Displaying items by tag: costs

Oman: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has held a meeting with cement companies, importers, distributors and related government departments to discuss cement shortages in some regions of the country. One local plant has suspended production due to high input costs, according to the Oman Daily Observer newspaper. However, Oman Cement Company says it is prepared to boost its production by 10% to meet local demand. Following the meeting the ministry has taken several steps to ensure the availability of cement across the country and maintain prices. These include increasing the production output at some cement plants and increasing imports.

Australia: Boral has updated the market that ‘exceptional’ wet weather on the East coast of Australia ‘significantly’ disrupted its New South Wales and South East Queensland operations in February and early March 2022. The Australian newspaper has reported that CEO Zlatko Todorcevski has forecast that the disruption to cement production and deliveries will have a negative impact of US$17.1m on the producer’s earnings in the first quarter of 2022. Coal and diesel costs have also risen ‘sharply’ so far in the quarter, to partly offset which the company has raised its cement prices. It now forecasts full-year earnings from continuing operations, excluding property, of US$108 – 115m.

US: New industrial nitrous oxide (NO_x) emissions limits under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed Good Neighbour Plan will cost US$1.1bn by 2026, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. US Political and Economic Organizations News has reported that the association claims that the cost of implementing the regulations may harm US manufacturing and the country’s economy.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement’s Málaga cement plant has temporarily ceased to produce clinker due to high electricity costs. The La Razón newspaper has reported that the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made clinker production economically unfeasible at the plant.

Greece: Titan Cement recorded Euro1.71bn in net sales in 2021, up by 6.7% year-on-year from Euro1.61bn in 2020. The company attributed the boost to higher demand and ‘supportive pricing’ in all of its regions. Cement sales volumes were 18.3Mt, up by 7% year-on-year from 17.1Mt. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 4.6% to Euro272m from Euro286m, due to an ‘unprecedented’ second-half costs increase. The group’s net profit was Euro89.6m, compared to Euro1.1m in 2020. During the year, Titan Cement increased the digitisation of its cement production and continued its on-going share buyback programme. Its Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions declined by 4% year-on-year, in line with its 2030 target trajectory.

Titan Cement said “Having already achieved the 2025 targets for energy efficiency and zero waste-to-landfill certification, the group’s attention is now focused on empowering business ecosystems to incorporate sustainability considerations in their decision making. To ensure that key suppliers meet the group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, Titan Cement developed a sustainable supply chain roadmap and published the first Titan Group Procurement Policy.” In the coming year, the group plans to ‘continue to harness the advantages offered by decarbonisation, digital transformation and business model innovation to benefit our customers, employees, suppliers and communities, aspiring to deliver to society carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.’

Pakistan: Cement plants in North Pakistan are using 70% Afghan coal in their fuel mix, and may increase the figure to 90%. Afghan coal costs US$170 – 200/t, in line with local Pakistani coal prices. The News International has reported that fossil fuel supply disruptions ensuing from the on-going war in Ukraine have increased global coal prices. Additionally, Indonesian coal is subject to a ban on exports, while bad rains have disturbed Australian coal production. On 14 March 2022, the price of South African coal exported from Richard Bay, Umhlathuze Municipality, was US$460/t, up by 95% month-on-month from US$236/t on 10 February 2022. South Africa has previously been a major source of coal for Northern Pakistani cement production. Cement producers in the region have on average 4 – 5 months’ supply of coal in inventory.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) says that it is reviewing its planned US$2.4bn investment programme for 2022 due to the changing conditions it faces following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ensuing cost rises. The Bangkok Post newspaper has reported that the company has recorded a rise in raw materials and energy costs across its businesses.

President and chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash said "We will delay some new investment projects, especially greenfield investments, and consider increasing more investments under merger and acquisition plans to avoid possible impact on our long-term financial management." Rangsiyopash added "Prices of cement and building materials will also gradually increase."

Pakistan: All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) members exported 405,000t of cement in February 2022, down by 34% year-on-year from 616,000t in February 2021. Domestic deliveries also dropped, by under 1% to 3.95Mt from 3.96Mt. Amid the declines, Pakistani cement producers have reported a steep rise in their costs due to increases in international freight rates and coal prices and the country’s on-going ban on trade with neighbouring India. Cheaper Iranian cement has undercut Pakistani cement sales to Bangladesh, while the Afghan market has yet to recover following the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces.

Ireland: CRH’s consolidated sales rose by 12% year-on-year in 2021 to Euro28bn. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year rose by 16% to Euro4.83bn.

CEO Albert Manifold said "Our 2021 performance reflects the outstanding commitment and resilience of our people as well as the benefits of our integrated, customer-focused business strategy. Despite an inflationary input cost environment, we expanded our margins and delivered good growth in profits, returns and cash generation. This further underpins our strong and flexible balance sheet, providing us with significant opportunities for future growth and value creation.” Looking to the future, Manifold said “While the demand backdrop remains favourable across our markets, there are a number of challenges and uncertainties which we must continue to manage carefully as we look to deliver further value for our shareholders in the year ahead."

US: Martin Marietta’s full-year consolidated sales were US$5.08bn in 2021, up by 15% year-on-year from US$4.43bn in 2020. Its cement sales rose by 9.3% to US$495m from US$453m. Overall, its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 9.7% year-on-year to US$1.53bn from US$1.39bn.

The producer said that its Texas cement shipments increased by less than 1% to 1.1Mt in the fourth quarter of 2021. It attributed the record volume to demand growth from large and diversified projects and increased oil well cement demand. Nonetheless, higher energy and raw materials costs ultimately outpaced shipment and pricing gains.