Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW517 / 04 August 2021

Headlines


The story so far for the first half of 2021 has been one of recovery following the coronavirus-related lockdowns in the same period in 2020. Market restrictions ended, production curbs were rescinded and revenue and sales volumes grew.

Many of the larger multinational cement producers have released their financial results and sales revenues show a gap-tooth pattern for the first halves of 2019, 2020 and 2021. Sales for LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Cemex all took a knock of around 10% from 2019 to 2020. Generally, sales have increased from 2019 to 2021 for the more regional-based companies such as Cemex or Buzzi Unicem. The larger multinational producers like Holcim and HeidelbergCement bounced back from the dip in 2020 but comparisons with the first half of 2019 are less favourable. Like-for-like comparisons between 2019 and 2021 are not available but both companies have been refocusing their portfolios in recent years making it hard to gain a sense of exactly what’s going on. These trends are still ongoing with more speculation in the press this week about which companies are bidding for LafargeHolcim Brasil for example. However, both Holcim and HeidelbergCement did report record earnings or operating incomes in the first half of 2021 suggesting that all the cost cutting in 2020 has paid off. The general market picture was continuing demand in North America, recovery in Europe and Latin America, growth in Africa and the Middle East and growth in Asia despite renewed coronavirus-related uncertainty.

Figure 1: Sales of selected major multinational cement producers in first half of 2021. Source: Company financial reports.

Figure 1: Sales of selected major multinational cement producers in first half of 2021. Source: Company financial reports.

Figure 2: Cement sales volumes of selected major multinational cement producers in first half of 2020. Source: Company financial reports.

Figure 2: Cement sales volumes of selected major multinational cement producers in first half of 2021. Source: Company financial reports.

Cemex and Buzzi Unicem benefitted from their strong market presences in the Americas and Europe. Cemex was also helped by a particular recovery in Mexico and Latin America. The latter region benefited from the relaxation of strong lockdown measures in many countries implemented in the first half of 2020. Cemex’s investors update event at the end of June 2021 summed up its situation with earnings growth and leverage levels about to hit desired targets, selective investments and divestments on the way, new production capacity round the corner and sustainability goals turning up earlier than expected.

In Africa, Dangote Cement witnessed a switch from growth outside of Nigeria to a spurt of domestic demand for cement from mid-2020 onwards. This temporarily caused the company problems earlier in 2021 when it was forced to suspend its newly started export operations to Cameroon from its Onne and Apapa terminals. The reactivation of its previously mothballed 4.5Mt/yr Gboko plant in Benue State and an upcoming 3Mt/yr plant at Okpella in Edo state seem to have soothed the demand rush for now. Clinker exports have been resumed.

India meanwhile faced a second wave of its coronavirus epidemic in the spring of 2021. UltraTech Cement acknowledged this in its latest financial results, for the quarter to 30 June 2021. It reported that this had ‘marginally’ impacted cement demand but that the company was still monitoring the impact of the health situation upon its operations. Despite this, revenue and sales volumes of cement still grew significantly year-on-year in both the quarter and the first half of 2021. UltraTech Cement’s wariness about the health situation chimed with recent comments by Roongrote Rangsiyopash, the head of Siam Cement Group (SCG), who told local press in Thailand that current coronavirus restrictions in the country had reduced cement demand by 20%.

Finally, Semen Indonesia reported growing revenue, sales volumes of cement and earnings in the first half of 2021. Its financial results had little to say about the local coronavirus situation other than that it had reduced domestic demand growth and worsened production overcapacity. National cement production reached 115Mt in 2020 but local demand was only 62.7Mt. Unsurprisingly, exports reached their highest level ever, at 9.3Mt, in 2020.

As ever this is a very selective view of cement producer financial results. Larger multinationals like CRH or Votorantim are yet to release their results and likewise for the big Chinese producers. Recovery and growth seems to be the likely outcome for most of them though. However, the effects of recent coronavirus outbreaks in Asia have shown up in some of the results covered above. This suggests that the second half of 2021 for building materials manufacturers may be characterised by which countries are better able to suppress coronavirus either through mass vaccination or other public health measures. Buzzi Unicem summed it up it in its half year results: “The rapid progress of vaccination campaigns was matched by a clear recovery in economic activity.”


India: The National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) has elected KC Jhanwar as its chairman for the year 2021 – 2022. Shri Neeraj Akhoury was elected as the vice-chairman.

