Egypt: Arabian Cement’s first-half sales were US$111m in 2022, up by 121% year-on-year from US$50.4m in the first half of 2021. The company recorded a profit of US$6.25m during the reporting period, compared to a loss of US$1.22m one year previously.

India: 30% of plants in India’s 78GW captive power plant network have temporarily closed due to high coal prices. 40GW-worth of capacity (55%) is coal-fired, with an annual consumption of 200Mt/yr. The Business Standard newspaper has reported that total Indian coal imports fell by 10% to 23.8Mt in July 2021 from 26.3Mt in June 2021. Deliveries of coal to non-power sector consumers fell by 33% year-on-year at the beginning of August 2021. The Indian Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) and nine other national industry associations have contacted the government to urge the formation of policies for the equitable distribution of available coal.

India Cements has imported two shipments of Russian coal for use in cement production. The company’s power and fuel costs rose by 54% year-on-year in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, which began on 1 April 2022. Its vice-chair and managing director Narayanaswami Srinivasan said “Most of our plants have coal-based captive power generation. The cost of captive generation is now more than the grid cost. Hence, we shut down all captive power units and resorted to grid power.”

Vietnam: The State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) has uncovered limestone mining activity above licensed levels by multiple subsidiaries of the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM) between 2017 and 2022. In 2021, Vicem Bim Son’s Yen Duyen quarry yielded 499,000t of limestone, 14% above its licensed capacity. That same year, Vicem Hoang Mai extracted 154,000t of limestone from its Hoang Mai B quarry, 8.5% above capacity, while Vicem Tam Diep extracted 111,000t from its Hang Nuoc quarry, 6% above capacity.

The Viêt Nam News newspaper has reported that the SAV has asked Vicem to review the causes of the discrepancy between production and licences and clarify its responsibility.

Poland: Poland produced 9.3Mt of cement in the first half of 2022, up by 8.6% year-on-year from the same period in 2021. The Polish Association of Cement Manufacturers (SPC) recorded an 11% increase in national cement consumption to 6.8Mt during the reporting period. The Institute of Economic Forecasts and Analyses has estimated that full-year demand will reach 20Mt in 2022.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos recorded consolidated sales of US$1.17bn in the first half of 2022, up by 22% year-on-year from US$961m in the first half of 2021. Its cost of sales rose by 36% to US$1.05bn from US$777m. As a result, the group made a loss during the half of US$29.6m, compared to a US$85m profit in the first half of 2021. Group cement volumes grew by 1.1% year-on-year to 17.6Mt from 17.4Mt.

CFO Bianca Nasser said “Despite the slowdown in the world economy, Votorantim Cimentos continues to operate within solid financial metrics and with high liquidity, maintaining its investment grade status with a stable outlook attributed by the credit rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch. The company’s leverage remained at stable levels and in line with our financial policy. In May, we carried out a transaction in the international market that repurchased the most expensive debt in our portfolio, taking advantage of attractive market rates. And we used funds from debt issuances in the local market with more attractive rates to finance our operation.”

Argentina: Loma Negra recorded first-half 2022 sales of US$357m, up by 1.2% year-on-year from US$353m. Its cement sales rose by 13% to 3.15Mt from 2.79Mt in the first half of 2021. The producer more than doubled its net profit to US$45.4m from US$19.3m.

India: Grasim Industries recorded consolidated sales of US$3.52bn in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, up by 41% from first-quarter sales of US$2.5bn a year previously. Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that the group’s cement business contributed a net profit of US$402m, down by 8.8% year-on-year from US$441m.

Taiwan: Hsing Ta Cement says that it has cancelled a planned repurchase of US$266m-worth of its shares. The purchase was the company’s fourth successive planned transaction of that kind. It retains a total shareholding worth US$114m.

In the second quarter of 2022, Hsing Ta Cement recorded sales revenues of US$100m and a net profit of US$2.23m.

Mexico: Cemex’s North American logistics subsidiary Cemex Servicios Logísticos has changed its name to Alliera. Alliera will continue its 15-year tradition of operating as an independent third-party logistics company, serving customers across various industries.

Cemex Mexico president Ricardo Naya said “For Alliera, Cemex’s strategic priorities are ensuring our collaborators’ health and safety, sustainability and innovation. Within this package of priorities, we always seek growth, as we do now with Alliera, which is part of Urbanisation Solutions, our most recently created business branch.”

Thailand: Siam Cement Group has received approval to issue a new lot of debenture worth US$426m on 3 October 2022. The group says that the debenture replaces its existing lot, which will retire for redemption on 1 October 2022. The new lot has an interest rate of 3.25% and matures on 1 October 2026.