Global Cement News

UK: Carbon capture systems developer Carbon Clean has raised US$150m in its largest funding round to date. US-based energy company Chevron Corporation led the round, with participation from Cemex venture capital subsidiary Cemex Ventures, Marubeni Corporation, WAVE Equity Partners, AXA IM Alts, Samsung Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and TC Energy.

As a result of the new funding, Carbon Clean says that it will now scale the production of its CycloneCC fully modular carbon capture technology, increase investment in research and development grow its team to meet ‘exponential’ demand growth for its products.

Poland: Holcim has entered into an agreement to acquire waterproofing, adhesives, polystyrene products and plaster producer Izolbet. Izolbet employs 170 people and operates four production plants in Budzyń, Gostynin, Kleszczów and Chmielów, with most of its business in the high-growth repair and refurbishment market. Holcim says that the new acquisition will help to strengthen its footprint in the renovation, thermal insulation and finishing segment.

Europe, Middle East and Africa region head Miljan Gutovic said “Speciality building solutions have been a key focus for expanding Solutions & Products in Europe, notably with the recent acquisitions of PRB Group in France and PTB-Compaktuna in Belgium. I’m excited to be welcoming all of Izolbet’s employees into the Holcim family, to unleash our next chapter of growth together.

China Daily ran a story this week entitled “Steel and cement don't reflect China's growth story any more.” The piece reassured English-language readers that the country’s economy is moving on and that recent falling production of cement simply reflected the “profound changes China's economic structure is undergoing.” Profound is the right word here given that China is home to the world’s largest cement sector.

Graph 1: Cement output by quarter in China, 2019 - 2022. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that cement output fell by 12% year-on-year to 387Mt in the first quarter of 2022. This compares to 7% and 15% falls in the third and fourth quarters of 2021 respectively. On an annual cumulative rolling basis, output previously hit a low of 2.22Bnt in March 2020 as the initial coronavirus outbreak was brought under control. Output then surged to a high of 2.53Bnt/yr in April 2021 before it started to fall in the autumn of 2021. On a monthly basis, output volumes fell by 5.6% year-on-year to 187Mt in March 2022.

As covered in last week’s column (GCW 555), the financial results from the larger Chinese cement producers have also suffered in the first quarter of 2022. CNBM’s total operating revenue fell by 1% year-on-year to US$7.29bn in the first quarter of 2022. Anhui Conch’s revenue fell by 26% to US$3.85bn and China Resources Cement’s (CRC) turnover fell by 18% to US$889m. Of these three only CRC has released cement sales volumes. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker decreased by 34% and 12% respectively.

In its own analysis, the China Cement Association (CCA) has summarised the current situation as one of rising costs, falling demand and declining benefits. The latest large-scale coronavirus lockdowns and a poor real estate market have hit demand. Rising energy and freight prices have increased the cost of cement. Together, higher costs and falling demand have hit the profits of the cement producers. CNBM’s net profit, for example, fell by 9% to US$420m. Regionally, the CCA observed that the losses of the northern-based producers had increased and that the profits of the southern producers had started to fall sharply also. Another interesting point it made was that the year-on-year decline in March 2022 was slower than compared to the first quarter as a whole and that high levels of inventory may have made March 2022 look worse than it actually was. The association is now pinning its hopes upon demand and prices picking up again later in the second quarter after the current quarantine controls are eased and the government curbs high coal prices.

The CCA’s take doesn’t seem unreasonable, although the first quarter of 2022 was previously deemed to be a continuation of the trouble the Chinese cement sector experienced in the autumn of 2021. Possibly the first quarter has turned out worse than expected but the monthly output in March 2022 has started to look like it might be a tail-off from the worst. The period to watch remains the second quarter of 2022. Looking more widely, energy shocks from the war in Ukraine couldn’t be easily predicted but coal prices were already becoming a concern in the autumn of 2021. China’s renewed zero-Covid policy meanwhile is starting to look unpalatable both economically and socially. Throw in a continued slowdown of the real estate sector and China Daily’s profound pronouncement about the future of cement may prove accurate.

Canada: Progressive Planet Solutions has appointed Ian Grant as its chief operating officer. He has been promoted from Vice President of Business Development. In his new role Grant will work with chief executive officer Steve Harpur to oversee operations and development of its micronised mineral technologies in addition to supporting the growth of the company's current business.

In May 2022 Progressive Planet completed the acquisition and integration of Absorbent Products and the expansion of its regenerative fertiliser operations. It also changed the name of its new subsidiary to Progressive Planet Products. As part of his work on the company's plan, Grant will be managing the shutdown of the seasonal regenerative fertiliser pilot plant in Spallumcheen by moving key equipment to expand the full commercial plant in Kamloops. Grant will be based at the company’s new joint head office for Progressive Planet Solutions and Progressive Planet Products in Kamloops.

Progressive Planet sells products with sustainable benefits to the agricultural, construction and industrial sectors including micronised minerals such as a proprietary supplementary cementing material made from recycled glass.

India: Dalmia Bharat sold 22.2Mt of cement in its 2022 financial year, up by 7.2% year-on-year from 20.7Mt in the 2021 financial year. During the year, Dalmia Bharat recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$314m, down by 11% year-on-year from US$356m in the 2021 year. The producer says that it is 'on track' to achieve a capacity of 48.5Mt/yr by the end of the 2023 financial year.

Speaking about the company's fourth-quarter 2022 financial year performance, managing director and chief executive officer Mahendra Singhi said "Through proactive cost containment measures, our teams have successfully mitigated the adverse inflationary impact and delivered one of the lowest total cost per ton of cement alongside a volume growth in-line with the industry. The recent strong recovery in demand and prices across all our operating regions is highly encouraging." Singhi continued "While the margins may continue to remain under pressure, we are undertaking proactive measures to retain our cost leadership and deliver sustainable earnings growth."