Global Cement News
Search Cement News
Arabian Cement’s first quarter profit down 26 May 2015
Egypt: Arabian Cement has reported that in the first three months of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, its net profit fell to US$7.52m versus a net profit of US$15.3m a year earlier.
Vietnam: FLSmidth has received a US$109m order from the Vietnamese cement producer Xuan Than Group for the supply of a complete 12,000t/day capacity cement plant. The plant will be located approximately 100km south of Hanoi. Once completed, the plant will be the largest cement plant in Southeast Asia with the most energy-efficient equipment, state-of-the-art emissions control systems.
"The Vietnamese cement market is expected to grow over the coming years and it is a well-known market to FLSmidth as we have been present in the country for many years. The construction of the largest cement plant in Southeast Asia proves our strong position in the area," said president of the cement division, Per Mejnert Kristensen. The order will be booked by the cement division and contribute beneficially to FLSmidth's earnings until mid 2017.
Turkey: Turkish officials have said that an explosion at a cement plant in Kazan near Ankara has killed three employees. Chief of production Haluk Bilge, the plant's deputy manager Orhan Özer and an operations staff member Bayram Altın died in a resulting fire. Mayor Lokman Erturk said that two other workers were injured in the explosion and fire on 24 May 2015 at the plant. According to Erturk, the blast occurred while the workers were trying to fix a faulty boiler. The exact cause is under investigation.
Mid UK Recycling plans SRF plant expansion 22 May 2015
UK: Mid UK Recycling Limited plans to extend its Wilsford Heath waste management facility at Ancaster, South Kesteven in Lincolnshire. If its plans are approved, the plant would recycle up to 350,000t/yr of waste mattresses and plastics.
Chris Mountain, managing director, said that the investment could run into 'multiple millions' of Euros. "We are an existing business, we employ 350 people in Sleaford, Caythorpe and the Ancaster site," said Mountain. "We will put in the main planning proposal in the next three months and as soon as we get the green light we'll start straight away." He said that initially the company wants to start by the end of December 2015, although it may take three years to complete the expansion. "We have been four years developing the site next-door, which is full to capacity now," he said. "The range of products we produce is getting wider and wider. It makes no sense to export those jobs out of the county."
There would be a building for machinery that could break down mattresses into resalable parts. Leftovers would form solid recovered fuel (SRF) products, which could by cement plants and power stations. Another building would be created for packing and storing gypsum from recycled wallboard, which would be sold to supermarkets as cat litter. The business would also bring in a new way of recycling rigid plastics, breaking them down into granules to sell to Lincolnshire manufacturers of drainage pipes, water pipes and car parts.
Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia has reported that its profit for the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, was down to US$2.49m from US$24.7m in the same quarter of 2014. Sales for the quarter were US$171m compared to US$180m in 2014. Gross profit was US$40.6m, compared to US$52.5m in 2014, while operating profit was US$11.9m, compared to US$28.5m in 2014.
"The cement industry as a whole faces some significant challenges, in the continued downward trend for this sector of the economy and the absence, so far, of anticipated stimulus from fiscal spending on upgrading infrastructure," said Kent Carson, CFO of Holcim Indonesia. "At the same time, competition has escalated significantly with considerable new capacity introduced, creating substantial oversupply in a market where costs continue to stubbornly climb."