Displaying items by tag: volumes

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s profit in 2019 was US$685m, down by 17% from US$822m in 2018. Sales were US$2.46bn, down by 1.1% year-on-year from US$2.49bn in 2018. “Export sales were affected by the Nigeria-Benin border closure in the second half of 2019. Looking ahead, I expect an increase in volumes in 2020 as we commence clinker exports via shipping from Nigeria,” said Dangote Cement CEO Joe Makoju. The group reported pan-African volume growth to 9.4Mt/yr, noting a 94% growth in Tanzanian volumes, aided by the commencement of operations at a temporary gas power plant in the East African country.

Retiring from the company, Makoju said, “I am proud to have watched Dangote Cement grow from a local producer back in 2007 to a major force in global cement production. Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria's dependence on imported cement.” He wished his successor Michel Puchercos all the best in his new role.

Colombia: In 2019 Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos’ sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$2.8bn from US$2.5bn in 2018 and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% year-on-year to US$0.5bn from US$0.4bn in 2018. Cement dispatches rose by 0.6% to 16Mt. In the US, its main market, the company sold 6.3Mt of cement, up by 9.5% from 5.8Mt in 2018.

Argos CEO Juan Estaban Calle praised the company’s successes in 2019, such as the completion of its Thermally Activated Clays (TAC) project at its 1.4Mt/yr integrated Cementos Rioclaro plant in Colombia. “This allows for production and distribution of green cement with a greatly reduced clinker factor, 38% lower CO₂ emissions and 30% of the energy consumption of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production,” he said.

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has reported a profit of US$1.23m in the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year, between 1 October 2019 and 31 December 2019. This corresponds to a drop of 82% year-on-year from US$6.83m in the corresponding period of Pakistan’s 2019 fiscal year. The Express Tribune newspaper attributed the plunge to currency depreciation, lower retention prices and higher electricity tariffs. Sales in the three months to 31 December 2019 were US$34.4m, up by 5.5% year-on-year from US$32.6m to 31 December 2018.

The company said that the second quarter saw a 20% jump year-on-year in cement dispatches to 0.93Mt from 0.77Mt in the second quarter of the 2019 fiscal year. It expects a return to profitability in 2020.

Russia: Russian producers sold 2.4Mt of cement in January 2020, up by 9.6% from 2.2Mt in January 2019. This is in line with Unioncement’s optimistic forecast of 6% year-on-year demand growth. The coming construction season promises sustained growth due to the planned renovation of housing stock, the implementation of integrated development projects and an increased share of roads built using cement concrete, in line with the country’s 2020 Housing and Urban Environment programme and President Putin’s social initiatives.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s consolidated sales rose by 12% year-on-year to Euro3.22bn in 2019 from Euro2.87bn in 2018. The company saw a rise in cement sales volumes of 4.3% year-on-year to 29Mt from 28Mt. The company attributed the boost to its 0.9Mt integrated Testi plant in the Veneto region of Italy, which it commissioned on 1 July 2019, and two new grinding plants in Italy and Germany.

Belarus: Belarusian cement producers recorded production volumes of 4.7Mt in 2019, corresponding to capacity utilisation of over 100%. Volumes increased by 4.6% from 4.5Mt in 2018. The Arab Times has reported that the country imported 0.5Mt of cement with a value of US$28m. US$18m of this came from Russia, while a further US$3.7m, US$2.8m and US$2.0m came from Latvia, Ukraine and Turkey respectively.

On 6 February 2020 the State Council of Ministers reinstated protectionist licencing laws requiring importers of cement to have special permissions to bring cement from outside of the Eurasian Economic Union into the country. This affects all current sources of imported cement to Belarus apart from Russia.

US: Summit Materials recorded a profit of US$59.1m in 2019, up by 74% from US$33.9m in 2018. Summit Materials’ CEO Tom Hill attributed the growth to ‘sustained public sector demand coupled with improved pricing.’ The Colorado-based construction materials company’s cement section contributed sales growth of 3.5% year-on-year to US$291m from US$281m in 2018, with a 2.8% in cement volumes and a 1.7% price increase.

India: Sagar Cement’s consolidated production volumes at its integrated 2.4Mt/yr Mattampally, Telangana, and 1.0Mt/yr Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh, plants in January 2020 were 317,000t, up by 4.7% year-on-year from 303,000t in January 2019. Accord Fintech News has reported that consolidated sales in the period fell by 1.6% year-on-year to 315,000t from 320,000t in January 2019.

On 29 January 2020 the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change granted environmental clearance to Sagar Cements for and upgrade to all three dry lines of its 2.4Mt/yr Mattampally plant to raise its capacity to 5.0Mt/yr. Its clinker capacity will rise from 2.0Mt/yr to 4.8Mt/yr. The expansion also includes a 36MW coal-fired power plant and a 22MW waste heat recovery (WHR) power plant.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Akhangarantsement produced 1.9Mt of cement in 2019, a rise of 16% year-on-year from 1.6Mt in 2018. The company attributed the growth to a programme of ‘modernisation of the equipment at the Akhangarantsement aimed at increasing productivity, energy efficiency and reliability of production,’ without any disruption to supply. Akhangarantsement general director Gennady Kulikov said, “The coordinated work of the entire team allowed us to fulfil the tasks assigned to the plant with honour.”

India: Ramco Cements’ profit in the three months to 31 December 2019 was US$13.3m, down by 6.3% year-on-year from US$14.2m. Revenues in the period rose by 5.3% to US$180m from US$171m. Sales volumes grew by 3.7% year-on-year to 28Mt from 27Mt.

A 100% capacity expansion of Ramco Cements’ 1.0Mt/yr Kolaghat grinding plant in West Bengal to 2.0Mt/yr, which begun in September 2019, is scheduled for completion in 2020.