KC Jhanwar is currently the managing director of UltraTech Cement and the president of the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA). He originally joined Aditya Birla Group in 1981 as a management trainee in the cement business. Since then he has worked across finance, operations and general management roles in the cement and chemical sectors. Jhanwar is a chartered accountant by qualification.

Neeraj Akhoury is currently the managing director and chief executive officer of Ambuja Cement and the vice-president of the CMA. He holds over 25 years of experience in the cement and steel sectors. He began his career with Tata Steel in 1993 and later joined the predecessor company to Holcim Group in 1999. Akhoury holds a degree in economics and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Liverpool in the UK. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School in the US and had studied general management at XLRI business school at Jamshedpur.


Australia: Ryan Stokes has been appointed as the chairman of Boral. The appointment follows Seven Group’s acquisition of a majority shareholding in Boral in late July 2021. Kathryn Fagg, the former chair, has retired from Boral. Richard Richards, a Seven Group nomination, has also been appointed as a director. Stokes is the managing director and chief executive officer of Seven Group, an Australian-based conglomerate that operates in the industrial services, oil and gas and media sectors.


Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s net sales grew by 5.8% year-on-year to Euro1.61bn in the first half of 2021 from Euro1.52bn in the same period of 2020. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker rose by 10.9% to 14.8Mt from 13.4Mt. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 12.3% to Euro352m from Euro314m. The group reported cement sales volumes growth in all territories with the exception of Poland, and Germany to a lesser extent. It also noted growth in ready-mixed concrete sales volumes of 7% to 5.8Mm3 with development in Italy, Poland and Ukraine more than compensating for ‘unfavourable’ changes in the US, Germany and the Czech Republic.


Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s revenue grew by 1.2% to US$1.13bn in the first half of 2021 from US$1.12bn in the same period in 2020. Its sales volumes of clinker and cement rose by 5.7% to 19.2Mt from 18.1Mt. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 2.1% to US$247m from US$242m. The state-owned cement producer said that sales volumes were supported by growing domestic sales volumes and improving exports. It added that the national cement production capacity utilisation rate had fallen to 56% in 2020 from a high of 82% in 2014 due to new cement plants being built and a drop in domestic demand growth due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.


Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement’s revenue grew by 13.7% year-on-year to US$82.3m in the first half of 2021 from US$74.1m in the same period in 2020. Its net profit after zakat and tax increase by 27.9% to US$24.9m from US$19.5m. It reported lower sales and profit in the second quarter of 2021 due to Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.


Iran: Alireza Razm Hosseini, the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, says that the government will prioritise electricity supplies to the cement and steel sectors. He admitted that recent power rationing to industrial users had reduced production levels but that demand had not changed, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The ministry is currently working with the Ministry of Energy to resolve the problem. Cement and steel producers were previously ordered in early July 2021 to stop production for up to three weeks due to insufficient electricity supplies.


Mexico/UK: Cemex Ventures has become an investor in Carbon Clean. It joins existing investors Equinor Ventures, ICOS Capital and WAVE Equity Partners. The companies have invested US$8m in Carbon Clean extending its US$22m series B investment round, previously announced in July 2020, to US$30m in total. Cemex’s investment is part of its strategy to achieve its new climate action goals, including being net carbon neutral in concrete by 2050, under its Future in Action programme.

Carbon Clean has developed a modular CO2 capture and separation technology that it calls CycloneCC. As well as reducing the size of installation and construction time, it is aiming to reduce operating expenditures to around US$30/t of CO2 at an industrial scale. In 2020, the subsidiary of Cemex signed an agreement with Carbon Clean, which allowed the companies to outline a roadmap for jointly developing and implementing carbon capture technologies across cement operations.


Italy: Cementir’s revenue rose by 16.5% year-on-year to Euro665m in the first half of 2021 from Euro570m in the same period in 2020. Its cement and ready-mixed concrete sales volumes grew by 18.7% to 5.46Mt and 31.4% to 2.52Mm3 respectively. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 36.6% to Euro134m from Euro 97.8m. The cement producer noted strong cement sales volumes performance in Turkey, Belgium and Denmark and good concrete sales volumes also in Turkey.

“Despite the first half 2020 [when] results were affected by the lockdown due to Covid-19, during 2021 all the markets in which we operate are showing signs of vivacity and in particular Turkey is recovering significantly," said chairman and chief executive officer Francesco Caltagirone Jr.


