Ireland: Poor sales in the UK and Switzerland have reduced the sales of CRH’s Europe Heavyside division, which includes its European cement operations. The division’s sales revenue fell slightly to Euro6.90bn in 2017 from Euro6.95bn in 2016. Despite this the division reported market recovery in Ireland, France, Poland and Finland. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 7% year-on-year to Euro839m from Euro781m.

Overall, the group’s sales for its continuing operations rose by 1.7% to Euro25.2bn from Euro24.8bn. Its EBITDA rose by 5.6% to Euro3.15bn from Euro2.98bn.

“2017 was a year of continued profit growth for CRH. We benefited from increases in underlying demand in the Americas and positive momentum in Europe, and with focus on performance improvement and operational delivery, margins and returns were ahead of last year in our American and European Divisions,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Albert Manifold.

The group’s Americas Materials division’s sales rose by 5% to Euro7.97bn from Euro7.60bn and earnings rose similarly. The division said that its cement business in North America saw total volumes rise by 3% ahead with ‘marginal’ price increases, supported by stronger demand in the US. It added that the division has continued to optimise its terminal network and market penetration by repositioning more volumes to the US from Canada, where competitive market conditions remain, especially in Quebec.

Spain: Cementos Molins has benefited from good performance in Mexico, Argentina and Spain. Its sales revenue rose by 13% year-on-year to Euro779min 2017 from Euro691m in 2016. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 15% to Euro192m from Euro168m. The cement producer attributed its increase in sales to higher prices and sales volumes.

Denmark: FLSmidth has completed its acquisition of Sandvik Mining Systems following the transfer of assets in South Africa. The process was mostly completed in November 2017 with the exception of assets in South Africa, which was delayed due to merger control clearance. The acquisition includes continuous surface mining and minerals handling technologies and competences that strengthen the company's core minerals business.

"With the completion of the South African assets we have added references, local expertise and improved ability to deliver complete solutions to our Sub-Saharan customers. We welcome our new colleagues and customers to FLSmidth," said Manfred Schaffer, Group Executive Vice President, Minerals Division of FLSmidth.

As part of the transfer, FLSmidth will either assume existing orders or provide project management services on behalf of Sandvik on selected on-going projects and supply parts and services for the installed equipment.

Kenya: East African Portland Cement’s loss grew to US$9.58m in the second half of 2017 from US$2.45m in the same period in 2016. Its sales revenue fell by 17% year-on-year to US$30.2m from US$36.6m, according to the Standard newspaper. It has blamed the falling sales on ‘prolonged’ political unrest connected to the two elections the country held in 2017.

Nepal: Imports of cement fell by 24% year-on-year in the first half of the local financial year. Data from the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) shows cement worth US$3.94m was imported in this period compared to US$4.88m in the same period in the pervious year, according to the Republica newspaper. However, imports of clinker grew by 8% to US$102,000 from US$95,000. Most of this material came from India.

Bangladesh: Lafarge Surma Cement has officially changed its name to LafargeHolcim Bangladesh following approval by its board of directors. The change takes place from 1 March 2018.

Taiwan: Protestors have called for the closure of Asia Cement’s quarry in Hualien. The government proposed an amendment to the Mining Act in December 2017 that would require quarries in aboriginal territories to obtain the consent of aboriginal communities, according to the Taipei Times newspaper. However, the quarry has been exempted because the Bureau of Mines extended the company’s mining rights by 20 years in early 2017. Aborigines from the Taroko National Park area said that the government’s approval of the amendment was ‘illegal’ and demanded that their traditional land, which is occupied by the quarry, be returned to them. Asia Cement said it would ensure that the mine is environmentally sound, that water sources near the mine are protected and that mining safety standards meet regulations. It added that it would also work with aboriginal communities and continue talks with them and the government as necessary.

The old saying goes that nothing is certain except for death and taxes. But maybe that should be cement and taxes. Paying your taxes is something most people and companies just get on with, perhaps with some grumbling or perhaps not, but certainly with little press. So two news stories popping up in the same week about cement plants with tax issues is out of the ordinary.

