Displaying items by tag: US
Mexico: Nearly 500 cement and concrete plants in the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Sonora have partly or fully suspended production due to an on-going regional shortage of natural gas. The El Financiero newspaper reports that plants run by Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC), Cemex, Holcim and Cruz Azul operate in this region.
GCC said that a lack of electricity and natural gas had affected production at three of its plants in Chihuahua, Samalayuca and Juárez. Mexican Association of the Ready-mix Concrete Industry (AMIC) president Ana Laura Burciaga said that the situation has caused a 50% drop in the cement supply to concrete plants.
The cause of the shortage is reported to be the suspension of natural gas exports from Texas, US. Mexican steel and automotive manufacturers have also been affected.
Martin Engineering introduces smart belt tensioning system
23 February 2021US: Martin Engineering has launched the N2 Twist tensioner, an autonomous tensioning system that continuously monitors and delivers proper cleaner tension. The company says that the system integrates with its Martin Smart Device Manager software product to alert operators when the blade needs changing or if there is an abnormal condition. It says that this facilitates efficient cleaning, increased safety, reduced labour and a lower cost of operation.
Product development engineer Andrew Timmerman said, “We designed the unit for heavy-duty applications and tested it outdoors in punishing environments and applications. The N2 Twist Tensioner has proven itself to be a rugged and highly effective way to maximise both cleaning efficiency and blade life.”
Claudius Peters reports sales drop in profitable 2020
18 February 2021Germany: Claudius Peters’ 2020 sales were Euro80.2m, down by 19% year-on-year from Euro98.8m in 2019. The company recorded a ‘small profit’ compared to a loss in 2019. It said that it started the year with a historically low order book. This was compounded by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, the supplier exceeded targets in China, Romania and the US.
The company said, “Order intake is currently looking much more promising than a year ago with several major projects, delayed due to the pandemic, coming into the decision phase during the first quarter of 2021. With an operational overhaul now well under way, the future for Claudius Peters is looking more positive.”
Cement shortages in Arizona
17 February 2021One news story to note recently has been Cemex’s decision to recommission a kiln in Mexico to address cement shortages in the southwest US. In early February 2021 the Mexico-based producer said it was spending US$15m to restart a 1Mt/yr kiln at its CPN cement plant in Hermosillo, Sonora. The unit is over 250km from the US border but Cemex said it was making the investment to cope with cement shortages and project delays in California, Arizona and Nevada. At present it supplies over 3Mt/yr to California, Arizona, and Nevada from its integrated plant in Victorville, California and via sea-borne imports. Efficiency improvements at Victorville and other unspecified supply chain changes are also planned.
Cemex isn’t the only company with an eye on the south-west US. Around the same time Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement concluded its deal with Semen Indonesia to buy a 15% stake in its subsidiary Solusi Bangun Indonesia (SBI) for around US$220m. It’s a long way from Arizona but the related statement mentioned plans to make SBI’s integrated Tuban plant in East Java more export focused, with the construction of a new jetty and silos. It intends to export 0.5Mt/yr of cement to Taiheiyo Cement’s business in the US. Its local subsidiary, CalPortland, runs two integrated plants in California and one in Arizona.
Chart 1: Annual change in US cement consumption by state, December 2019 – November 2020. Source: PCA & USGS.
In its recent winter forecasts the Portland Cement Association (PCA) reported that the Mountain region of the US recorded the highest growth in cement consumption in 2020, at 10%, due to underlying economic fundamentals and favourable demographic trends. Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) supports Cemex’s view too. Ordinary Portland Cement and blended cement shipments rose by 21% year-on-year to 2.74Mt in Arizona and New Mexico in the first 11 months of 2020 from 2.28Mt in the same period in 2019. This doesn’t quite tally in California where shipments fell slightly, by 0.8%, to 9.42Mt. However, it reported 12% growth to 2.38Mt in the first quarter of 2020, suggesting that the market could return sharply once the coronavirus epidemic is better under control. Overall, shipments in the US grew by 1.03% to 82.3Mt in the first 11 months of 2020, driven by growth in central regions. The PCA expects national cement consumption to grow by about 1% in 2021 with a ‘robust’ recovery driven by residential housing but slowed by uncertain coronavirus vaccination supplies and general market volatility.
In a world with too much clinker production capacity, it stands out to see two established producers so visibly chasing market share in a mature market. Rather than building new plants, both Cemex and Taiheiyo Cement are using or reviving existing production lines in other countries, and building import strategies as well as optimising their existing facilities in the regions. With the western building material multinationals now often looking to focus on ‘safe’ markets in Europe or North America the fight to grow market share in these regions is likely to become more intense. It also complicates decisions about when or if an existing plant should be mothballed or shut. After all, Cemex’s old production line in Hermosillo is about to become very useful indeed.
Martin Marietta ends 2020 with growing cement market in Texas
17 February 2021US: Martin Marietta’s total revenue remained stable at US$4.73bn in 2020. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 11% year-on-year to US$1.39bn from US$1.25bn in 2019. Cement shipments rose by 11.7% year-on-year to 1.1Mt in fourth-quarter of 2020 due to strong demand in Texas.