Egypt: France-based Vicat raised a case against the Egyptian government with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in late June 2021. It concerns its cement production business. Reporting by the Qatar-based New Arab newspaper alleges that the cement producer was forced to reduce its shares in its subsidiary Sinai Cement due to a law stopping foreign ownership of companies operating in the Sinai Peninsula on the basis of security grounds. It reports that Vicat has reduced its shares in its subsidiary to 42% from 56% previously.

Vicat confirmed in its financial report for 2020 that it was in the process of taking legal action locally on the matter of foreign ownership in the Sinai region. It added that an investment of around Euro35m in Sinai Cement had been delayed due to administrative approval time. In July 2021, Tamer Magdy, the country manager for Sinai Cement, told local press that Vicat was keen to continue investing in the market.


Ghana: George Dawson-Amoah, the executive secretary of the Chamber of Cement Manufacturers Ghana, has warned that mounting clinker costs are negatively affecting the cement industry. He said that the cost of clinker grew by 55% in the first half of 2021 and it is expected to nearly double, according to GhanaWeb. Cement prices have risen subsequently. Dawson-Amoah added that congestion at local ports is also adding to clinker import costs as importers potentially face demurrage fines.


Mexico: Cemex has signed the Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment led by the We Mean Business Coalition in partnership with the Science Based Targets initiative and the United Nations (UN) Global Compact. With this commitment in place the company has also joined the Race to Zero campaign of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. All members of the Race to Zero coalition pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, in line with global efforts in limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Cemex says that these objectives align with its Future in Action programme to reduce its carbon footprint by delivering net-zero concrete globally by 2050.

“Cemex’s commitment to Climate Action runs deep and we are excited to partner with prominent global organisations to deliver on this challenge. Implementing climate solutions require active collaboration between industry, governments, non-governmental organisations and multilateral agencies, and we intend to continue to play an active role in these efforts. We encourage others to join us in this important challenge”, said Fernando A. González, the chief executive officer of Cemex.

In addition, Cemex has submitted its new 2030 target of below 475Kg CO2/t of cementitious product for validation to the Science-Based Targets initiative as part of its commitment to fulfil its ambition of carbon neutrality by 2050.


Nigeria: The first set of female drivers has graduated from the Lafarge Driving Institute (LDI) in Calabar, Cross River state. Lafarge Africa said that this demonstrated its commitment to enabling inclusive workplaces for women, professional gender diversity, road safety through training and the creation of local jobs. The LDI admitted 53 female trainees in March 2021.

The institute was launched in late 2017 in partnership with Lafarge Africa, Automated Integrated Services and the Federal Road Safety Corps. It was set up to improve driver quality and to ensure that heavy goods vehicles (HGV) are manned by professionals who have passed through a training programme.


Germany: The Federal Cartel Office has approved the takeover of Heinrich Teufel by Holcim Deutschland. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim said it had agreed to acquire the ready-mix concrete and aggregates in July 2021. The purchase is intended to increase the company’s presence in southern Germany.


US: Flexicon has expanded the production facilities at its headquarters at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The increased 4645m2 space at the site will be used to store sub-assemblies, crating and the staging of assembled equipment. This will allow the main plant to increase its production capacity for fabrication and assembly.

Flexicon specialises in bulk handling equipment. It owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Brisbane, Australia and Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and maintains factory-direct sales offices in Barcelona in Spain, Santiago in Chile and Singapore.


China: Vortex Asia-Pacific has opened a new office in Shanghai. It is intended to serve the solids and bulk handling components company’s customers in China and a variety of other countries in Asia. The subsidiary of US-based Vortex Global was established in 2009.

“Vortex has been established in China for over a decade and is excited about our continued partnership with dry bulk processors across the country. It is also great to see our team transition back into a new office environment after a difficult year with the pandemic,” said Travis Young, the president and chief executive officer of parent company Vortex Global.


Brazil: Cement producers including CSN Cimentos, Cimentos Mizu, Cimento Apodi, InterCement and Votorantim have all bid for Holcim’s assets in Brazil. A consortium of CSN Cimentos, Cimentos Mizu and Cimento Apodi is reportedly intending to buy up to 10 production plants, according to sources quoted by Reuters. InterCement and Votorantim have also made offers but are bidding for smaller parts of the business due to competition law restrictions.

