Displaying items by tag: Pakistan
Lucky Cement’s earnings under pressure in first half
01 February 2019Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 16.5% year-on-year to US$51.3m in the six months to 31 December 2018 from US$63.7m in the same period in 2017. The cement producer said that its cost of sales rose by 14.2% due to mounting packaging, coal and other fuel prices. Its revenue grew by 6.2% to US$250m from US$235m. It attributed this to higher export volumes of cement and clinker. Its local sales of cement and clinker fell by 8.4% to 2.99Mt from 3.27Mt. Exports more than doubled to 1.02Mt from 0.5Mt. Accordingly, overall sales volumes increased by 6.8% to 4.01Mt from 3.76Mt.
The company reported that levelling work at its Samawah 1.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant project in Iraq started in January 2019. Civil work is scheduled to start in March 2019 and commercial production at the unit planned to start in mid-2020.
Pakistan: Power Cement has provided an update on construction work towards building a third line at its Nooriabad plant. 97% of the equipment ordered from Denmark’s FLSmdith has been received. 22% of errection work has been completed. The design phase of a new 40MW grid station and its fixing has been completed and civil work has commenced. Overall civil work is reported 91% complete.
The cement producer ordered the new 7700t/day line from FLSmidth in 2017. China’s TEPC has been handling the construction and errection contract. China’s CECC Tianjin (Pakistan) Electric Power Construction has been in charge of civil construction.
Pakistan cement despatches up by 9.4% to 46.8Mt in 2018
23 January 2019Pakistan: Local cement despatches grew by 5.9% year-on-year to 40.9Mt in 2018 from 38.6Mt in 2017. Exports increased by 42% to 5.9Mt from 4.6Mt, according to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. Overall, all cement despatches rose by 9.4% to 46.8Mt from 42.8Mt. By region, despatches and imports grew faster in the south of the country and exports fell by 7.8% in the north. Exports to Afghanistan fell by 12% but exports to India rose by 2% and overseas exports increased by 155%.
Attock Cement ready to commission plant in Iraq
21 January 2019Iraq: Pakistan’s Attock Cement has completed civil, mechanical and electrical construction work on its grinding plant at Basra. The unit is now ready for commissioning. The company is currently obtaining permission to import clinker. Once granted the company will start importing clinker and commence trial production at the plant. The producer first announced its intention to build the plant in 2013.
Pakistan: Shariq Siddiqui, chief executive officer (CEO) of Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT), forecasts that coal imports for cement producers will rise to 10Mt/yr in 2020 from 8Mt/yr at present. This growth will be driven by new cement production capacity that is being commissioned, according to the News International newspaper. Overall, total coal imports are expected to grow to 30Mt/yr in 2020 driven by new coal-fired power stations.
Pakistan cement sales fall by 1.41% to 19.6Mt in first half
07 January 2019Pakistan: Local cement sales fell by 1.41% year-on-year to 19.6Mt in the first half of the reporting year to December 2018. The decline, the first in nine years, has been blamed in a cut in development spending, according to the News International newspaper. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said that the decline in domestic cement consumption was more pronounced in the northern region where most of the country’s production capacity is based. Cement sales fell by 5.95% to 15.5Mt in the north but they increased by 20.7% to 4.1Mt in the south. Despite this, exports rose by 48% to 3.6Mt, supported by plants in the south.
Contractors at Lucky Cement plant killed in gun attack
20 December 2018Pakistan: Two contract workers at Lucky Cement’s plant in Pezu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province have been killed in a gun attacked on a bus. A third worker was wounded in the incident, according to the Dawn newspaper. Local police are searching for the killers.
Pakistan: The Sindh High Court has ordered the provincial government to take possession of around 1100 acres of land of Rohri Cement’s plant while a dispute concerning the lease of the land is decided. The Sindh government has argued that the lease of land was illegal was the cement producer’s representatives have asked the court to grant a grace period, according to the Dawn newspaper. The case continues.
Bestway Cement outlines water conservation measures
10 December 2018Pakistan: Bestway Cement has promoted its environmental credentials following the Supreme Court’s mandated investigation into water usage by cement companies near the Katas Raj Temples in 2018. The cement producer says that all of its cement plants are ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management Systems certified. Specifically on the issue of water conservation, it has installed air-cooled condenser systems at two of its plants at Chakwal and Kallar Kahar respectively and it has built rain-harvesting ponds. In total the company has spent around US$14m on water conservation measures. Altogether it says that it has achieved 80% and 88% reductions in consumption of ground water for industrial use, respectively, at the two plants.
Other environmental measures the company has made include installing waste heat recovery (WHR) units at all four of its cement plants. Its total WHR capacity is 45.5MW giving it 28% of its total power needs. The company is recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Program for its initiative to reduce carbon emissions/footprint. It has also implemented tree plantation at its plants and surrounding areas, it uses drip irrigation and sewerage waste management and its head office in Islamabad has been certified as a Green Office by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Two DG Khan Cement employees killed in gun attack
10 December 2018Pakistan: Two employees of DG Khan Cement have been killed in a gun attack. A third worker was seriously injured in the incident, according to the Dawn newspaper. Police report that unidentified motorcyclists in Dera Ghazi Khan opened fire on a company security van whilst it was transporting workers to a nearby plant. The victims died at the DG Khan Medical College.