Displaying items by tag: fossil fuels

Saudi Arabia: Utilities provider Saudi Aramco has notified Saudi Arabian cement producers of a rise in the price of its feedstock and fuel products from 1 January 2024. Zawya News has reported that Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company forecast the effect of the price rise to be a 1.2% increase in producers’ cost of sales in 2024.

Yanbu Cement said “The impact of changing the price of fuel products will lead to an increase in the cost of production.” Umm Al-Qura Cement echoed the concern, while Saudi Cement Company said that it is working out the extent of the financial impact and will study ways to mitigate it.

UAE/UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has welcomed the first international agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, signed by 200 countries at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. The GCCA said that the deal recognises the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global CO2 emissions.

GCCA chief executive officer Thomas Guillot said “We welcome the progress made at COP28. Decarbonising global industries such as ours will take the collective effort of governments and industry, finance and policymakers, scientists and civil society, all working together. On behalf of our industry and alongside our members who represent the majority of cement production globally, we participated in the preparation and launch of a number of key initiatives that will help enable the shift to net zero – including the Industrial Transition Accelerator, Cement Breakthrough, and Carbon Management Challenge.” He added “We are fully committed to decarbonising our sector and have a detailed net zero commitment and pathway which we are already working towards, including the substitution of fossil fuels, the use of renewable energy and the deployment of new technologies such as CCUS.”

India: ACC recorded sales of US$1.16bn during the first half of its 2024 financial year that started in April 2023. This represents a year-on-year rise of 14% from US$1.02bn in the first half of the previous financial year. Cement sales grew by 15%, to US$1.08bn, 94% of total sales. The company’s raw materials costs rose by 16% to US$185m, while its power and fuel costs fell by 24% to US$241m, failing to offset a 5% rise in overall costs, to US$1.06bn. As such, ACC reported a profit after tax of US$102m, up by a factor of six from nine-month 2023 financial year levels.

Uzbekistan: China Energy International Group Samarkand Cement has installed a 3Mt/yr kiln at its upcoming Samarkand cement plant. Local press has reported that the kiln is the largest at a cement plant in Uzbekistan. The Samarkand plant will cost US$313m to build. Parent company China Energy and the government of Uzbekistan previously indicated that construction would conclude in 2024. The plant will produce ordinary Portland cement (OPC) of the local designations M-400 and M-500. It will use coal as fuel in its cement production and directly employ 500 people.

Pakistan: Cement producers in Northern Pakistan have reported a 13% drop in the price of coal to US$126/t. The Pakistan Today newspaper has reported that this is due to the Afghan government lowering taxes on exports of coal from Afghanistan. The Taliban reduced its royalties on coal exports by 12% to US$30/t. Meanwhile, it reduced customs duties on coal exports by 33%, also to US$30/t.

Northern Pakistan is comprised of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In 2022, regional cement plants were over 70% reliant on Afghan coal. That year, they paid coal prices of US$170 – 200/t.

China: Anhui Conch Cement is seeking coal suppliers for two of its subsidiaries. The producer has tendered for bids for contracts to supply 410,000t of bituminous coal, high-sulphur coal and lignite to Naiman Banner Hongji Cement and 10,000t of lignite to Chifeng Conch. Online bidding will open on 25 August 2023 and close on 27 August 2023.

India: Prism Johnson has ordered US$2.42m-worth of coal for use as cement fuel from Vikas Ecotech. Press Trust of India News has reported that the supplier will complete the order by 31 October 2023.

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%.

China: Asia Cement has launched its 2050 decarbonisation strategy, entitled 'Net-Zero Carbon Emissions By 2050 - Asia Cement Advanced Deployment.' The strategy consists of multiple pillars, namely 'alternative fuels,' 'reducing cement's clinker factor,' 'increasing renewable energy reliance' and 'carbon capture.'

During 2022, Asia Cement reduced its limestone, clay, iron and sand consumption by 266,000t, its coal consumption by 17,000t and its gypsum consumption by 56,000t year-on-year. This eliminated 95,100t of CO₂ emissions throughout the year, according to the producer.

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.