Votorantim has bid for plants in the north-eastern of the country and InterCement for those in the south-eastern states of Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais. Any eventual proposed acquisition will be subject to scrutiny by the Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE). Holcim expects to generate US$1 – 1.5bn from the eventual sale.


Nigeria: Dangote Cement says it has resumed exporting clinker from its Onne and Apapa terminals to Cameroon. Two ships delivered 57,000t of clinker and 0.34Mt of clinker was exported by road in the first half of 2021. The cement producer started exports in 2021 but was forced to suspend them in April 2021 following high demand for cement domestically.

The group’s revenue grew by 44.8% to US$1.68bn in the first half of 2021 from US$1.16bn in the same period in 2020. Cement sales volumes rose by 26.1% to 15.3Mt from 12.1Mt. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 61% to US$853m from US$530m. In Nigeria cement demand was attributed to increasing housing infrastructure, commercial construction and government projects including roads and railways. Outside of Nigeria, strong performance was noted in the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal and Tanzania.

“This strong intrinsic performance is magnified by the lower second quarter results in 2020 due to the effect of Covid-19. The growth trend continues and we are focused on meeting the strong market demand across all our countries of operation,” said chief executive officer Michel Puchercos. He added that the group restarted clinker exports from Nigeria in the second quarter of 2021 following a ‘strategic decision’ to pause them in response to high demand domestically. The cement producer intends to commission its new 3Mt/yr Okpella plant in the third quarter of 2021. He also said that the company’s ongoing alternative fuels project is at an ‘advanced stage’ with procurement and installation of equipment occurring at all plants.


Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) says that government-mandated coronavirus restrictions have reduced local cement demand by 20%. Roongrote Rangsiyopash, the president and chief executive of SCG, said that the construction sector expected a slowdown due to the closure of construction worker camps, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper.

The group’s building materials business sales rose by 4% year-on-year to US$2.81bn in the first half of 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 3% to US$399m. Overall, the group’s sales and earnings increased significantly across all business lines.


India: Ambuja Cement plans to spend around US$42m on upgrading its Ropar grinding plant in Punjab. The unit will have its capacity increased by 1.5Mt to 4.5Mt/yr by June 2023. It will install a new vertical roller mill and will produce cement using fly ash. The expansion is part of the company’s aim to reach a cement production capacity of 50Mt/yr.


Germany/Spain: Cementos Molins has agreed to buy 100% of the shares of Calucem for Euro150m from Ambienta SGR. The cement producer says that the acquisition will help it become the world’s second largest producer of calcium aluminate cements (CAC). The transaction is scheduled to complete in the last quarter of 2021 and it is subject to approval by competition authorities.

“This is a significant strategic step forward, expanding our activity in the specialty construction chemical sector. With Calucem, we will be able to build a platform focusing on innovation, sustainability and global growth,” said Julio Rodríguez, the chief executive officer of Cementos Molins.

Calucem has its headquarters in Mannheim, Germany. It operates a production plant in Pula, Croatia with a deep-sea port allowing it to export worldwide. It also runs an innovation centre in Germany as well as a network of sales offices and distribution centres in Europe, the US and Asia. Calucem has around 180 employees.


Spain: Cementos Molins’ sales grew by 33% year-on-year to Euro452m in the first half of 2021 from Euro341m in the same period in 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 50% to Euro124m from Euro83m. Sales volumes of cement and ready-mixed concrete increased by 43% to 3.57Mt and 27% to 0.67Mm3 respectively. It attributed the growth in sales and earnings to higher sales volumes, price management and operational efficiency gains. However, it warned against mounting energy and logistics costs.


Pakistan: Research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) think tank shows that the cement sector was the largest national emitter of CO2 from coal in the financial year for 2018 – 2019. Coal was responsible for 19% of emissions in the reporting period. Cement comprised 49% of this followed by power generation at 28% and brick manufacture at 22%. The report looked at CO2 emissions from the Pakistan energy sector. It concluded that the cement industry was often missed out in discussions about carbon emissions in the country despite its high coal consumption and the number of new plants currently being planned.


Thailand: Germany-based Schenck Process Group has reached an agreement to acquire Solids Handling and Process Engineering (SHAPE), a supplier of powder handling and powder processing products based in Bangkok. The purchase is intended to strengthen Schenck Process Group’s presence in equipment and food processing markets in Asia Pacific.


