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Tokyo Cement plans expansion project 20 March 2015
Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) plans to invest US$50m on 1Mt/yr of additional production capacity to meet local demand.
The extra capacity will be via a new plant under a new subsidiary, Tokyo Eastern Cement. The project is expected to be implemented in the next two years. It will receive a five-year tax holiday and a tax rate of 12%. The project will be funded through internal funds and loans.
In its 2014 financial year, Tokyo Cement's revenue grew by 6% year-on-year, while its operating profit rose by 65%. Its current market share in Sri Lanka is 35%.
UAE: Everest Industries' new US$16m plant is now expected to be operational by December 2015 or January 2016. The plant will produce cement boards and panel products and is Everest Industries' first overseas venture. The products will cater to the company's exports in West Asian and African nations.
"We are hopeful of making the overseas unit operational by December 2015 or January 2016. It will give us better access to the Middle Eastern and African markets," said Rahul Chopra senior vice president and head roofing business. According to Chopra, the Ras Al-Khaimah unit might bring down export costs. Currently, exports contribute around US$32m towards Everest Industries' turnover.
With three of its recent facilities coming on-stream in the last two years, Chopra said that Everest Industries is now planning to ramp up and consolidate domestic manufacturing across its various segments and improve its distribution network via the addition of a 'retail touch point' in all centres with a population of 5000 - 10,000.
Europe: Holcim's board of directors has determined that its merger with Lafarge will be delayed due to the disagreement of terms on the deal. In a statement, Holcim said that the agenda for its upcoming annual general meeting will only focus on direct Holcim business and not the merger.
According to local media, Lafarge and Holcim are discussing a change in the planned leadership of their combined company to rescue the merger amid growing resistance to Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont taking the top job. The companies are considering naming another Lafarge executive as CEO instead of Lafont to address demands from Holcim that would allow the deal to go ahead. Lafont could become co-chairman of the new entity, together with Holcim chairman Wolfgang Reitzle. The appointments are among various management changes being discussed.
Australia: Boral will repurchase up to US$182m of its shares after a string of divestments bolstered the company's balance sheet. It intends to buy back up to 5%, or about 39 million shares, of its issued capital on-market over the next 12 months.
Boral chief executive Mike Kane said that the completion of a number of transactions, including the US$127m sale of its Western Landfill business in Melbourne to Transpacific Industries, had allowed for the share repurchase.
"This buyback reflects Boral's commitment to efficient capital management and delivering improved returns to shareholders," said Kane. "At the same time, we are maintaining flexibility to respond to changes in market conditions and to take advantage of appropriate growth opportunities that may present in the future." Kane had already flagged acquisitions in Asia and North America and said that Boral was too unbalanced towards Australia.
Boral was reportedly considering a sell-off of its building products division, but indicated it would instead look for savings through cost-reduction programs and joint ventures. A brickmaking joint venture with CSR will proceed after receiving approval from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, with the expectation of savings of between US$5.39 – 7.69m between Boral and CSR.
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia's cement producers have again asked the government to lift a three-year-old ban on their exports so they can supply Egypt with 6Mt of cement, according to the chairman of Saudi Arabia's Cement Association.
"We are ready to export 6Mt of our cement surplus to Egypt following the signing of large contracts between that country and global companies this week," said Jihad Al-Rasheed, chairman of the national cement committee in the council of Saudi chambers of commerce and industry. Al-Rasheed said that it was time for Saudi authorities to lift the export ban after the emergence of 'golden' opportunities for the country's cement manufacturers to export their products to nearby Qatar, which needs large quantities of building materials for the planned stadia and other facilities for the FIFA 2022 World Cup. He added that other key markets that need Saudi cement include Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia.
"Some Saudi cement plants were constructed in border areas with the aim of exporting their products to neighbouring countries, but the export ban has inflicted heavy losses on them and could force them to lay off workers," said Al-Rasheed. He added that cement companies in Saudi Arabia are trying to reduce a surplus of >20Mt by supplying domestic projects. "Most of the local government and private sector projects now have sufficient cement supplies. We want the Saudi government to lift the ban on cement exports in line with international trade rules," said Al-Rasheed.
Saudi Arabia partially lifted the cement export ban in 2009 before enforcing it again in 2012 to ensure enough supplies for domestic projects. According to Al-Rasheed, cement demand in Saudi Arabia stood at around 57.2Mt in 2014 and is projected to grow to nearly 59.5Mt in 2015.