Displaying items by tag: Asia Cement
Italcementi expects weaker growth in Thailand for 2014
30 September 2013Thailand: Asia Cement, the Thai subsidiary of Italcementi Group, has projected slower growth in revenue in 2014 due to a likely weaker domestic market and uncertainty over the government's US$64bn infrastructure investment.
Co-managing director of Asia Cement, Nopadol Ramyarupa, said that Thailand's fourth-largest cement maker expects revenue growth of only 4% in 2014, according to the Bangkok Post. The company's revenue for 2013 is predicted to rise by 17.6% year-on-year to US$319m from US$271m in 2012.
"The economic slowdown and revised gross domestic product figures have affected our projection," said Nopadol, adding that growth in the overall cement industry is heavily tied to the country's economy and to the construction sector in particular. Co-managing director Roberto Callieri added that he hoped that the Thai government's US$64bn infrastructure investment would stimulate the construction sector sufficiently to meet Asia Cement's 'optimistic' growth projection of 4% over five years. Asia Cement has not been affected by labour shortages in the country or by an increase in the daily minimum wage to around US$9.50/day.
Asia Cement has a 14% share of Thailand's 33Mt/yr cement market. The company is operating at 80% of its combined annual capacity of 7.3Mt/yr its cement plants in Saraburi, Nakhon Sawan and Phetchaburi provinces.
China cement news in brief
19 June 2013National: China saw cement output increase by 8.9% year-on-year to 866Mt for the first five months of 2013, according to the recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Cement output grew to 224Mt in May 2013, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%.
Regional: Shanghai saw cement output slide by 4.1% year-on-year to 0.77Mt in May 2013, according to the local statistics bureau. However, the municipality's cement output grew by 2.4% year-on-year to 3.05Mt for the first five months of 2013.
Hubei Province, in central China, saw cement output edge down by 0.6% year-on-year to 40.7Mt in the first five months of 2013, according to the Commission of Economy and Information Technology.
Corporate: Asia Cement (China) has said that it has agreed to provide US$68m in loans to Far Eastern New Century (China) Investment Limited from 17 June 2013 to 16 June 2014. The loans will be used for working capital by the borrower.
Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement posted a revenue of US$9.6m from product rebates, government grants and investment returns over the first five months of 2013, according to a company announcement. The company will count the revenue to its total profit for the first half of 2013.
South Korea: The South Korean Fair Trade Commission has started an investigation into major cement companies including Ssangyong Cement Industrial and Hanil Cement for suspected price fixing. The companies had notified ready-mixed concrete operators that they would raise their cement prices by 9-10% in 2012.
On 9 April 2013 the commission sent investigators on a two day probe to seven cement producers: Ssangyong Cement Industrial, Hanil Cement, Tongyang Cement, Sungshin Cement, Lafarge Halla, Asia Cement and Hyundai Cement.
An industry source said, "Lately cement producers and ready-mixed concrete operators are at loggerheads over cement prices. It appears that the Fair Trade Commission is looking closely into the matter. In 2003, the commission had imposed penalties of US$22.5m for restricting the supply of cement to ready-mixed concrete makers in order to prevent them to use slag powder in place of cement."
Asia Cement China profits slammed by 71% in 2012
27 March 2013China: Asia Cement Corp, one of Taiwan's leading cement suppliers, said that its subsidiary in China, Asia Cement (China) Holdings Corp, saw its net profit plunge year-on-year by 71% in 2012 to US$63.7m, due to an oversupply in China.
Asia Cement (China) posted a revenue of US$1.08bn in 2012, a year-on-year drop of 18.6%. Asia Cement blamed falling product prices in the Chinese market. Asia Cement (China) had a cement production of 24.9Mt in 2012 and its cement sales were 22.7Mt.
The China-based manufacturer sold 3.8Mt of cement in the Nanchang-Jiujiang district of Jiangxi Province, accounting for 31% of the district's total cement sales in 2012, while the company took a 27% share of the Wuhan market in Hubei Province, selling 5Mt in 2012. It accounted for 21% of the total cement sales in Chengdu, Sichuan Province and accounted for 30% of the cement market in Jiangsu Province's Yangzhou in 2012.
Asia Cement (China) said it aims to boost production capacity in its production line in Jianxi Province in an effort to boost its production to 30Mt/yr. In addition, the company said it will seek targets for acquisitions in a bid to further lift production to 50Mt/yr to rank among the top 10 cement suppliers in China.
TCC to upgrade plants for tougher NOx regulations in China
26 September 2012China/Taiwan: Two cement producers from Taiwan have reacted to potential new Chinese environmental regulations. Taiwan Cement (TCC) has announced plans to invest US$23.3m on upgrading equipment for denitrogenation and desulphurisation at its Chinese plants. Asia Cement is reportedly also evaluating similar upgrades.
Industry reports suggest that the Chinese government will likely set nitrogen oxide emissions to 300mg/m3, a level below the international standard of 400mg/m3. Upgraded equipment to meet such tougher standard costs about US$3.33m per set, which may create losses for many cement producers in China.
Only four producers out of 3000 in China currently have denitrogenation and desulphurisation processing equipment, with two based in Xiangtan, Hunan Province and another two based in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. About one third of cement makers will be unable to afford the upgrades required to meet the new regulations.
A representative of TCC said that its subsidiary Taiwan Cement International Holdings has started installing new equipment in its plant in Chongqing, aiming to decrease 60% of nitrogen oxide emissions, with similar upgrades in progress at plants in Guizhou and elsewhere.