Switzerland: Holcim’s sales rose by 17.4% year-on-year to Euro11.7bn in the first half of 2021 from Euro9.92bn in the same period in 2020. Its recurring earnings interest before taxation (EBIT) increased by 66% to Euro1.84bn from Euro1.12bn. Cement and concrete sales volumes grew by 13.5% to 99Mt and 15.6% to 22.1Mm3 respectively. Sales of all business segments grew in all regions on a like-for-like basis with the exception of aggregate sales in North America, where they fell slightly.

Jan Jenisch, the chief executive officer of Holcim, said, “In the first half of 2021 we set new records in recurring EBIT, free cash flow and earnings per share.”The group’s acquisition of Firestone Building Products officially closed at the end of March 2021 and the company has also made seven ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions so far in 2021, mainly in aggregate and ready-mixed concrete markets in Europe and North America. The group also agreed to divest operations in Zambia, Malawi and the Indian Ocean in the reporting period and these are all expected to complete by the end of 2021.


Mexico: Cemex sales grew by 17% year-on-year to US$7.27bn in the first half of 2021 from US$5.98bn in the same period in 2020. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 38% to US$1.50bn from US$1.09bn. Cement and concrete sales volumes increased by 16% to 34Mt and 9% to 24.1Mm3. Growth was reported in all regions, often due to recovery from coronavirus-related lockdowns in the first half of 2020.

“Quarterly highlights include the achievement of our long-time leverage goal, a 39% increase in quarterly EBITDA, and our announcement of industry leading Climate Action targets,” said Fernando A González, the chief executive officer of Cemex. “Our growth in the quarter, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels, gives us confidence that this performance is sustainable in the second half of the year.”


Mexico/US: GCC plans to spend US$450 - 500m on upgrade projects to its cement business over the next three years to 2024. It is considering building a new 1.1Mt/yr clinker production line at an unnamed existing plant but the board of directors has yet to make a final decision. Other projects include strengthening the group’s cement distribution network in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Utah in the US. This would also include building two new cement terminals. A debottlenecking project is being planned at the Samalayuca plant in Chihuahua state. This would increase the plant’s production capacity by 0.2Mt/yr and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. A final project is also scheduled for the Chihuahua plant to improve operational efficiency, and enhance social and environmental responsibility.

In earnings conference call notes for the second quarter of 2021 the cement producer reported for the US: “Every kiln at GCC is up and running; for practical purposes, our system is sold out.” It also noted bottlenecks in its grinding, storage and shipping installed capacity.


India: Shree Cement is ready to start building a 3Mt/yr grinding plant at Purulia in Bengal. The project has an investment of around US$80m, according to the Times of India newspaper. The cement producer has already purchased the land for the unit and intends to start work on building it from August 2021. It will be the company’s first production plant in the state.


Ghana: Ghacem plans to spend US$100m on building a new cement plant at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. The new 1.5Mt/yr unit at Kumasi is intended to serve central and northern regions of the country, according to the Daily Graphic newspaper. The plant will use calcined clay as an additive. Construction is expected to take 18 months with commissioning planned for the first quarter of 2023.

The subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement is also planning upgrades to its grinding plants at Tema and Takoradi. The work at the Tema will include the addition of a new grinding and packing plant and an upgrade of existing equipment. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Work at Takoradi will then follow afterwards.


South Africa: PPC is operating at 75 - 80% of its active production capacity despite rising demand for cement. Njombo Lekula, the managing director of Southern Africa - PPC, told the Cape Times newspaper the company’s latest strategy and adaptation to the coronavirus pandemic had improved its operational flexibility. He said that it can ‘switch on’ plants to respond to demand, that its ‘Three Mega Plant’ strategy allows it to cope for periods when supply outstrips demand and that the company has mothballed plants at present. He added that PPC is not using 35% of its own capacity at the moment. Lekula also estimated that the local sector as a whole it not using 40% of its production capacity.


Denmark/Germany: FLSmidth has agreed to buy ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions’ mining business (TK Mining) for Euro325m. FLSmidth says it hopes that the acquisition will allow it to create a global mining technology provider with operations from pit to plant. The purchase is also expected to benefit FLSmidth’s aftermarket business. The transaction is expected to complete in the second half of 2022 and it will be subject to approval by competition authorities.

