Displaying items by tag: US

France: Despite a 12% year-on-year increase in consolidated sales to Euro1.75bn from Euro1.56bn, Vicat recorded a net income drop of 17% to Euro77.8m from Euro93.5m in the first half of 2022. The group attributed the decline to increased global energy costs and to non-recurring industrial costs in France, India and the US. These costs included investments in exceptional maintenance at its Montalieu cement plant in France and a debottlenecking capacity expansion at its Kalburgi, India, cement plant. Geopolitical events also impacted the profitability of the producer’s business in Mali. Group cement sales rose by 17% year-on-year to Euro1.1bn.

Chair and chief executive officer Guy Sidos said “The basis for comparison in the first six months of 2022 was unfavourably high given the sales and profitability levels achieved in the same period of the previous year.”

US: Eagle Materials offset higher energy and maintenance costs by raising the prices of its products in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year. This contributed to an 18% year-on-year sales rise to US$561m. The group achieved earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$184m during the quarter, up by 13% year-on-year.

President and chief executive officer Michael Haack said "Our results this quarter exceeded our expectations, as our portfolio of businesses performed well, and we executed on the opportunities available to us. Construction activity remained healthy across our markets, and we realised broad pricing gains across our portfolio again this quarter."

The producer’s cement sales rose by 5% year-on-year to US$285m. Haack said "In our heavy materials business, we implemented a second round of cement price increases in early July 2022 given the strong demand environment and our sold-out position. Looking ahead, we expect demand for cement to remain strong, with infrastructure investment increasing as federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act begins in earnest this fiscal year.”

Mexico: GCC increased its sales revenue by 11% year-on-year to US$320m in the second quarter of 2022. Its US cement sales volumes rose by 6%, with a 10% rise in prices, while its Mexico cement volumes fell by 2.3%, with a 12% rise in prices. The group’s cost of sales was US$220m, 69% of total sales, compared to 67% in the second quarter of 2021.

Mexico: Cemex’s consolidated sales grew by 9% year-on-year to US$7.85bn in the first half 2022 from US$7.2bn in the same period in 2021. It sold 32.1Mt of cement, down by 4% from 33.6Mt. Its cement sales volumes rose by 4% in its US and by 1% in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, but fell by 10% in Mexico and by 3% in South and Central America and the Caribbean. The group says that record levels of alternative fuel usage and a lowered clinker factor helped it to reduce its total CO₂ emissions by 3% year-on-year in the reporting period.

Chief executive officer Fernando González said “I am pleased that our pricing strategy is yielding results and has fully offset inflationary costs in the second quarter of 2022. With improved supply chain dynamics and continued success of our pricing and cost containment strategies, we remain confident we can recover 2021 margins. 


Greece: Titan Cement’s consolidated sales rose by 26% year-on-year to Euro1.04bn in the first half of 2022 from Euro821m in the first half of 2021. The group’s US sales rose by 23% to Euro595m from Euro482m. Its Southeastern Europe sales grew by 28% to Euro169m, while its Greece and Western Europe sales grew by 21% to Euro158m and its Eastern Mediterranean sales grew by 49% to Euro113m. The producer also holds a stake in Brazil-based Cimento Apodi, which recorded sales growth of 38% to Euro50.5m. Titan Cement’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to Euro139m, down by 2.5% from Euro143m. The producer expects cost pressures to persist throughout 2022. It says that its focus is on safeguarding its production, protecting its margins, improving its efficiencies and continuing with its carbon mitigation strategies.

Titan Cement’s CO₂ emissions per tonne of cementitious product fell by 5.6% year-on-year, driven by a reduction in the clinker factor.

Congratulations are due to the National Cement Company of Alabama and Vicat for the inauguration of the new production line at the Ragland cement plant in Alabama. The event took place on 21 July 2022.

The US$300m project was originally announced in late 2019. It then took two years to build with construction starting in January 2020. Key features include a raw vertical grinding mill, a new roller mill, a five stage preheater tower, an automatic clay storage system, a 78m tall homogenisation silo, an alternative fuels storage area for tyre-derived fuel, sawdust and wood chips, a laboratory and a new control room. The new kiln was previously reported to have a clinker production capacity of 5000t/day and it will add up to 2Mt/yr of cement production capacity to the plant. ThyssenKrupp signed up as the principal equipment supplier in 2019 and H&M was the main contractor. The production line is expected to reduce energy consumption by one third. Further change is scheduled with a switch to production of Portland limestone cement (PLC) from Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by the start of 2023.

