September 2024
Germany: The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) says that turnover of German manufacturers of construction equipment rose by 3% year-on-year to Euro9.3bn in 2016. This compares to a fall of world sales of construction equipment by 1%. The German domestic market grew by 20% to nearly Euro3bn in 2016, following a recovery in 2015, nearly matching the record year of 2007.
Growth was reported in most European markets, with the exception of the UK and in Central Eastern Europe. However, the industry saw sales decline by over 9% in North America. Infrastructure spending in the US is expected to stabilise this situation. Latin America suffered from the weakness of the Brazilian construction industry and general economy. Sales in Asia benefited from a recovery in China following four years of decline and an increase of 30% in India, boosted by road construction.
“We will only keep growing in the future if we further strive for international solutions and co-operations. In a highly specialised sector like ours, where special machines are not available in every region of the world, open markets are highly essential. We all depend on free trade and good economic sense. This applies for Europe and the United States alike,” said Johann Sailer, chairman of the VDMA.
Colombia: Gebr. Pfeiffer has sold a Ready2Grind modular grinding system with a MVR 2500 C-4 mill to LafargeHolcim Colombia. The order consists of a Ready2Grind with a finished product storage area and a packing plant supplied by Claudius Peters. No value for the sale has been disclosed.
Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company plans to commission two cement mills for its Plant 5 during the first half of 2017 to increase its production capacity to 5500t/day. Then, construction work on the kiln will be completed in the second half of the year, according to comments made by Salem bin Butti Al Naimi, chairman and managing director of the company, that were reported by the Peninsular newspaper. The company intends to increase its production capacity of washed sand and calcium carbonate to capture an anticipated rise in market demand. It also intends to sell its Plant 1 to Umm Bab following an agreement in mid-2016.
The cement producer’s revenue fell by 2.6% year-on-year to US$313m in 2016 from US$321m in 2015. Its cement sales volumes fell slightly to 3.7Mt during the period. Its net profit rose by 2.3% to US$130m from US$127m.
Algeria: Serge Dubois, the head of communications at LafargeHolcim Algeria, says that Algeria faces a cement production overcapacity of 10Mt by 2019. In an interview with a local radio station he added that the country will overproduce 1Mt in 2017 and that it imported 3.5Mt in 2016, according to Maghreb Emergent. LafargeHolcim intends to diversify its product range to cope with this anticipated production glut with a focus on roads, airports and industrial users.
Cementos Molins continues to grow profit in 2016 03 March 2017
Spain: Cementos Molins’s profit rose by 25.6% year-on-year to Euro63.9m in 2016 from Euro50.8m in 2015. However, its sales revenue fell by 12% to Euro561m from Euro638m and its cement and clinker sales volumes fell slightly to 13.7Mt. The cement producer blamed the result on poor sales in Argentina, Uruguay and Tunisia.
Semen Indonesia sales fall in 2017 03 March 2017
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s sales revenue fell by 3% year-on-year to US$1.95bn in 2016 from US$2.01bn in 2015. Its gross profit fell by 7.4% to US$737m from US$796m. Its overall cement sales volumes remained stable at 28.9Mt although sales from its Vietnamese subsidiary rose by 10.9% to 2.59Mt and its domestic subsidiary Semen Padang saw its sales fall by 3.5% to 6.29Mt. Exports from Indonesia rose by 24.4% to 0.6Mt.
Despite its static cement sales in Indonesia, the cement producer has two new 3Mt/yr cement plant projects respectively underway. The Indarung cement plant in West Sumatra is scheduled for commercial operation in April 2017. The Rembang cement plant in Central Java remains suspended whilst the company seeks environmental clearance. The government revoked permits for the site in late 2016 and it has been the focus of protests. In addition, a 30MW waste heat recovery system at the Tuban plant is scheduled to start operation by the end of 2017.
Holcim Vietnam renamed as Siam City Cement Vietnam 02 March 2017
Vietnam: Holcim Vietnam has been officially renamed as Siam City Cement Vietnam following its acquisition by Thailand’s Siam City Cement. Holcim products will now be sold locally under the Insee brand, according to the Saigon Times. An agreement for Siam City Cement to buy LafargeHolcim’s 65% stake in Holcim Vietnam was announced in August 2016.
UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has outlined key points that the UK government should consider ahead of its anticipated triggering of Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon later in March 2017 as it moves towards leaving the European Union (EU). Following consultation with its members the association wants the government to focus on six areas including: investment; growth; access to markets; access to labour and skills; maintaining equivalent regulations and standards; and rebalancing regulation after Brexit.
"More needs to be done, both politically and economically, to give the clarity needed by businesses to sustain investment confidence beyond the triggering of Article 50. The economy has remained resilient in the short term, but the issue always was, and remains, what will happen post-Brexit in the medium and longer term? Given that the public political conversation in the UK has not yet involved the other 27 EU member states, we are currently no wiser as to the likely outcome of negotiations. We must therefore contemplate the possibility that no deal may mean a clean break in 2019 and trading arrangements under WTO rules,” said MPA chief executive officer Nigel Jackson.
The MPA has urged the government to build confidence in the short and long term performance of the UK economy and maintain stability. It also wants it to seek the fullest access to European and non-European markets using comprehensive free trade agreements in preference to adopting World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
The association also highlighted that, on average, 3% of the Mineral Products industry's workforce comes from the EU, increasing to 9% for activities directly related to freight transport by road. It noted that at present there is no guarantee that EU citizens now resident in the UK will have a continuing right to reside in and work in the UK following Brexit.
Other issues include a desire for the government to confirm its commitment to existing regulatory initiatives and to hold and improve on the international competitiveness of energy intensive industries such as cement and lime. However, it also asked the government to mind the impacts of regulation of taxation on these industries in order to protect investment. Lastly, the MPA wants the government to retain influence in European product technical standards development via the British Standards Institution (BSI), the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and design codes.
China: China National Building Material Company (CNBM) has entered into an agreement with the Bank of Communications for finance of around US$1.43bn in the form of direct loans, debt-to-equity conversion and/or capital injection into members of the group. The finance will be used to improve the group’s asset-debt structure, improve production operations and pay for upgrades.
LafargeHolcim sales crumble as earnings grow in 2016 02 March 2017
Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s net sales took a tumble of 8.7% to Euro26.9bn in 2016 from Euro29.5bn in 2015. Although on a like-for-like basis it says they declined by just 1.7%. However, its adjusted operating earning before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 1.3% to Euro5.83bn from Euro5.75bn, with a higher improvement rate on a like-for-like basis. The building materials company didn’t explain why its sales had fallen in 2016. Instead it focused on its efforts on cutting costs, building benefits from synergies, working on pricing and growing its earnings.
“Our strong execution was visible across our five regions, which all grew earnings for the quarter and for the year. This performance underlines the strength of our diversified portfolio, which has a good balance of mature and developing markets. I am also pleased with the positive trajectory of markets such as the US, Nigeria, India and key countries in Europe, which we have singled out as important drivers for growth in 2017 and beyond,” said chief executive officer Eric Olsen.
The group’s sales volumes of cement fell by 8.8% to 233Mt from 256Mt with decreases in all regions. It reported that production overcapacity hit cement volumes and prices in Indonesia, Brazil continued to face challenging operating conditions with its ongoing recession and both Nigeria and Egypt faced difficult markets in the period. Of particular note its sales volumes fell in North America due to an economic downturn in Western Canada and a strong fourth quarter in 2015 to measure against. Operating EBITDA rose on a constant basis in Europe and North America only.