The first concerned Lucky Cement’s battle in Pakistan to keep one of its plants open following accusations of underpaying its taxes. The local tax office tried to shut the Pezu plant down for not paying its property tax. The cement producer hit back with a restraining order from the provincial high court. The second detailed efforts by the Ethiopian authorities efforts to claw back US$10m from a local cement producer accused of deliberately understating its profits. In both cases it’s hard to tell if there is an obvious right or wrong party. Yet if these kinds of stories are hitting the local press headlines then either something has gone wrong or both parties are digging in for a fight.

Looking over a longer time frame two major stories about tax have been doing the rounds over the last year in the industry news. India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a classic example of how cement producers sometimes have to deal with changes to existing regulations. It received another outing this week in the form of the credit agency ICRA’s latest forecast. It explained how the introduction of the new tax, a consolidation of other existing indirect taxes, had slowed production in the second quarter of the Indian financial year in 2017 - 2018.

The other example from a large cement producing country was US President Donald Trump’s cut to federal corporate tax in December 2017. The tax cut was expected to particularly benefit companies that produce materials, like building materials manufacturers. It prompted HeidelbergCement to say in early January 2018 that it expected to see a boost to its profits in 2019. Warren Buffet, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and owner of insulation producer Johns Manville amongst other companies, put it bluntly when he said in his 2017 annual report that nearly half the gain of his company’s net worth came from the changes to the US tax system.

Multinational companies, including some cement producers, face issues when dealing with different rules and regulations between the various countries that they operate in. However, sometimes unfairly, sometimes not, large companies also hold a reputation for trying to avoid paying tax.

In this context it’s interesting to look at how LafargeHolcim says it approaches the issue. The company published its tax principles in 2016 where it talks about being responsible and that it, “…accepts tax as a necessary and required contribution to society.” It then talks about the necessity of transparency and good relationships with tax authorities. The same year it declared a total tax bill of Euro726m versus total sales revenue of Euro23bn. By contrast Cemex UK in its tax strategy talks about how it follows the US Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002, which applies a more stringent international accounting and auditing standard. It feels far more honest when it says that it aims to minimise the tax burden upon its shareholders by using methods outlined by the UK government. Taxes may be a certainty but nobody wants to pay a penny more in taxes than they have to.

Brazil: InterCement has appointed Paulo Eduardo Nigro has its chief executive officer (CEO). Paulo Nigro has acted as CEO in several countries including the US, Italy, Canada and Brazil. The company has also appointed Nicolas Fournier as a new non-executive member of its board of directors.

Nigro started his career as an engineering trainee at Philips in 1981, after which he joined Goodyear, working in industrial and automotive engineering. In 1991 he joined Tetra Pak as a sales manager for the Northeast region of Brazil, which he left to assume the vice presidency of the packaging division of its Canadian subsidiary. In 2001, Nigro was appointed president of Tetra Pak Italia, eventually taking on responsibility for Western Europe. In 2007, he returned to Brazil as president for the local and the Paraguayan markets, while at the same time leading Tetra Pak Latin America operations. He also took the leadership of Tetra Pak for the Americas, moving to Dallas, US where he joined the global top management team of the company. In 2014 Nigro was appointed president of Aché Laboratórios, in Brazil.

Nicolas Fournier holds 25 years of international experience in different industries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle East. With 20 years of global experience on the cement industry, working for Lafarge Group, he acted as CEO of Lafarge Boral Gypsum Asia and was the regional president of Lafarge for Central Europe. More recently, Fournier served as the Managing Director for Energy Solutions Division at Aggreko, UK.

Saudi Arabia: Badr Jawhar has resigned as the chief executive officer of Najran Cement for personal reasons.

In a separate announcement, Najran Cement has appointed Turki Bin Ali Al Shanifi to its board of directors. Turki Bin Ali Al Shanifi holds a degree in Computer Science, specialising in Information Systems and has over 20 years of experience in working with private sector companies in leadership positions. His appointment follows the resignation of Abdulwahab Bin Saud Al Babtain as an independent member of the board.