Global Cement News

India: The India Cements’ revenue fell by 24% year-on-year to US$244m in the six months to 30 September 2024 from US$320m in the same period in 2023. Its reported loss grew to US$33.3m from US$19.8m. Sales volumes declined by 15% to 4.26Mt from 5.04Mt. The company’s performance was negatively affected by weak cement demand and a significant decline in prices, according to the Hindu newspaper. It also said that is was unable to benefit from lower fuel costs, particularly petcoke, as lower sales volumes reduced its margins. The cement producer was purchased by UltraTech Cement in July 2024.

Spain: FCC spin-off company Inmocemento plans to start trading shares on the Spanish Stock Exchanges from 12 November 2024. The cement and real estate business is expected to have a market value of €1.93bn, according to Reuters. FCC said in October 2024 that it had transferred related assets to Inmocemento. This included most of the assets from subsidiaries FCYC and Cementos Portland Valderrivas, in addition to FCC's cement plants and the share it owns in real estate developers Realia and Metrovacesa. All FCC shareholders received a number of shares in Inmocemento proportional to their holdings in FCC. Plans for the spin-off were first reported in May 2024.

Paraguay: Gerardo Guerrero, the president of Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC), says that the state-owned company is close to reaching its target of producing 11 million bags of cement in 2024. In October 2024 it manufactured 1.07m bags of cement and sold 1.27m, according to the Agencia de Información Paraguaya. Guerrero attributed the achievement to the company switching its supply chain to land-based transport due to poor conditions on the Paraguay River. INC reportedly has a 37% market share. It operates an integrated cement plant at Vallemí and a grinding unit at Villeta.

Philippines: CRH is considering selling its cement business in the Philippines. The company has engaged UBS Group to assess investors' interest in acquiring assets, with negotiations ongoing. In 2019, CRH attempted to sell its Philippines cement business for US$2 - 3bn as part of an asset portfolio optimisation, but the divestment is reportedly now worth ‘significantly’ less due to a ‘more complex’ business environment, according to AK&M Information Agency.

CRH first entered the Philippine market in 2015 by acquiring Republic Cement, the second largest cement producer in the Philippines.

Greece: Titan Cement has announced its financial results for the first nine months of 2024. The group’s sales increased by 5% year-on-year to €1.99bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period reached €455m, marking a 15% year-on-year increase. Net profit after tax also rose by 20% during the period to €238m.

In terms of regional performance, the US business saw an increase of 4.2% year-on-year to €1.15bn and EBITDA growth of 20%. Greece and Western Europe experienced an 8.4% increase in sales to €324m, though EBITDA declined by 4.5% year-on-year. Southeast Europe saw an increase in sales of 4% to €327m with EBITDA rising by 19% during the period. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, sales improved by 5% to €183m, despite a 21% reduction in EBITDA. Titan Cement said that it maintains a positive outlook for the remainder of 2024, driven by solid pricing and overall healthy volumes.