18 August 2022

India: JK Cement’s consolidated sales were US$272m in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, up by 33% year-on-year from US$205m. The company sold 3.56Mt of cement, up by 18% from 3.02Mt in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year. Its costs per tonne rose to US$62.32/t from US$51.32/t. This restricted the group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth to 0.1% year-on-year, at US$50.3m, compared to US$50.2m one year previously.

JK Cement forecast 10% year-on-year cement volumes growth in the 2023 financial year as a whole. It said that it expects to accelerate its rate of sales growth from September 2022. Its focus throughout the financial year will be on capturing new markets and increasing its blended cement share.

Brazil: The Administrative Court of the Brazilian Administrative Council of Economic Defence (CADE) has approved Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional subsidiary CSN Cimentos’ acquisition of LafargeHolcim Brasil, ‘without restrictions.’ The acquisition more than doubles CSN Cimentos’ capacity to 16.3Mt/yr, giving it the largest market share, ahead of InterCement Brasil.

Botswana: Cheetah Cement Botswana aims to achieve a cement production capacity of 900,000t/yr by June 2023. Cheetah Cement Botswana currently has a capacity of 36,000t/yr since commissioning its US$40m Francistown cement plant in February 2022. Botswana Investment and Trade Centre CEO Keletsositse Olebile said that the expansion will create 200 new direct jobs.

Xinhua News has reported that the move will turn Botswana, which consumes 620,000t/yr of cement, into a regional cement exporter and reduce its net imports by US$90m/yr.

UAE: Lafarge Emirates Cement plans to install an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at its Fujairah cement plant. Gulf News has reported that the producer will fund the upgrade through a transition trade facility provided by UK-based bank Standard Chartered. The facility is part of the bank’s planned US$300bn-worth of green finance funding up to 2030.

Lafarge Emirates Cement general manager Olivier Milhaud said “This is one of the major milestones in our journey towards sustainability. The WHR project encourages the use of clean and environmentally friendly energy in our operations and also supports our global mission to build a Net Zero world.”

Pakistan: The Pakistan National Forum of Environment and Health (NFEH) has recognised Lucky Cement’s sustainability successes with a prize at the 19th Annual Environment Excellence Awards 2022. The company’s comprehensive environmental management and monitoring plan covers its solid waste, noise pollution and emissions, including particulates. It says that this is essential to preserving the ecosystem in which it operates.

Chief operating officer Amin Ganny said “We believe in environment-friendly practices and are committed to conserving the environment. Implementation of sustainability into our core business operations has always been one of our main objectives.”