Displaying items by tag: Cementos Molins
Cementos Molins raises earnings in first quarter of 2024
29 April 2024Spain: Cementos Molins experienced a 1.8% year-on-year drop in sales to €336m in the first quarter of 2024. Sales growth across most regions failed to offset a decline in Argentina. Nonetheless, the company's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 5% to €90m. Group net profit was €52m, up by 38% year-on-year. Net debt dropped to €46m, positioning the company well to continue to execute new investments under its 2030 Sustainability Roadmap.
CEO Julio Rodriguez said “We have achieved very strong operating results during the first quarter, in line with the company’s strategic plan 2024-26, with great progress in the execution of our net zero roadmap towards decarbonisation. I would like to thank the entire team of professionals at Cementos Molins for their effort, great commitment, and excellent results.”
Marcos Cela appointed as head of Cementos Molins
13 March 2024Spain: Cementos Molins has appointed Marcos Cela as its CEO. He will succeed Julio Rodríguez, who has spent nine years in the post, at the end of June 2024 after the shareholders annual general meeting,
Cela holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Barcelona, a master in business administration qualification from the ESADE Business School and a senior management programme qualification from the IESE Business School. He started his career in 1995 in the finances division of Decathlon Spain. Four years later, he assumed the role of Credit and Treasury Director at BIC Graphic Europe, before joining Cementos Molins in 2004 as chief financial officer, a position he held until early 2015. Since then, Cela has been a member of the executive committee, working as the Executive VP for Asia, Africa, and South America regions.
Cementos Molins’ full-year results show growth in 2023
29 February 2024Spain: Cementos Molins’ revenues were €1.35bn in 2023, marking a 6% year-on-year rise, amid increased cement sales volumes. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 22% to €337m, while its net profit grew by 35% to €151m. The company noted its successes in the face of economic slowdown and supply chain disruptions across its markets.
CEO Julio Rodríguez said “We have achieved record sales and profits in an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment. Moreover, we have once again confirmed the strength of our business model by exceeding our targets.”
Cementos Molins makes appointments as part of digital strategy
28 February 2024Spain: Cementos Molins has appointed Javier Sueiras Gil as its Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Rocco Lisi has joined the company as its Digital Manager. The appointments have been made as part of the cement producer’s digital strategy and its efforts to improve operational efficiency. Its digitalisation plan includes over 50 initiatives in areas such as artificial intelligence applied to the industry and multi-channel approaches to improve customer relationships.
Javier Sueiras Gil has worked for Cementos Molins since the late 1990s. He first held the post of Operations Director before later becoming Vice President Information Technology and the company’s joint CIO and Chief Digital Officer in 2015. He is a graduate in industrial engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and has taken further business qualifications subsequently at the
IESE Business School and Esade/Georgetown University.
Rocco Lisi started work for Cementos Molins as its Digital Manager in mid-2023. Prior to this he spent 20 years working for Accenture, eventually becoming its Digital Transformation Director. He is a graduate of the University of Naples Federico II with business qualifications from the Sales Business School and the Valley Digital Business School.
Nuada signs carbon capture partnerships with Cementos Argos, Cementos Molins, Holcim and Siam Cement Group
13 December 2023World: Carbon capture technology developer Nuada has entered into partnerships with four global cement market leaders. Cementos Argos, Cementos Molins, Holcim and Siam Cement Group (SCG) will all collaborate with Nuada to evaluate its latest carbon capture system for use in cement plants. The parties concluded the agreements with the support of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), through its Innovandi Open Challenge.
Cementos Argos future tech leader Daniel Duque said “The GCCA Innovandi Open Challenge is a tremendous initiative where cement players collaborate with innovative companies that are developing the technologies and business models of a low CO2 construction industry. Nuada technology is a very interesting proposal with great potential.”
Cementos Molins’ chief innovation officer, Ignacio Machimbarrena, said “We are steadfast in our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Acknowledging the crucial role of carbon capture in this mission, we see Nuada's innovative Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) technology as a promising solution. Cementos Molins is fully dedicated to supporting this pioneering technology and collaborating with industry partners to pave the way for a greener future.”
Holcim’s global head of research and development, Edelio Bermejo, said “With carbon capture projects around the world and a commitment to invest US$2.28bn by 2030, we are leading our industry’s transition to a net-zero future. Partnering with Nuada will facilitate the testing and accelerate the deployment of their technology, ultimately supporting the scaling up of carbon capture efforts. We look forward to continued innovation and collaboration within the industry towards the goal of a net-zero future.”
SCG carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) director Surachai Vangrattanachai said "Collaborating with Nuada has been instrumental in our pursuit of innovative solutions. Their commitment to advancing technology aligns seamlessly with SCG's vision for sustainable progress. Together, we aim to pioneer transformative initiatives that drive us closer to net zero emissions.”
The GCCA’s cement, innovation and ESG director Claude Loréa said “This announcement is a testament to the success of the GCCA’s pioneering Innovandi Open Challenge Programme. It’s great to see Nuada – one of the first start-ups we worked with when we launched the programme in 2021, going from strength to strength, and helping to develop the vital carbon capture technology our industry needs to help us achieve net zero by 2050.”
Nuada co-chief executive director Conor Hamill said “The commitment of these major cement players to collaborate with Nuada attests to the potential of our carbon capture innovation as a cornerstone solution for low-carbon cement, and we eagerly anticipate working together to accelerate its deployment.”
Cementos Molins extends bank financing
17 November 2023Spain: Cementos Molins has renewed a Euro75m loan and Euro225m credit line with lenders. The renewal extends the company’s financing buffer until the end of 2028. Expansión News has reported that Cementos Molins plans to use the total Euro300m renewed financing towards advancing its investments in sustainability, and possibly for other corporate purposes.
