Global Cement News

Russia: SLK Cement says it has purchased over 230 gondola-style railway wagons so far in 2021 as it modernises its fleet. At present the company owns 701 units of rolling stock. 445 of these are open wagons. Its latest addition was 61 gondola wagons in October 2021. The cement producer has made the investment to reduce its delivery costs. It added that it has subsequently reduced its unit costs for rail transportation in 2021.

UK: Road building company Hanson Contracting has begun rolling out Causeway Ermeo mobile workforce management software across its operations. The technology will replace paper forms and workflows. The software connects construction sites and offices through digital workflows, with easy-to-use reporting functions. Hanson Contracting plans to also digitise its timesheets, risk assessments, plant inspections, holiday requests and other manual processes.

Business manager Chris Harrison said “There is a lot of excitement from our business improvement team for Causeway Ermeo. We are always looking for any efficiencies and lean improvements to make in the business, and we see this solution as a key one." He added “We want data and technology to be at the heart of everything that we do. It gives us better operational and commercial performance on-site and also aligns us with our key customer’s vision for the future, in line with the National Highways Digital Roads strategy.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement increased its consolidated sales by 34% year-on-year to US$2.48bn in the first nine months of 2021 from US$1.84bn in the first nine months of 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 45% to US$1.25bn from US$860m.

Group cement volumes were 22.2Mt, up by 15% from 19.2Mt. Nigerian volumes rose by 19% to 14.1Mt from 11.9Mt, while Pan-African volumes rose by 9.4% to 8.16Mt from 7.47Mt.

Chief executive officer Michel Puchercos said “We are pleased to report a solid set of the results for the first nine months of 2021. Given the strong rebound in the third quarter of 2020 following the impact of Covid-19 in the first half of the year, volumes in the third quarter of 2021 were slightly lower year-on-year, as anticipated, though worsened by heavier rains. However, the overall growth trend continues, supported by our ability to meet the strong market demand across all our countries of operation. The economic performance and efficiency initiatives across the group, enabled the offsetting of inflationary pressures on some of our cost lines.” He added “Dangote Cement has exceeded its 2020 full-year results in the first nine months of 2021, with year-on-year EBITDA growth trending at 45%, more than double its 21% growth in the first nine months of 2020. Despite operating in a complex, challenging, and fast-moving environment, Dangote Cement is consistently delivering superior profitability and returns to the shareholders.”

Nigeria: BUA Cement’s nine-month consolidated sales were US$453m in 2021, up by 20% year-on-year from US$379m in the first nine months of 2020. The group’s net profit was US$160m, up by 23% from US$130m. The Daily Independent newspaper has reported that increased costs restricted profit growth in the third quarter of 2021. Administrative expenses rose by 51% year-on-year during the quarter.

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement’s sales in the nine-month period which ended on 30 September 2021 were US$117m, up by 1.2% year-on-year from US$116m in the corresponding period of 2020. The company increased its nine-month net profit by 7.5% to US$34.5m from US$32.1m. It said that its cost of sales per tonne and finance expenses both declined.