarge Africa, which will be 73% owned by Lafarge Group, will remain listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The new company will have a cement production capacity of about 12Mt/yr in South Africa and Nigeria as well as operations in aggregates, ready-mix and fly ash. The new company will be worth more than US$3bn.

"I am proud to be part of the creation of this leading African building materials platform. It will provide access to growth in two of the largest economies on the continent. It will mean that our shareholders are invested in a larger and more geographically diverse business and it will contribute significantly to the economic growth of both our nations, " said Chairman of Lafarge WAPCO, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye.

Under the proposed terms, Lafarge Group will transfer its direct and indirect shareholdings in Lafarge South Africa Holdings (Pty) Limited (100% - representing 72.4% of underlying companies in South Africa), United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (35%), Ashakacem plc (58.61%) and Atlas Cement Company Limited (100%) to Lafarge WAPCO. The transaction is subject to Lafarge WAPCO shareholder approvals and obtaining required regulatory and other customary authorisations. The group anticipates completion during the second half of 2014.

Nigeria: Lafarge Cement WAPCO, Ashaka Cement and Unicem have started court action against the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) regarding its plan to limit the application of 32.5 grade cement. The action follows a publication by SON restricting the application of 32.5R grade cement to plastering use only.

"We have instituted a suit against the SON over its recent pronouncement and plan to implement a new mandatory industrial standard order for cement manufacturing, distribution and usage in the country," said the three cement producers at a briefing in Lagos. The producers added that 32.5 grade cement is a widely used multi-purpose product and has 'never' been associated with building collapses.

Nigeria: The United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (Unicem) is investing US$510m in an additional 2.5Mt/yr state-of-the-art cement line to double its existing capacity to 5Mt/yr by 2016.

Sinoma Group is constructing the 2.5Mt/yr new cement line. The project includes the construction of a new 45MW captive power plant by Wärtsilä Nigeria Limited. Work on the project has already started.

Managing director of Unicem, Olivier Leonir, said that cement demand had continued to grow nationally and regionally, especially within the south and south-east regions, with demand currently growing at about 12%/yr.

Leonir said that the project has a lot of economic and social benefits to the people of Cross River state and its neighbouring communities, adding that, "Unicem has a strong commitment to develop local capacity through various initiatives such as the Unicem Community Development Initiative (UCID) and the Graduate Trainee Scheme. We have been enlisting and training young people from the community as mechanical technicians and training young graduate engineers to fill the local manpower gap."

Leonir said that Unicem is also building a US$30.4m 20km cement road infrastructure to cater for the expected traffic increase and to reduce the movement of articulated vehicles within Calabar when the project is completed.

Nigeria: Flour Mills of Nigeria plans to borrow up to US$500m to finance a 2.5Mt/yr upgrade at its 2.5Mt/yr UNICEM joint venture cement plant in Calabar, according to its chief finance officer. Flour Mills operates in the Nigerian cement market as Burham Cement and it shares its joint venture with Holcim and Lafarge.

In an interview with Reuters, Jacques Vauthier announced that the conglomerate had appointed financial advisers and banks to raise a term loan from the local market for the construction of the plant. He said that the details of the loan were still being finalised. The new cement plant will be completed by the first quarter of 2016.

Vauthier acknowledged the cement glut in 2012 and blamed it on cheap imports from Asia. He added that sales were picking up again and he expected its cement subsidiary Unicem to end 2013 with a year-on-year growth rate that is in double-digits.

This news story was updated on 11 November 2013 with the exisiting capacity of the UNICEM cement plant