Global Cement News

India: The Indian high court in Gujarat has ordered that a US$600m deal to sell the Kutch cement plant from Jaypee Cement to UltraTech Cement will be subject of outcome of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by local villagers.

According to the Times of India, the Kharai panchayat has filed a PIL complaining that the cement company has encroached upon grazing land, water bodies and public roads. The PIL demands that the encroachment should be removed and that the high court should intervene to make the area free from pollution caused by mining and the dumping of dust.

Counsel Mehul Sharad Shah contended that over 5000 hectares of land was given at a cheap rate to Gujarat Anjan Cement to create a cement plant for a lease period of 1997 to 2008 on the condition that the company would put up construction within two years. After not following the condition, it transferred the lease for US$120m to Jayprakash Associates, which merged with the J P Corporation. The PIL alleges that the company encroached on gauchar land, water bodies, public roads and began polluting by dumping alkali dust. Cuts in jobs for local labourers has also added to tension in the area.

The high court has said that the transfer of lease will be subject to final outcome of the PIL.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has shut down its production line for unscheduled maintenance until 5 October 2013. In a bourse statement the Saudi Arabian cement producer said that the shutdown will cost US$4.8m and that it will not impact its ability to meet contractual obligations to clients. In June 2013 the cement producer closed its production line for two weeks for unscheduled maintenance.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has reported a year-on-year rise of 43.2% in profit after tax to US$91.9m for the year ending on 30 June 2013, from US$64.1m for the same period in 2012. This is the highest profit the Pakistan-based cement producer has ever recorded.

Sales by Lucky Cement rose by 12% to US$414m from US$370m. The company saw cement sales volumes grow by 1.4% to 6.06Mt from 5.97Mt. Local sales rose by 1.3% to 3.77Mt from 3.72Mt. Exports grew by 1.7% to 2.29Mt from 2.25Mt.

In its annual report Lucky Cement announced that two vertical grinding mills at its Karachi cement plant are scheduled to become operational in the last quarter of the 2013 – 2014 financial year and in September 2014 respectively. A tyre-derived fuel plant is planned to replace coal usage at it Pezu plant. The company is also in neogiation to supply surplus electricity generated at Pezu to the Peshawar Electric Company.

Overseas projects include a joint-venture cement plant in Democratic Republic of Congo, which is at the financial stage, and a joint-venture cement grinding plant in Iraq, which is due for completion at the end of October 2013 with commissioning and trial production due from early November 2013.

In its outlook Lucky Cement noted that cement consumption will rise in Pakistan due to the government's funding of the Public Sector Development Programme. However, rises in utility costs, weakening local currency and other factors will present challenges to the cement industry. The company intends to mitigate utility cost rises by investing in waste heat recovery systems at its Karachi and Pezu captive power plants. Each plant will producer 5MW, with expected completion set for December 2014.

Nigeria: Dangote has ordered a new vertical roller mill from Loesche for a new project, Ibese 7, at its Ibese cement plant. The mill is the 13th mill the Nigerian cement producer has ordered from Loesche for Ibese.

The order is for a LM 63.3+3 vertical roller mill for grinding clinker with components such as gypsum and limestone. The product rate of clinker type CEM I will be 310t/hr at 3200 blaine while the product rate of clinker type CEM II will be 295t/hr at 4500 blaine. The gearbox capacity for the LM 63.3+3 will be 6700kW.

In addition to the mill Loesche will deliver a LF 20 (burner dual-fuel HFO / NG) hot gas generator and all the mechanical equipment between the mill pre-bins and the product bucket elevator. Loesche will also supply all electrical equipment and automation, the building steel structure and the detail engineering of the civil works. A latest generation type LDC classifier will also be delivered by Loesche. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of April 2014.

US cement consumption may have disappointed some in the first quarter of 2013 but solid growth lies ahead, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA). Just how solid that growth will be remains open to interpretation.

PCA chief economist Ed Sullivan forecast 8% growth in cement consumption at the start of 2013. Now's its been halved to just 4%. Yet he's standing by the hint of good news ahead, upping the growth from 2014 to 9.7%.

Figures from the major US cement producers present a mixed picture. The major multinational cement producers mostly suffered from the weather in early 2013. Lafarge saw its cement sales in North America drop by 23% year-on-year for the first half of 2013 to 4.4Mt from 5.7Mt in the same period of 2012. Cemex's cement sales in the US rose by 3% but no specific figures were released. Holcim's cement sales in North America fell by 7% to 5Mt from 5.4Mt. HeidelbergCement's cement sales in the North America grew by 5% to 5.7Mt from 5.4Mt.

Of the rest, Texas Industries reported a rise in cement shipments of 29% to 2.23Mt from 1.73Mt for the six months to the 31 May 2013. Titan saw sales in the US rise by 10% to US$258m.

Preliminary United States Geological Survey data for June 2013 suggests that the increase in portland and blended cement shipments in the US slowed in the first half of 2013. In 2011 32.1Mt were shipped, in 2012 37.0Mt were shipped and in 2013 37.2Mt were shipped.

Meanwhile the construction figures US Department of Commerce mostly suggested growth but not without the odd jitter. Construction spending fell slightly in June 2013. Total construction spending adjusted seasonally fell by 0.4% to US$869bn due to a fall in non-residential construction. Since then though the July 2013 figure hit US$901bn, the highest since June 2009.

Accordingly, in his forecast Sullivan pins his hopes on the residential sector in the near term. It has seen consistent growth since October 2012. However other industry commentators, like the American Institue of Architects, have focused on poor growth in non-residential construction.

Let's hope Sullivan's got it right.