Displaying items by tag: Magnesita
RHI and Magnesita to merge to form RHI Magnesita
06 October 2016Austria/Brazil: RHI and Magnesita are to merge to create a new refractory company called RHI Magnesita. RHI’s management board has agreed to sign a share purchase agreement with Magnesita’s controlling shareholders regarding the acquisition of a controlling stake of at least 46%, but no more than 50% plus one share of the total share capital of Magnesita, pending RHI’s supervisory board approval. The purchase price for the 46% stake will be paid in cash amounting to Euro118m and 4.6 million new shares to be issued by RHI Magnesita. The new company will be established in the Netherlands and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
As pat of the agreement, GP Investments (GP) will become a relevant shareholder of RHI Magnesita. The combined company’s corporate governance will consist of on a one-tier board structure while GP will be represented on the board of directors.
The deal is dependent on approvals by the relevant competition authorities, the migration of RHI to the Netherlands, the listing of RHI Magnesita’s shares in the premium segment of the Official List on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and RHI’s shareholders not having exceeded statutory withdrawal rights in an amount of more than Euro70m in connection with organisational changes preceding RHI’s migration from Austria. The migration and the preceding organisational changes in Austria require qualified approval by RHI’s shareholders’ meeting. If the deal is terminated for reasons not under the control of Magnesita’s controlling shareholders, an aggregate break fee of up to Euro20m is payable by RHI to Magnesita’s controlling shareholders.
The merger transaction is expected to complete in 2017. Until then, the two companies will remain completely separate and independent. Therefore customers, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders should expect no change in management teams, commercial relationships, supply chains and product offerings during this period.
RHI and Magnesita say that the new refractory company will bring together complementary businesses, both in terms of products and geographical footprint. Magnesita have a presence in South America and the US compared to RHI’s presence in Europe and Asia. The merger is also expected to aid the company’s position against the growing Chinese refractory industry. In addition, Magnesita’s position in dolomite-based products is complementary to RHI’s asset portfolio, which traditionally has a strong focus and an excellent market reputation for high-quality magnesite products.
Synergies from the merger are expected to deliver at least Euro36m in earnings before tax (EBIT) by 2020. However, if RHI Magnesita’s stake in Magnesita significantly exceed 46%, RHI expects substantially higher synergies of approximately Euro72m, especially in the areas of enhanced production efficiency and cost benefits in research and development, marketing and administrative functions. In addition, capital expenditure synergies are expected to amount to be Euro2 – 7m/yr and aggregate working capital savings of Euro40m are expected in the coming years.
Magnesita does mixed business in first half of year
12 August 2016Brazil: Magnesita’s sales revenue from its Industrial Minerals business segment, which includes sales to cement producers, has fallen by 8.2% to US$74.1m from US$80.6m. However, sales volumes rose slightly to 75,200t from 74,400t. Declining sales volumes in Brazil were offset by growing volumes elsewhere in Latin America and in the Middle East, Africa and northern Asia. In addition, negative currency exchange effects hit sales revenue. The company’s Industrial Minerals business segment serves the cement, nonferrous and glass industries
Magnesita’s total refractory sales volumes fell by 6.2% year-on-year to 0.46Mt in the first half of 2016 from 0.49Mt in the same period of 2015. Its net operating revenue fell by 9.4% to US$467m from US$537m. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 2% to US$77.2m from US$78.8m. The refractories producer blamed the result on steel production declines in South America and Europe and on cement production declines in Brazil.
“This decrease in volumes is partially due to our strategic decision to focus only on markets with adequate and sustainable margins. However, the outlook for the second half seems constructive in some markets, especially in the US, our largest market,” said Magnesita’s CEO, Octavio Lopes. He added that the company’s geographic diversification has never been greater and that the company is gradually reducing its exposure to any ‘specific’ market.
Update on Brazil
25 May 2016LafargeHolcim has officially opened a new cement line at its Barossa cement plant in Brail. It is unfortunate timing given that the Brazilian cement industry has not had an easy time of it of late. The wider economy in the country has been in recession since it was hit by falling commodity and oil prices and gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 3.8% in 2015. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted currently that the GDP will fall by a similar amount in 2016. Alongside this, the Petrobras corruption inquiry has enveloped construction companies and led to the suspension of president of Dilma Rousseff. The Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) reported that the national construction industry contracted by 7.6% in 2015.
Graph 1: Brazilian cement production from 2011 to 2015. Source: SNIC.
Graph 2: Brazilian cement production by quarter from 2015 to March 2016. Source: SNIC.
Graph 1 summarises, with National Union of the Cement Industry (SNIC) data, what happened to cement production in 2015. It fell by 9.6% to 64.4Mt in 2015 from 71.3Mt in 2014. Unfortunately, as Graph 2 shows, the downward production trend is accelerating into 2016. Production fell by 5.76% year-on-year to 15.6Mt in the first quarter of 2015 from 17.1Mt in the first quarter of 2014. Now, production has fallen by 11% to 13.9Mt in the first quarter of 2016. April 2016 figures also appear to be following the same trend.
