Displaying items by tag: costs

India: Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement recorded cement sales volumes of 30Mt during the first quarter of the 2024 financial year, which began on 1 April 2023. This corresponds to growth of 20% year-on-year from first-quarter levels in the previous financial year. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that ICICI Securities expects UltraTech Cement's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to fall by 3% year-on-year. Declining fuel prices are expected to have contributed to a drop in the producer's costs. Throughout the quarter, its capacity utilisation rate was 90%.

Oman: Raysut Cement reported a net loss of US$4.52m during the first half of 2023. This corresponds to a drop of 67% year-on-year from US$13.8m in the previous first half. The Oman Daily Observer newspaper has reported that the producer attributed the loss reduction to its implementation of operational efficiency and cost reduction measures, as well as growth in sales volumes, during the latest half.

Indonesia: The Indonesian cement industry produced 29.3Mt of cement during the first half of 2023. This corresponds to a utilisation rate of 51% across an installed national capacity of 116Mt/yr. Throughout 2022, the industry produced 64Mt of cement and recorded a utilisation rate of 55%. Local capacity utilisation levels in the first half of 2023 were as low as 45% in some regions. Only Bali-Nusa Tenggara Region and Maluku-Papua Region did not suffer from overcapacity. National demand was 28Mt in the first half of 2023 and 63Mt throughout 2022. Meanwhile, first-half exports rose by 12% year-on-year in opening six months of 2023.

Indonesia Government News has reported that the Ministry of Industry has instigated a moratorium on investments in the construction of new cement capacity. Director general Ignatius Warsito said "These efforts can provide legal certainty for cement industry players in the country, as well as support competitiveness." Warsito noted the health of Indonesia's existing export markets for cement, but noted the uncertainty of the industry's coal supply and its price. Coal currently accounts for 40% of Indonesian cement's fuel consumption by value.

Malaysia: Malayan Cement expects its sales of cement to remain level at 8Mt/yr throughout the 2023 and 2024 financial years. The New Straits Times newspaper has reported that the producer forecast consistent declines in its cement prices over the period. Meanwhile, it expects the price of Indonesian coal, which it imports for use as fuel, to drop to US$285/t in the 2023 financial year, then by 42% to US$165/t in the 2024 financial year and by 12% to US$145/t in the 2025 financial year.

India: Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC have transitioned to reporting their results in line with the (April - March) Indian financial year. As such, they have published 15-month results for 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. During the period, Ambuja Cements reported sales of US$4.75bn, up by 34% year-on-year from US$3.53bn. Its cement volumes rose by 28% to 68Mt, while its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 11% to US$714m. Meanwhile, ACC recorded sales of US$2.71bn, up by 38% from US$1.97bn in 2021. Its cement volumes rose by 31% to 37.9Mt, while its EBITDA fell by 30% to US$275m.

ACC announced its goal to become India's 'most profitable cement company.' To realise this, the company will implement a three-pronged strategy of capacity expansion, efficiency improvements and development of its distributor and dealer network. Under the capacity expansion heading, the producer will double its production capacity through the construction of new cement plants and the expansion of existing ones. In this, it will lay special emphasis on securing supplies of renewable energy and supplementary cementitious materials, including fly ash from its own power plant segment. The company noted that it recently secured access to 1Bnt-worth of new limestone reserves in Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka and Rajasthan. It will also seek to increase its coal production to avoid the rising cost of imports.

In the 2024 financial year, the government of India plans to invest US$11.4bn in the construction of new housing, roads and sanitation infrastructure nationally. Ambuja Cements has forecast an increase in domestic cement consumption of 6 - 8% to over 390Mt/yr. It expects Indian cement production to rise by 8 - 10% year-on-year to 390Mt in the 2024 financial year.

Kenya: Parliament's Finance and National Planning Committee has rejected a petition from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) for the removal of the 10% customs duty on imports of clinker. Business Daily News has reported that KAM member Rai Cement said that the duty will force cement plants to shut due to high costs. The committee, however, concluded that the levy aims to encourage local manufacturing, promote exports and create jobs for Kenyans.

National Cement, which operates the 1.95Mt/yr Kajiado cement plant in Merrueshi-Mbirikani, opposed the KAM line by submitting its own petition for an increase in the clinker import duty to 25%.

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has called for a 60% cut to duties on clinker imports, to US$1.84/t from US$4.61/t. The Financial Express newspaper has reported that BCMA members are struggling with high shipping costs and supply issues due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Bangladesh government published plans to raise the duty on imports of clinker by 40% to US$6.46/t in its 2023 budget on 13 June 2023.

India: Anjani Portland Cement recorded sales of US$80m in the 2023 financial year. This corresponds to a 17% year-on-year drop from US$97m in the previous financial year. India InfoLine News has reported that the producer's total expenditure also dropped, by 2.6% to US$77.4m from US$79.5m. It reported a net loss after minority interests of US$7.03m, compared to a net profit of US$5.01m in the 2022 financial year.

India: The India Cements recorded full-year consolidated sales of US$678m during the 2023 financial year, up by 15% year-on-year from 2022 financial year levels. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the company increased its cement sales volumes by 9%, in line with overall volumes growth in the cement industry in India. It reported a net loss of US$205m, compared with a US$7.97m net profit in the previous financial year.

The India Cements said "The performance of the company during the year under review was adversely impacted by the record increase in the cost of fuel and power, which could not be compensated in the market due to supply overhang."

France: The French cement association France Ciment has announced a new CO₂ emissions reduction target of 50% across the cement industry between 2021 and 2030. The new target for 2050 will be 'virtual carbon neutrality.' The Les Echos newspaper has reported that the commitments replace previous reduction targets of 24% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. France Ciment says that its members are planning estimated investments of Euro5bn towards achieving the goals before 2040. These investments will cover areas including the deployment of carbon capture. Existing public and private investments in the industry's on-going projects to reduce CO₂ emissions amount to Euro1.7bn - sufficient to eliminate 27% of emissions compared with the 2021 baseline.

France Ciment’s President Benoit Pillon noted the necessity of cement in construction, and called for 'decarbonisation as a whole: less clinker in cement, less cement in concrete and less concrete in construction.' He urged the implementation of policies to secure 'decarbonised and competitive electricity.'