Global Cement News

Kuwait: Kuwait Portland Cement reported a 75% decrease in its net profit during the third quarter of 2019. Its profit was US$2.0m in the third quarter of 2019 compared with US$8.0m in a year earlier. Kuwait Portland’s nine month profit came to US$20.3m, a 21% fall year-on-year compared with US$25.7m. It attributed the decrease in profit to lower net returns on investments.

Malaysia: Tasek Corp Bhd's net loss for the third quarter of 2019 narrowed to US$1.3m from US$1.45m a year earlier. It said that it was hampered by high production costs and increased price competition. Its revenue however, rose by 6.9% to US$38.7m compared with US$36.2m in the third quarter of 2018.

Over the first nine months, Tasek's net loss widened to US$5.6m, from a revenue of US$102.7m, up by 1.3% year-on-year. "The board views the outlook for the last quarter of the year to remain challenging if pricing pressure continues," reported Tasek, as cited by the Sun Daily.

Spain: Cementos Tudela Veguín’s new cement terminal on the El Musel North Pier of the Port of Gijón is fully constructed and licenced for operation. The terminal will serve for the reception and storage of 0.7Mt/yr of clinker for the company’s Narón grinding plant in La Coruña.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s 1.3Mt/yr Vernasca plant in Piacenza will receive a Cleanker Project pilot system for carbon capture and storage (CCS). The installation is EU-funded as part of Horizon 2020, a seven-year research and innovation framework programme, and its success will be closely monitored for possible implementation at other cement plants in the EU and beyond.

UK: Quinn Industrial Holding’s Building Products division has launched two software upgrades aimed at improving customer experience. Its new Quinn Delivery Hub digitises mixed load delivery logistics coordination, facilitating collection and drop off of cement and other bulk materials from various locations with a centralised real-time management system. Customers can enjoy first-hand benefits of the new system with the new Genius by Quinn app, giving full visibility of every load from despatch to delivery.