Amidst these conditions Votorantim somehow managed to hold its cement business revenue up; increasing it by 6% to US$3.82bn in 2015. Despite this its cement sales volumes fell by 6% to 35Mt. As a result, Votorantim announced plans to temporarily shutdown kilns and plants and sell off selected concrete assets. Cimento Tupi reported that its cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 23% to 1631Mt in 2015 from 2119Mt in 2014. It blamed the fall of the ‘retraction’ of the cement market and a wide-scale maintenance campaign it had implemented on its kilns. Its revenue fell by 26% to US$98.8m from US$134m.
LafargeHolcim pulled no punches when it blamed challenging conditions in Brazil for dragging its financial results down globally in 2015. It didn’t release any specific figures for the country but it described its cement volumes as falling ‘significantly’ with competition and cost inflation adding to the chaos. This has gotten worse in the first quarter of 2016 with volumes further affected. Its cement sales volumes in Latin America fell by 10.7% year-on-year for the period principally due to Brazil. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) has reported an 8% rise in production to 531,000t in the first quarter of 2016 and an 8% rise in sales volumes to 571,000t in the same period. This was partly achieved by the ramp-up of production at its new plant at Arcos in Minas Gerais.
In the wider cement supplier sector the knock-on from falling cement demand has hit refractory manufacturer Magnesita. Its revenue fell by 17% year-on-year to US$66.9m for the first quarter of 2016. This was due to falling steel production in various territories and the negative effects of the construction market in Brazil hurting its cement customers.
It is unsurprising that companies like LafargeHolcim commissioned new capacity in Brail a few years ago given the promise the market seemed to hold. Both the CSN project at Arcos and Holcim’s Barroso project were announced in 2012 near the height of the market. Both are also based in Minas Gerais, the country’s biggest cement producing state. Predicting both the drop in the international commodities markets and a local political crisis would have been hard to predict. All these producers can do now is sit back and wait out the situation with their efficiency gains until the construction rates pick up again. Hopefully the first quarter results for Brazil’s two leading cement producers, Votorantim and InterCement, will not be too depressing.
Brazil: Magnesita’s net operating revenue has dropped by 17% year-on-year to US$66.9m for the first quarter of 2016 from US$80.2m in the same period in 2015. The company’s sales volumes of refractory materials fell by 8.7% to 232,000t from 254,000t. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 12.8% to US$11.4m from US$13.1m. The company blamed the falling revenue on falling steel production in South America and Western Europe and on a poor construction market in Brazil negatively affecting its cement clients.
"2016 began with interesting prospects for Magnesita. While the world is mired with excess steel production, uncertainties surrounding the Chinese economy and substantial political turmoil in Brazil, we have begun to see green shoots coming out of the US (our most relevant market) and the first results of the array of self-help initiatives Magnesita has overtaken in the last few years,” said Octavio Pereira Lopes, Magnesita’s chief executive officer. He added that the quarterly drop in steel production in Western Europe was driven by a 39% drop in the UK due to capacity shutdown.
Magnesita revenue rises by 18% to US$937m in 2015
11 March 2016Brazil: Magnesita’s revenue has risen by 18% year-on-year to US$937m in 2015 from US$796m in 2014. Its net loss decreased to US$294m in 2015 from US$27m in 2014. The company described 2015 as a year ‘marked by a challenging economic environment globally.’ It noted a drop in steel production in the US due to high imports, currency effects and the poor economy in Brazil.
The manufacturer’s production volumes of refractories fell by 6.9% to 958,000t in 2015 from 1.03Mt in 2014. However, its sales revenue from its refractories business rose by 15.6% to US$816m from US$706m. Although the majority of Magnesita’s refractory sales were to the steel industry, its sales volumes to other industries, including cement, fell faster in 2015 by 11.7% to 133,000t. This decrease was mainly attributed to the decline of the Brazilian cement industry and by lower demand for cement in Venezuela. Despite this, sales volume growth of 15% was reported in Middle East and Africa led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Brazil: Magnesita Refratários has announced an agreement with ACIS, a cement maintenance and operations service company based in China and Saudi Arabia, to extend its services offering Magnesita's refractory products supporting greenfield projects around the world. ACIS and Magnesita will target Chinese cement original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which are building projects in countries primarily outside of China. The cooperation started on 1 July 2015 and shall continue for three years, with a possible extension.
"Partnering with ACIS which is recognised within the cement industry for its technical and service capability, is an important step for Magnesita's continued growth within the industrial market. This alliance with ACIS will help clients control costs utilising Magnesita's high-quality refractory products as new cement plants are commissioned," said Magnesita CEO, Octavio Lopes.
ACIS will create a commercial team in China tp focus on clients and the development of new projects while Magnesita's technical assistance team will work closely with ACIS to provide application and engineering support.