Displaying items by tag: costs

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has recorded first-quarter sales of US$67.2m in its 2023 financial year, up by 27% year-on-year from US$52.9m during the first quarter of the previous financial year. The producer's cost of sales was US$47.9m, up by 29% from US$37.3m, and it recorded a profit for the period of US$10.6m, up by 10% from US$9.62m.

Fauji Cement is currently undergoing a transition into the third largest cement producer in Pakistan, through a US$122m 2.05Mt/yr expansion to its Nizampur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, cement plant and a US$148m 2.05Mt/yr expansion to its Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant. Together, Fauji Cement will fund the projects through US$171m-worth of debt, US$54.9m-worth of internal cash generation and US$45.7m-worth of equity.

India: UltraTech Cement's consolidated sales were US$3.51bn during the first half of the 2023 financial year, which began on 1 April 2022, up by 22% from US$2.88bn in the first half of the 2022 financial year. Its net profit was US$283m, down by 22% year-on-year from US$363m. This was due to a 32% cost rise to US$3.13bn from US$2.38bn. Power and fuel contributed 32% of costs at US$1bn, up by 68% from US$598m in the first half of the 2021 financial year.

UltraTech Cement said that it began to see signs of cement demand revival in September 2022, following traditionally subdued second-quarter demand due to seasonal rains.

Pakistan: Attock Cement recorded standalone sales of US$92.6m in its 2022 financial year, down by 3.6% year-on-year from US$96.1m in its 2021 financial year. The company produced 2.18Mt of clinker, down by 32% from 3.19Mt, corresponding to a capacity utilisation of 76%. The decision to reduce production came about due to high coal costs. Attock Cement sold 1.8Mt of cement, down by 10% from 2.01Mt in the 2021 financial year. The producer's cost of sales rose by 1.1% year-on-year to US$75.9m from US$75.1m. It profit after tax nonetheless grew by 1.2%, to US$5.07m from US$5.01m.

Chair Laith Pharaon said "The 2022 financial year was a challenging year for the company, as export sales remain depressed due to uncompetitive prices demanded by regional markets, which were also facing the uncertainties." He continued "Due to higher input costs owing to the significant increase in energy prices, the gross margin also declined by 4%. However, because of exchange gain on foreign receivables and dividend income received from its Iraq-based 60% subsidiary Saqr Al Keetan, operating margin improved by 3%.

Pakistan: Bestway Cement recorded a net turnover of US$84.1m in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, up by 21% year-on-year from US$69.4m in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year. The producer's cost of sales also rose, by 13% year-on-year to US$55m from US$48.6m. Despite this challenge, it increased its profit for the period by 11% to US$15m from US$13.5m in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year.

India: During the second quarter of the 2023 financial year, Shree Cement recorded standalone sales of US$459m, up by 18% year-on-year from US$389m in the second quarter of the 2022 financial year. The figure represents a quarter-on-quarter drop of 10% from US$510m during the first quarter of the present financial year. The producer reported cost increases as a percentage of revenues to 33% for fuel and power, 7.6% for raw materials and 1.6% for inventory costs during the quarter. It said that this resulted in a 67% year-on-year drop in its standalone net profit to US$22.9m, from US$70.2m in the second quarter of the 2022 financial year.

New Zealand: Fletcher Building subsidiary Golden Bay Cement has co-processed 80,000t of waste in production of its EcoSure reduced-CO₂ general-purpose cement at its Golden Bay, Whangarei, cement plant. The plant has achieved a coal substitution rate of 50%. It has processed various waste streams, including 3 million used tyres. EcoSure cement generates CO₂ emissions of 699kg/t of product, 20% less than its imported alternatives, according to Golden Bay Cement. Fletcher building CEO Nick Traber said that this figure is 'simply our starting point.' The company's next target is to achieve a 30% CO₂ reduction by 2030.

Traber said "We needed to think outside the box, or rather the cement bag to be more precise. The challenge was around what enhancements we could make to our manufacturing processes at our Golden Bay cement works in order to improve the plant's sustainability. We quickly realised that consuming used tyres and wood waste as alternative fuels was a win-win. When we started with the idea in 2015, we were aiming to replace 15% of coal with end-of-life tyres. Fast forward to 2022, and our rate of coal substitution is now at 50%, which has obviously delivered further reductions in carbon emissions, as well as helping to offset increased coal costs."

Philippines: The Tariff Commission (TC) has ordered that new duties be applied to imported Vietnamese cement for a five-year period up to 2027. The Department of Trade and Industry concluded a dumping investigation into Vietnamese cement exports to the Philippines in mid-October 2022, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. It found that imports of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and blended cement from Vietnam were not injurious to the domestic cement sector at present. However, it also found the threat of material injury to be 'imminent.' This is due to Vietnam's 'substantial' cement overcapacity, which may enable it to rapidly increase its exports. The conclusion provided the basis for the TC's latest order.

Any new duty will replace provisional 2.7 - 32% duties introduced in December 2021. Previously, strong competition reportedly prevented the measures from causing price rises. Commentators now predict that the TC's proposed measures will result in a rise in prices.

Brazil: Cement producers sold 47.7Mt of cement in the first nine months of 2022, down by 3% year-on-year from the same period in 2021. The Brazilian National Cement Industry Association (SNIC) has forecast a 2% year-on-year decline in full-year cement sales to 63.7Mt in 2022. The association foresees global finance-related challenges and high energy and raw materials costs during the fourth quarter of 2022. Annual cement sales previously grew by 23% to 65Mt in 2021 from 53Mt in 2019.

SNIC president Paulo Camillo Penna said “Our expectation for 2022 was to maintain the gains of this three-year period, but, unfortunately, due to high interest rates, indebtedness and cost pressure, we were not able to.”

China: China National Building Material (CNBM) expects its profit to decline by 50% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2022. The group said that this will be due in part to reduced cement sales, increased costs resulting from high coal prices and a 'substantial' decline in the value of its financial assets.

India: Adani Group subsidiary Adani Port has sued the government of Kerala for US$9.56m in compensation for on-going delays to the construction of the upcoming Vizhinjam port in the south of the state. A local church-led protest over the rights of fishing communities has stalled construction of the port. The New India Express newspaper has reported that Adani Port had lost over US$12m on 8 October 2022 as a result of the delay. The company rented 12 barges for the work.

The government will hold talks with protestors on 13 October 2022.