TK Mining is a supplier of solutions for mining systems, material handling, mineral processing and services. It is present in 24 countries with engineering and global service centres, and has close to 3400 employees. In 2020 it reported sales of around Euro780m with around one-third deriving from services.

“TK Mining and FLSmidth are a perfect match, and I am proud to announce this agreement to join forces. This is a truly transformational deal allowing us to accelerate our growth ambitions in mining by creating a stronger talent pool and one of the world’s largest and strongest suppliers to the mining industry. Our complementary customer base and improved geographic coverage will offer a strong value proposition to our customers. There is a significant opportunity in transforming TK Mining towards FLSmidth’s business mix and model in which higher margin service business makes up about 60% of revenue. I look forward to welcoming TK Mining’s management team and talented staff to our organisation,” said Thomas Schulz, group chief executive officer of FLSmidth.


Japan: Mitsubishi Materials and Ube Industries plan to merge their respective cement businesses and related businesses on 1 April 2022. The new successor company will be temporarily known as C Integration Arrangement before officially becoming known as Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation. However, the new name will be subject to input by shareholders.

The two cement producers first announced discussions in early 2020 about a potential merger of their cement businesses and related concerns. They decided to explore merging their cement operations following slowing demand and increased costs due to higher energy prices. They have worked together since 1998 in a joint venture called Ube-Mitsubishi Cement, which integrated their cement sales and logistics operations.


US: The death of a maintenance worker has been reported at Buzzi Unicem USA’s Hercules Cement at Stockertown in Pennsylvania. The cause of the fatality has not been released pending an investigation by state authorities and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, according to the Express Times newspaper. The incident occurred on 26 July 2021.


Germany: HeidelbergCement’s first-half consolidated net sales increased by 8% year-on-year in 2021 to Euro8.94bn from Euro8.25bn in the first half of 2020. Cement sales grew by 10% to 61.8Mt from 56.3Mt. Sales volumes increased in all regions, with the sharpest increase of 19%, to 15.3Mt from 12.9Mt, occurring in Western and Southern Europe. The group recorded a profit for the period of Euro825m, compared to a Euro3.1bn loss in the first half of 2020. It reduced its net debt by 17% to Euro7.5bn from Euro9bn.

Chair Dominik von Achten said “HeidelbergCement has closed the first half of 2021 with an excellent result. We have achieved record values in relevant key figures. Our ‘Beyond 2020’ strategy is taking effect: we are making good progress in all areas. Against this background, we have announced an extensive share buyback programme for the first time in the company's history. With this, we want our shareholders to participate appropriately in the economic success of our company.”


China: Asia Cement China recorded a 23% year-on-year rise in net sales in the first half of 2021 to US$820m from US$668m in the first half of 2020. Its profit for the period also rose, by 21% to US$171m from US$141m.

The company increased its cement sales to US$796m, up by 26% from US$630m. It said that total Chinese cement sales hit a record high during the half of 1.15Bnt, up by 14%. Average cement prices were lower than in the corresponding period of 2020. The company said that it expects prices to rise after bad weather ends in late August and the supply of steel and aggregates resumes fully.


Greece: Titan Group’s consolidated net sales in the first half of 2021 were Euro821m, up by 4% year-on-year from Euro786m, with an 11% rise in cement and clinker sales. The group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also recorded a 4% increase, to Euro143m from Euro137m. Net profit more than doubled to Euro58m from Euro22m.

Chair Dimitri Papalexopoulos said “Looking ahead we see continuing top line growth, with gains in both volumes and prices. In the short term, the spike in freight rates and energy costs is not allowing us to enjoy the kind of impact in margins which top line growth would imply.”


India: Dalmia Bharat plans to more than triple its installed cement production capacity by 2030, to 110–130Mt/yr from 30.8Mt/yr in 2021. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that with the completion of all on-going projects, the producer’s capacity will rise to 48.5Mt/yr.


Philippines: The Cement Importers Association of the Philippines (CIAP) has filed a petition before the court of tax appeals requesting that the government refunds their past cement safeguard duty payments. The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that CIAP members say that the duty is unlawful as imports pose no threat to the domestic cement industry. The total sum for which importers are seeking reimbursement is US$25.4m.

The three-year imposition of duties by the government’s Department of Trade and Industry ends in 2022.