01 August 2017
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s cement sales volumes have struggled to grow in the first half of 2017 following its acquisition of Italcementi. Its sales volumes rose to 60.7Mt year-on-year in the first half of 2017 from 39.9Mt in the same period in 2016. However, on a pro forma basis its sales fell by 1% with falling sales noted in its Asia-Pacific region. The group blamed its poor performance in the second quarter of 2017 on reduced working days, bad weather in the US and a late Ramadan period that reduced selling days in Indonesia.
“In the light of the difficult general conditions, we achieved a good result in the second quarter,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board. “We were able to almost offset the effect of higher energy costs, bad weather conditions, fewer working days, and increased competition in some emerging countries. The synergies from the Italcementi acquisition are clearly visible in the results.”
The group’s sales revenue rose by 31% to Euro8.39bn from Euro6.41bn although it only rose by 1% on a pro forma basis. Its earnings before interest and tax rose by 6% to Euro776m from Euro728m.
By region cement sales rose in all regions on both a consolidated and pro forma basis except for Asia-Pacific. Here, cement and clinker sales fell by 3.1% once the newly acquired Italcemeni assets in India and Thailand had been excluded. A particular decline was recorded in Indonesia due to the timing of Ramadan in June 2017 and reduced demand for residential housing. Elsewhere, the US market was hit by poor weather, although the housing market remained promising. In the group’s Africa-Eastern Mediterranean, the group reported issues in Egypt but strong increases in cement sales were reported as new production capacity started in Togo, Tanzania and Burkina Faso.
Portland Cement Association pins hopes on airport expansion 01 August 2017
US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) expects that increased demand for air travel will help drive increased cement consumption over the next 25 years. Increased population, economic growth and airport expansion are anticipated to drive the trend according to a new study by the association. Personal, business and cargo levels are all expected to rise.
“With more people traveling by air, you will need more capacity at airports – that means more cement is needed for concrete used in runways, terminals and other airport facilities,” said PCA Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Ed Sullivan.
The PCA expects cement consumption in the airports market to approach 2.4Mt/yr by 2040, with a possible high of 2.6Mt/yr, compared with 1.5Mt/yr at present. Of the estimate 65% will likely be attributed to runway replacement, 23% is projected to runway expansion projects and 11% is expected to be used for new terminal expansion.
India: Birla Corporation has proposed building a US$375m cement plant at Mukutbandh near Nagpur in Maharashtra. Company chairman made the announcement following the company’s annual general meeting, according to the Press Trust of India. The proposal will now go to the company’s board for approval. The plant will have a production capacity of 4Mt/yr. It will be financed from a mixture of debt and internal funds.