Global Cement News

India: Amubja Cements has appointed Hitesh L Marthak as its company secretary and compliance officer. Hitesh holds 25 years professional experience. He was appointed to the same positions at subsidiary ACC in late July 2023. Both Ambuja Cements and ACC are part of Adani Group.

Italy: Alpacem subsidiary W&P Cementi has concluded a deal to buy Buzzi’s Fanna cement plant in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The plant has a clinker capacity of 660,000t/yr. As a part of the deal, Buzzi will obtain a 25% stake in Alpacem’s Austrian subsidiary Alpacem Zement Austria. Alpacem said that the deal expands the companies’ existing strategic partnership into the Austrian market. The parties expect to conclude the deal, pending the approval of competition authorities, in 2024.

Alpacem chief executive officers Bernhard Auer and Lutz Weber said “We are pleased to be expanding the strategic partnership. There are many future challenges in the cement sector that we can solve better together than we can individually.”

Colombia: Cementos Argos reported first-half sales of US$6.71bn for 2023, up by 25% year-on-year. Wet weather in the US and a slowing residential construction market in Colombia contributed to a 2.7% drop in cement sales to 7.9Mt. The company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 45% to US$1.3bn, while its net profit rose by 56% to US$179m.

President Juan Esteban Calle said "In the first half of 2023 we achieved relevant milestones that demonstrate our commitment to generating value for our shareholders and other stakeholders. The progress in the execution of our share price recovery initiative, the growth in revenues and the expansion in the profitability margins of the businesses in our main markets motivate us to continue working every day to generate value for all our stakeholders."

India: Birla Corporation reported consolidated sales of US$293m in the first quarter of its 2024 financial year, up by 9.3% year-on-year from the previous first quarter. This was partly due to a 12% rise in the company’s cement sales volumes to 4.41Mt, which offset ‘subdued prices’ in its core markets. The producer increased its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 15% to US$37.9m. United News of India has reported that Birla Corporation recorded a capacity utilisation of 91%, which was among the highest in the Indian cement industry.

The company said that it will ‘maintain its relentless thrust on cost rationalisation, shoring up sales of premium products in high realisation geographies, route-to-market optimisation and increasing leadership bench strength and depth.’

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement recorded US$204m in sales in the first half of 2023, up by 15% year-on-year from US$177m in the first half of 2022. The producer reported a net profit of US$55.7m, up by 28% from US$43.6m.