Global Cement News

US: Ash Grove Cement is seeking tax abatement for upgrade projects on its Midlothian plant in Texas. Plant manager Kevin Blankenship presented plans to the Ellis County Commissioner's Court on 14 May 2012.

Ash Grove needs to upgrade its plant in line with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that will go into effect September 2013. The company is considering two options that will put the plant in compliance with the new regulations. The first option is to upgrade the plant enough so that it will comply with the new emissions standards. The second option is to fully modernise the plant by upgrading to a single dry kiln and shutting the other two existing wet kilns, a project that would cost US$130m. Since the presentation was not an agenda item at the meeting the court took no action.

The Midlothian plant has been in operation since 1966. Ash Grove currently intend to continue running the plant until 2050, but filed a request to shut the wet kilns in April 2012.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem has reported a widened net loss of Euro45.9m for the first quarter of 2012 from Euro32.8m for the same period in 2011, a drop of 29%. The producer, Italy's biggest cement maker by market value, blamed the performance on lower cement demand and the extremely cold winter in Europe.

Net sales fell by 1.3% year-on-year to Euro562.2m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 47.6% to Euro22.4m. The net debt rose to Euro1.21bn at the end of March 2012 from Euro1.14bn at end of December 2011. Buzzi Unicem confirmed it expects to post in 2012 operating results similar to the ones booked in 2011.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has reported a pre-tax profit of US$200m for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 8.9% compared to the US$173m recorded for the same period in 2011.

Analysis of the Nigerian producer's unaudited financial results indicated that its operating profits rose by 13.7% to US$200m reflecting the higher proportion of locally manufactured cement compared to US$176m in 2011. Gross profit for the group was US$231m for the quarter compared to US$182m in 2011. The group achieved strong growth in revenue and profits in the first quarter, with revenues rising from US$345m to US$405m, an increase of 17.6%.

China: Irish building materials group CRH has said at its annual meeting that it planned to increase its stake in the Yatai cement business in China to 49% from 26% as part of a wider push into emerging markets.

Chief Executive Myles Lee said CRH was preparing to exercise an option, opening in January 2013, to raise the stake. "We are setting the scene at the moment for that and we are keen to increase that stake. Obviously in everything valuation is key, so it has to be at a valuation that makes sense for our shareholders," Lee said.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review its proposed revisions to its emissions rules for the Portland cement sector, ahead of a tentative 15 June 2012 deadline for issuing the revisions in line with a proposed consent decree with the industry.

The pending proposed revised rules undergoing OMB review will address not only the remand but also the EPA's May 2011 partial reconsideration of the cement rules - including standards for open clinker storage piles and start-up and shutdown monitoring requirements - as those provisions included in the recent proposed consent decree with industry.

In the Register notice on the consent decree, the EPA says that it "would also agree to propose to extend the existing source compliance date of 10 September 2013, or in any case to discuss the possibility of extending that date, and to take final action by 20 December 2012 regarding the date of compliance," if such provisions are 'supported by the administrative record.'

While stalling the compliance deadline would be a 'win' for the cement industry, it would likely draw protests from environmentalists supportive of the current air toxics rule. The deadline for comments on the proposed consent decree is 7 June 2012.