Displaying items by tag: cement boards

India: Visaka Industries plans to spend US$15m towards building a new fibre cement board plant in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. The unit will be the company’s fifth cement board plant and the first in the state, according to the Press Trust of India. The project will include solar power generation via roof panels.

Australia: James Hardie recorded sales of US$1bn in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, up by 19% year-on-year from US$843m in the first quarter of its 2022 financial year. Its net profit was US$163m, up by 34% from US$121m. The group increased its North America fibre cement board sales by 28% to US$740m, its Asia Pacific fibre cement board sales by 9% to US$140m and its Europe building products sales by 7% to US$112. James Hardie launched its new European subsidiary James Hardie Fiber Cement Europe during the quarter.

James Hardie lowered its full-year adjusted net profit forecast to US$730 – 780m from US$740 – 820m. Interim chief executive officer Harold Wiens said "The current calendar year has seen the macro-economic environment change around us quite significantly, with unprecedented levels of inflation, global supply chain disruptions and a war in Europe. The current macro-economic environment is not only creating uncertainty for the housing markets in all three regions we do business in, but it is also putting pressure on our fiscal year 2023 financial results due to increased input and freight costs. That said, we are confident we will be able to deliver growth above market and strong returns in fiscal year 2023, and that is reflected in our updated guidance we provided today, which at its midpoint represents 22% growth in adjusted net income versus the prior year."

India: Visaka Industries commissioned its Udumalpet cement panel plant in Tamil Nadu’s Tirpur district on 20 July 2022. Capital Market News has reported that the plant has a capacity of 10,000t/yr.

Australia: James Hardie recorded sales of US$3.61bn in its 2022 financial year, up by 24% year-on-year from US$2.91bn in its 2021 financial year. The group’s North American fibre cement sales rose by 25% to US$2.55bn from US$2.04bn. Its Asia Pacific fibre cement sales rose by 22% to US$545m from US$446m, while its Europe building products sales rose by 20% to US$421m from US$351m.

Interim chief executive officer Harold Wiens said, “I am delighted to report that the James Hardie team has continued to deliver strong execution of our global strategy. This is reflected in strong price/mix growth in all three regions, including North America price/mix growth of 12%, Asia Pacific price/mix growth of 11% and Europe price/mix growth of 14%. The global team’s success in delivering high value products is the result of: one - enabling our customers to make more money by selling more James Hardie products; and two - marketing directly to the homeowners to create demand for our high value products through our customers.”

The group reaffirmed its 2023 financial year adjusted net income guidance range of US$740 - 820m.

India: Visaka Industries has commissioned a new line at its Raebareli asbestos cement roofing sheets plant. Indiainfoline News Service has reported that the line has a capacity of 100,000t/yr.

Denmark: Cement and wood-based acoustic board producer Troldtekt has agreed to a takeover offer from Ireland-based Kingspan Insulation. The producer uses ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced ‘from Danish mineral resources’ along with shredded Norway spruce to produce its boards.

Kingspan Insulation managing director Alan Lawlor said "I am delighted to welcome Troldtekt to the Kingspan family. As the global leader in high-performance insulation and building envelope solutions, we have the capacity to help them expand beyond their core markets, whilst bringing acoustic and decorative boards and natural insulation materials into our portfolio. Troldtekt has been able to continuously innovate and it sets the bar impressively high in the field of the circular economy.” He concluded "We will invest significantly in the company's production facilities to set them up for geographic growth."

Australia: In the third quarter of the 2022 financial year, James Hardie’s net sales rose by 22% year-on-year to US$900m. Its Asia Pacific fibre cement business recorded sales of US$140m, up by 20% and adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBIT) of US$38.2m, up by 17%. James Hardie’s North America fibre cement business’ sales also rose, by 24% to US$645m, while its adjusted EBIT rose by 18% to US$183m. Following the results, James Hardie raised its 2022 net income guidance to US$620 – 630m from US$605 – 625m.

Interim chief executive officer Harold Wiens said, "I am pleased to report the James Hardie team has continued to execute well on our stated global strategy.” He attributed the successes to “Firstly, enabling our customers to make more money by selling more James Hardie products and, secondly, marketing directly to the homeowners to create demand of our high value products through our customers."

Wiens also announced the launch of the company’s new Architectural cement boards collection.

India: Sahyadri Industries plans to invest US$12.7m in the establishment of a cement board plant in Maharashtra. Reuters News has reported that the company expects to commission the unit by mid-2024.

India: NCL Industries has reported an 11% drop in its cement production in the third quarter of the 2022 financial year (1 October 2022 – 31 December 2022) to 561,000t from 633,000t in the corresponding period of the 2021 financial year. The company’s cement dispatches also fell by 11% in the period, to 558,000t from 625,000t. Meanwhile, its cement board production grew by 16% to 19,900t and dispatches of cement boards remained level year-on-year at 19,100t.

Australia: James Hardie recorded consolidated sales of US$1.75bn in the first half of its 2022 financial year, up by 28% year-on-year from US$1.36bn in the first half of the 2021 financial year. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) more than doubled to US$398m from US$197m. Fibre cement board sales increased by 17% in North America to 463Mm2 from 395Mm2 and more than doubled to 96.5Mm2 from 47.3Mm2 in Asia Pacific.

During the 2022, 2023 and 2024 financial years, the group plans to complete expansions of its Prattville, Alabama, cement board plant in the US and a European cement board plant, and to establish a new cement board plant in Victoria, Australia. It also aims to purchase land in the US for a future new cement board plant there.

CEO Jack Truong said "Our mission is to be a high-performance global company that delivers organic growth above market with strong returns, consistently. Ten consecutive quarters of growth above market with strong returns has led to an acceleration in operating cash flow, which is allowing us to expand our global manufacturing capacity, accelerate our growth initiatives, return to ordinary dividends, reduce our debt position, and increase the cash contributions to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund (AICF)."