Vicat has repeatedly noted its affection for the plant as it was the first cement plant the group purchased outside of France, back in 1974. Indeed, Vicat’s group chair and chief executive officer Guy Sidos personally managed the Ragland plant in 2001. However, rather more prosaic reasons may also have been behind the decision to expand Ragland. According to United States Geological Survey (USGS) data, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee’s cement shipments grew by nearly 5% year-on-year to 7.1Mt in 2019 from 6.8Mt in 2018. Shipments are up by 3% year-on-year to 2.5Mt in the first four months of 2022 and the three states were the fifth largest region in the US for cement shipments in April 2022. A shortage of cement was also reported in Alabama in April 2022.

The other big US-based cement plant expansion is Lehigh Hanson’s US$600m upgrade to its Mitchell plant in Indiana. It also celebrated a milestone this week with a ‘topping out’ ceremony to mark the placement of the final section of steel for the stack. Another recent achievement here was the completion of a 169,000t storage dome supplied by Dome Technologies. The supplier says that the 67m diameter and 48m tall dome is the second largest clinker storage facility in Europe and North America, after one it previous built in Romania in 2008.

The Mitchell K4 project was announced in mid-2018 and then ground breaking began in late 2019. However, the start of the coronavirus pandemic delayed construction in early 2020 before it restarted in September 2020. The revised commissioning date was then moved back about half a year to early 2023. The key part of this project is that it will replace the plant’s three current kilns with just one. The new production line will increase the site’s production capacity, reduce energy usage and decrease CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement. It was reported by local press back in 2018 that the project would increase the plant’s cement production capacity to 2.8Mt/yr. The project has been linked to supplier KHD with CCC Group as the contractor.

It’s fascinating to see two major new upgrades to cement plants emerging in a mature market like the US and during an unprecedented event like the emergence of coronavirus. No doubt compelling tales will emerge of how both teams coped with managing nine-figure capital expansion projects as a global public health emergency unfolded. The US market has been on a roll in recent years, despite all the uncertainty in the world, and so far it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. With luck both of the projects feature above have timed their opening right.

US: National Cement Company of Alabama has reported that the new kiln line at its Ragland cement plant will reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 40%. Its energy consumption will also fall by 30% as a result of the upgrade. The new line includes a 78m-high homogenisation silo, vertical crusher, five-stage preheater and automated clay storage system. AF used in the kiln will include waste tyres, woodchip and sawdust. The new kiln will help in the Ragland cement plant’s transition to 100% Portland limestone cement (PLC) production by 2023, further diminishing its carbon footprint.

Vicat CEO Guy Sidos said "Our ambition is to use AF in all our cement plants around the world. In addition to eliminating fossil fuel energy and replacing it with recycled regional waste, our investments contribute directly to local development. We are proud of the modernisation and transformation of our Ragland site, which was our very first acquisition outside France in 1974."

US: A 43-year old worker died after sustaining severe injuries at Giant Cement’s Harleyville, South Carolina, cement plant on 21 July 2022. Local press has reported that the cause of the tragedy involved a conveyor belt at the plant.

US: Vicat subsidiary National Cement Company of Alabama inaugurated its new US$300m production line at its Ragland cement plant on 21 July 2022. Local press has reported that the line includes a new rotary kiln, equipped for alternative fuel (AF) use.

President Spencer Weitman said “This puts us into the next 40 or 50 years. And it’s prolonged the life of the plant to move us forward into the next century hopefully.”

US: Lehigh Hanson’s Lehigh Cement plant in Union Bridge, Maryland plans to fully switch from Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) to Portland limestone cement (PLC) production by January 2023. It will manufacture its EcoCemPLC product. The company says that the Union Bridge plant is currently the company’s largest cement plant in North America.

The decision to move to PLC follows similar changes at the company’s Mason City plant in Iowa and three cement plants in Indiana. Lehigh Hanson produced over 2Mt of PLC in 2021 and it says it is set to double this figure in 2022.