“As we move forward, we believe underlying demand fundamentals will reset, establishing 2021 as the year during which the nation regains its economic footing,” said Ward Nye, the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Martin Marietta. He added, “We anticipate single-family housing growth, expanded infrastructure investment and notable heavy industrial projects of scale will support the company’s near-term shipment levels. We expect these demand drivers, combined with the ancillary construction necessary for housing community buildouts and the potential increased infrastructure investment from a comprehensive Federal surface transportation package, should provide for multi-year growth in product demand,”
Cemex USA acquires Beck Readymix Concrete
17 February 2021US: Cemex USA has acquired Beck Readymix Concrete. The ready-mix producer operates three concrete plants in San Antonio, Texas and an additional portable plant.
Texas Regional President Scott Ducoff said, “Texas is experiencing explosive growth and Cemex has repeatedly shown it is ready to make moves to help fuel it. By acquiring these facilities, Cemex will be able to deliver our high-quality products that many Texans are already familiar with to satisfy the high demand of customers of one of the state’s most dynamic markets. We welcome our new employees and look forward to a smooth transition for them.”
Terminal Ready-Mix acquires Huron Cement assets
17 February 2021US: Terminal Ready-Mix has announced its acquisition of assets from ready-mix concrete and building materials producer Huron Cement. Ohio Newstime has reported that the companies completed the deal in February 2021.
Vicat’s sales, earnings and net income rise in 2020
16 February 2021France: Vicat recorded full-year consolidated sales of Euro2.81bn in 2020, up by 2% year-on-year from Euro2.74bn in 2019. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to Euro557m from Euro526m. Consolidated net income rose by 8% to Euro172m from Euro160m.
The group said that organic sales were ‘strong,’ rising in all regions except in France, by 6% in total. It attributed the decline to a near-total shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March 2020, which lifted incrementally throughout the first half of the year. Vicat France’s cement business recovered ‘robustly’ in the second half of 2020, resulting in an operational sales increase of 3% for the year. Full stoppages of activity lasted for 33 days in India and for 30 days in Italy. Despite these challenges, business growth, cost-cutting and lower energy costs drove earnings growth, with ‘very sharp improvements’ recorded in the Americas and in Asia. Additionally, the ramp-up of a new grinding plant in Mali and production performance improvements in Senegal supported a ‘significant’ earnings increase in Africa.
Chair and chief executive officerGuy Sidos said, “Thanks to our employees’ tremendous efforts and commitment, the Vicat group strengthened its position amid the unprecedented current pandemic situation. Our resilience and flexibility allowed us to make organisational changes in order to reconcile our competing imperatives of keeping everyone safe and healthy, unlocking savings and making rapid adjustments, such as relocating our Paris head office to L’Isle d’Abeau in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Likewise, we made improvements to Vicat’s governance and stepped up our environmental and digital transformation programmes. Given the strength of our cash generation, we were able to resume key productivity investment programmes for the future. Despite the adversity we faced, our teams across all our various regions successfully delivered higher production efficiency levels and met market demand cost-effectively, paving the way for a solid increase in the Vicat group’s results.”
In 2021, the group plans to expand cement production and invest in new cement terminals in India and to continue with the upgrade of its Ragland cement plant in the US. It also says that it will ramp up projects aimed at meeting its carbon footprint reduction targets. The group expects its earnings to rise at constant scope and exchange rates over the full year.
Lehigh Cement commences US$600m Mitchell cement plant expansion
15 February 2021US: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Lehigh Cement has resumed work on an expansion at its 0.8Mt/yr Mitchell, Indiana cement plant with the execution of initial project plans and the delivery of materials to the site. Local media has reported that the upgrade will cost US$600m and create 1000 construction jobs over a four year project timeline.
Mitchell cement plant manager Tracy Crowther said, “We are currently receiving parts and over the summer this will continue to get busier. Much of the equipment will come in through a port near Louisville and will be hauled by truck up here. There will be some large equipment that will be moved in.”
On April 2020 it was reported that Lehigh Cement had suspended work on a 2.0Mt/yr expansion of the Mitchell plant to 2.8Mt/yr, on which it had broken ground in October 2019. The scheduled completion date moved to late 2023 from September 2022.
Cemex holds steady in 2020 as business picks up in fourth quarter
12 February 2021Mexico: Cemex recorded consolidated cement volumes of 63.8Mt in 2020, up by 2% year-on-year from 62.7Mt in 2019. Ready mixed concrete sales volumes fell by 6% to 47.0Mm3 from 50.1Mm3. Its net sales fell by 1% to US$13.0bn from US$13.1bn although the group has reported a slight rise on a like-for-like basis. Operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to US$2.46bn, up by 3% from US$2.38bn. However, sales and earnings picked up significantly in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Fernando A González, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cemex said, “2020 was one of the most challenging years we have faced but it also was a remarkable year that tested the strengths of Cemex and several of our recent strategic initiatives. I am proud of our performance, the organisation, and how we responded to the sudden arrival of Covid-19 in 2020.”
Cement volumes rose by 6% in Mexico and by 8% in the US, but fell by 1% in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa and by 8% in South and Central America and the Caribbean. Prices fell in all regions except Europe, where they rose by 3%, and the US, where they remained level. Annual like-for-like sales and gross profit increases were noted in Mexico, the US and Middle East and Africa.
The group concluded the sales of its 75% stake of US-based Kosmos Cement for US$499m in March 2020 and of ready-mix assets in the UK for US$230m in August 2020.