14 August 2018
July disappoints in Brazil 14 August 2018
Brazil: SNIC, Brazil's national cement industry union, has announced that sales of cement in Brazil came to 4.6Mt in July 2018. The figure is down by 2.5% in comparison to July 2017. In the comparison for working days, the drop reached 4.6% in July 2018 in the year-on-year comparison, and 9.5% in comparison with June 2018. In the first seven months of 2018 domestic cement sales totalled 30.4Mt, a fall of 1.7%. SNIC forecasts a drop of 1-2% for 2018 compared to 2017.
Colombia: DANE, Colombia's national department for statistics, has announced that sales of grey cement stood at 0.94Mt between January and June 2018, which represented an increase of 3.6% compared to the same period of 2017. A DANE report indicated a gradual recovery of the sector after a sales drop of 10% registered in March 2018. However, the Colombian Association of Concrete Producers (Asocreto) has predicted that consumption would close the year with similar results to those posted in 2017, when sales were lower than in 2015 and 2016.
Colombian slowdown affects Cementos Argos 14 August 2018
Colombia: Cementos Argos has announced that its second quarter net profit for 2018 slid by 59.7% to US$10m, due to a slowdown in the construction sector. Its operating revenue rose by 1.4% to US$741.6m during the same period.
“A recovery in demand is expected during the second half of the year given the increase in consumer confidence and positive signs for the residential sector, especially in social housing," said Cementos Argos in a statement.
Tokyo loses out as construction slumps 14 August 2018
Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement plc, which operates grinding plants and bulk cement terminals in Sri Lanka, lost US$3.78m in the three months to 30 June 2018 due to falling revenues, as well as a one-off loss of US$2.37m on the sale of a ship. The group had reported a profit of US$5.04m in the same period of 2017.
In the three months to 30 June 2018 Tokyo Cement’s gross profit fell by 27% year-on-year to US$9.36m, with revenues falling by 4% to US$48m and costs rising by 4% to US$39m.
Tokyo reported to its shareholders that delayed local government polls had halted small projects country-wide, leading to a slowdown in the construction sector.
Marine exports from Pakistan on the rise 14 August 2018
Pakistan: Cement exports by sea from Pakistan increased by 133.7% from 144,000t in July 2017 to 340,000t in July 2018. The increase in exports via sea offset a decrease in overland exports to Afghanistan and India. Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan and India decreased by around 44.9% and 44.4% respectively in July 2018. Hence, overall exports increased by 9.3% in July 2018 to 0.53Mt from 0.48Mt in July 2017.
China to press ahead with consolidation as profits rise 14 August 2018
China: Asia Cement (China) said that its profit attributable to owners for the six months that ended on 30 June 2018 surged by a factor of 10.7 to reach US$139.3m compared to the same period of 2017. Revenue amounted to US$718.8m, an increase of 47% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, China Resources Cement (CRC) announced that its net profit for the first six months of 2018 was US$2.0bn, a rise of 145.5% year-on-year. CRC’s turnover amounted to US$2.36bn, an increase of 40.4% from a year earlier.
The Chinese government has once again reiterated that it will continue to strictly prohibit cement companies from adding new capacity, despite improving profits. Years of efforts to cut excess capacity in the sector have helped to improve the industry's profits, but signs are emerging that some factories are increasing new capacity, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which released a joint statement with the state economic planning agency. It said that expansion projects to produce more cement, won't be approved. In addition, factories' plans to replace out-dated capacity with new capacity must comply with government rules.
Chettinad accused of land encroachment 14 August 2018
India: The Madras High Court has pulled up Chettinad Cement Corportation (Chettinad) for encroaching upon public land to construct railway track to its factory at Ariyalur. It has ordered a probe by an IAS officer. Justice SM Subramaniam also ordered a probe into the role of government officials, who may have colluded with the factory management to squat on government land without permission.
"Such industries cannot encroach upon the government land, which is not only a water body, but also used as a pathway by the villagers and the people of that locality,” said Justice Subramaniam.
The court passed the order while dismissing a plea moved by Chettiand against the action of the sub-collector against the encroachment. The court further directed the district administration to evict all such encroachments made by the company on the land and water bodies within two weeks.