Global Cement News

Brazil: Cement manufacturer Holcim, which already operates cement plants in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, is considering a new plant or joint-venture with a company already established in the Brazilian cement market. The group has untouched limestone reserves in the south, mid-west and the north east regions to offer any potential collaborator.

Holcim President Otmar Hübscher said that the company has been looking at possible locations and wants to focus Holcim to meet the growing cement demand in Brazil, where it is currently operating at its 5.3Mt/yr capacity. The company has already announced an US$800m expansion of its plant in Barroso, Minas Gerais. It is presently waiting for environmental clearance for the project, which will see that plant increase its capacity from 1.2Mt/yr to 3.5Mt/yr by 2014.

Iran: Cement exports from Iran increased to over 9.3Mt in the first 11 months of its current calendar year, which ended on 19 February 2012, marking a 17% rise compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports of clinker stood at 1.5Mt in the same period of time.

Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari announced that, with the implementation of new projects, the country's cement capacity could reach 110Mt/yr by the end of 2015.

Venezuela: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has authorised the transfer of US$10m to build a new quarry to help stimulate cement production in the country. The executive also greenlighted a measure to change local cement firm Cemex Venezuela's name to Venezolana de Cementos, as well as measures to develop and strengthen the firm.

The Venezuelan government nationalised Cemex Venezuela, formerly operated by Mexican cement maker Cemex in August 2008. The Mexican firm received US$600m in compensation in 2011.

Chávez also said that future investments for the cement sector would aim to develop relevant technology, perform environmental impact studies and improve benefits for cement workers.

Indonesia: Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG) has revealed plans to build a new cement plant in Indonesia to capitalise on the country's rapidly-growing demand for construction materials. Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of SCG, said that the company would invest US$300m in a cement plant in Sukabumi, West Java. The plant will have a capacity of 5000t/day and construction is expected to start by the end of 2012.

The investment comes after SCG bought a 100% stake valued at US$135m in Boral Indonesia, a company that produces ready-mixed concrete, from Australia-based Boral in February 2012. Kan said that SCG's growth lies outside of Thailand and that Indonesia is a big part of that.

The SCG chief, who has previously lived and worked in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, said that he had been impressed with Indonesia's improvement during the past few years. "During the last four to five years, the growth was very good. SCG has a lot of confidence in Indonesia," he said. Kan said he that he was not afraid of competition with Indonesia's more established cement makers as SCG had already acquired supporting companies such as Kokoh Inti Arebama, an Indonesian construction-material distributor.

Semen Gresik, Indonesia's largest cement producer, and other cement makers plan to invest a total of US$6.27bn during the next three years to boost production. The investment is expected to produce an additional 30Mt/yr of cement in the country, with annual output reaching 90Mt/yr in 2017 from 52Mt in 2011. Chaovalit Ekabut, SCG's chief financial officer, added that demand for SCG's products remained high in Indonesia.

Looking ahead, Kan said that in the next five years, the company would invest US$5bn in its ASEAN-country operations. In 2012 it will spend US$1.3-1.5bn in various regional investments, but Kan did not disclose how much the company has set aside for Indonesia.

Greece: Titan Cement, Greece's biggest cement producer, has posted an 89% drop in its 2011 net profit compared to that of 2010. It has forecast further declines in 2012 after the collapse of the building industry in its recession-hit home market. The company, which recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, said that it will not distribute a dividend for the first time in 58 years.

Titan has been hit hard by a plunge in private housing investment and drastic cutbacks in public spending on infrastructure in Greece, which is stuck in its fifth year of recession at the centre of the Eurozone crisis.

The group said that its net profit fell to Euro11m in 2011 from Euro103m in 2010. Conditions at home are not expected to improve in 2012.

"In Greece there is no visibility at this time of either a reversal of the downward trend in private construction or the much anticipated restarting of infrastructure works," the company said in a statement."Demand for the group's products will record a further considerable decline in 2012."

The company has been counting on growth in new markets such as north Africa and Turkey to offset building slumps in Greece and the United States and difficult conditions in Egypt where it also has operations. However, political unrest in Libya, where Titan runs two cement plans, halted exports to the region throughout 2011. Group sales across all of Titan's markets declined by 19% year-on-year to Euro1.1bn in 2011. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 23% to Euro243m.

Titan has embarked on a two-year restructuring plan, which is expected to cut costs by Euro26m/yr. The impact of the restructuring and a Euro19m asset impairment charge hurt its fourth quarter performance. In the last quarter of 2011, Titan had a net loss of Euro42m versus a net profit of Euro5m in the same period in 2010.