Spain: Cementos Molins reported sales worth Euro1.08bn during the first nine months of 2023, up by 13% year-on-year from those recorded in the corresponding period of 2022. Meanwhile, the company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 33%, to Euro278m. Its net profit grew by 38% to Euro124m. The producer succeeded in reducing its debt by 76% to Euro34m, compared to Euro1.42bn at the beginning of the year.
Cementos Molins chief executive officer Julio Rodríguez said "Despite the increasing challenges in the global environment, the results for the first nine months of 2023 showcase the strength of our integrated business model, which comprises products and solutions. We are also making significant progress in implementing our sustainability strategy. I extend my personal gratitude to our dedicated and committed team of more than 6200 employees, whose efforts have enabled our growth across our diverse business segments and in most geographical regions.”
Update on construction and demolition waste, October 2023
25 October 2023Cementos Molins has been celebrating the first anniversary this week of its alternative raw materials unit at its Sant Vicenç dels Horts plant near Barcelona. It has processed 75,000t of waste since September 2022 when the site started up. More is yet to come as the unit has a production capacity of up to 200,000t/yr. The facility receives waste in coarse, granular, powder and sludge formats. Waste from concrete plants is crushed and screened to produce recycled aggregate. Industrial and construction waste is dosed and homogenised to produce alternative raw materials for cement production.
Global Cement Weekly has covered construction and demolition waste (CDW) a couple of times already so far in 2023. A number of cement producers are investing in the sector - including Holcim, Heidelberg Materials, CRH, Cemex – by developing technology, buying up other companies, setting up internal CDW divisions and so on. Holcim and Heidelberg Materials have been the more obviously active participants over the past six months based on media coverage. In September 2023 Holcim France commissioned the Saint-Laurent-de-Mûre alternative raw materials plant and Holcim Group invested in Neustark, a company promoting technology to sequester CO2 in CDW. In August 2023 Lafarge Canada also completed the first stage of a pilot project to use CDW in cement production at its St. Constant plant in Quebec. Heidelberg Materials meanwhile announced in October 2023 that a forthcoming upgrade to its Górażdże cement plant in Poland would include a new CDW recycling unit and in September 2023 it launched a CDW division for its subsidiary Hanson UK.
Previously we have described how the European Union (EU) has set recovery targets for CDW. However, McKinsey & Company published research in March 2023 setting out the economic case for cement and concrete companies looking at CDW. It estimated that “an increased adoption of circular technologies could be linked to the emergence of new financial net-value pools worth up to roughly Euro110bn by 2050.” It is not a certainty and there is risk involved, but adopting circular practices is one way to reduce this risk. It then went on to predict that recirculating materials and minerals could generate nearly Euro80bn/yr in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the cement and concrete sectors by 2050. The biggest portion of this could come from using CDW in various ways such as a clinker replacement or as an aggregate in concrete production, or the use of unhydrated cement ‘fines.’ Capturing and using CO2 and increasing alternative fuels (AF) substitution rates would have a financial impact but not to the same scale.
Graph 1: CO2 abatement cost via circular technologies for cement and concrete sectors. Source: McKinsey & Company.
Graph 1 above puts all of the McKinsey circular technology suggestions in one place with the prediction that all of these methods could reduce CO2 emissions from cement and concrete production by 80% in 2050 based on an estimated demand of 4Bnt/yr. The first main point they made was that technologies using CO2, such as curing ready-mix or precast concrete, can create positive economic value at carbon prices of approximately Euro80/t of CO2. Readers should note that the EU emissions Trading Scheme CO2 price has generally been above Euro80t/yr since the start of 2022. The second point to note is that using CDW could potentially save money by offering CO2 abatement at a negative cost through avoiding landfill gate fees and reducing the amount of raw materials required. This is dependent though on government regulation on CO2 prices, landfill costs and so on.
Cement producers have been clearly aware of the potential of CDW for a while now, based on the actions described above and elsewhere, and they are jockeying for advantage. These companies are familiar with the economic rationale for AF and secondary cementitious materials (SCM) in different countries and locations. CDW usage is similar but with, in McKinsey’s view, existing CO2 prices, landfill costs, and regulatory frameworks all playing a part in the calculations. Graph 1 is a prediction but it is also another way of showing the path of least resistance to decarbonisation. It is cheaper to start with AF, SCMs and CDW rather than barrelling straight into carbon capture. The beauty here is that cement and concrete sold, say, 50 years ago is now heading back to the producers in the form of CDW and it still has value.
Spain: Cementos Molins has processed 75,000t of waste into alternative raw materials for use in its cement production since opening its Barcelona alternative raw materials plant in September 2022. The plant has a production capacity of 200,000t/yr. It produces the materials from construction and demolition waste and various industrial by-products.
Cementos Molins’ director of corporate development and sustainability, Carlos Martínez, said “Our commitment to the environment is intrinsically linked to our business model, which is based on the development of sustainable and innovative materials.” He continued “We provide a second life to industrial and construction waste that would otherwise end up in landfills, generating high-quality sustainable products from them. The plant has enabled all our cements to incorporate alternative raw materials in their production process. Furthermore, we are working to reduce the carbon footprint of all our concretes, ensuring that, in the short term, all of them include recycled aggregates in their manufacture."
Spain: Cementos Molins inaugurated its new Euro6.6m headquarters in Sant Vicenç dels Horts, Catalonia. The facilities include a 3250m2 solar power plant, which will supply 100% of the energy consumed in the building’s operations. The solar power plant consists of an array of 1455 photovoltaic panels. Cementos Molins says that it also used recycled materials where possible in building its new headquarters.
CEO Julio Rodríguez said “We celebrate 95 years of life and we feel proud to contribute to the development of the country and its social evolution. In our DNA is the will to collaborate with our environment.”