07 May 2020

Germany: HeidelbergCement has reported a fall in first quarter revenues by 7% year-on-year in 2020, to Euro3.93bn from Euro4.24bn. Revenues fell by 6% in Western and Southern Europe and by 10% in the Asia-Pacific region, but rose by 11% in North America, by 2% in Northern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia and by 3% in Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin.

HeidelbergCement Managing Board
Chair Dominik von Achten said that, after year-on-year sales increases across all business lines, “from mid-March our sales volumes were significantly impaired by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, such as state-imposed production downtimes and construction stoppages on major infrastructure projects.” Total cement and clinker sales over the period were 27.7Mt, down by 3.0% year-on-year from 28.6Mt.

Thanks to its COPE coronavirus action plan, HeidelbergCement says that it has reduced 2020 spending by Euro1.0bn. It says that it has Euro5.7bn of financial liquidity.

France: Vicat has reported first-quarter sales of Euro615m in 2020, up by 7% year-on-year from Euro600m in the first quarter of 2019. Cement sales grew by 5.5% to Euro319m (52% of total sales), up by 5.5% year-on-year from Euro302m.

Vicat chair and CEO Guy Sidos said, “The Group's performance over the first quarter of 2020 was solid despite a sharp slowdown at the end of the period in France, India and Italy.” In spite of the coronavirus crisis, “Industrial and commercial activity was maintained on almost all sites, in line with market evolutions.” Sidos says that the group expects ‘a significant impact on first-half results’ in 2020.

Pakistan: Producers dispatched 3.52Mt of cement in April 2020, down by 24% year-on-year from 4.61Mt in April 2019. Domestic consumption was 3.27Mt, down by 19% from 4.04Mt due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Business recorder newspaper has reported that cement producers were already ‘struggling to survive due to extremely high input costs.'

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said, "The decline in construction activities around the world, including in Pakistan, contributed to a downfall in demand, however, the cement sector even otherwise was operating under acute distress."

India: Construction has stalled in Tamil Nadu because consumers are reportedly unable to buy cement. The supply chain has been disrupted because police have shut shops across the state following breaches of social distancing rules after the partial easing of the coronavirus lockdown.

Ramco Cements Managing Director Arrakundal Dharmakrishnan said, “We have instructed our dealers that they must follow social distancing norms.”

In neighbouring Telangana, chief minister Kalvakuntla Rao has extended the lockdown period to 29 May 2020, subject to a review on 15 May 2020 that may result in the resumption of construction works and the re-opening of non-essential shops.

US: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has named the eight recipients of its 38th annual Gygi and von Wyss Foundation Scholarship. LafargeHolcim subsidiary US Cement CEO Jamie Gentoso said, “It’s essential to invest in the education of the next generation and, with the rising costs of higher education, scholarships are more important than ever to help reduce the impact and assist in these students’ success.” Under the scholarship scheme, children of LafargeHolcim employees in the US can receive US$6000 towards higher education for a year and again for three subsequent years subject to academic performance.