September 2024
New appointments at Dewan Cement 15 February 2017
Pakistan: Dewan Muhammad Yousuf has been appointed as the chairman of the board of directors and Syed Muhammad Anwar has been appointed as the chief executive officer of Dewan Cement. The appointments took effect from 6 February 2017.
Cemex USA officially opens new headquarters in Houston 14 February 2017
US: Cemex USA has officially opened its new headquarters in Houston, Texas. Division president Ignacio Madridejos marked the event by presiding over a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the site at 10100 Katy Freeway in Memorial City in west Houston. More than 200 employees are now working at the new offices.
“These new offices show how Cemex USA stands strong,” said Madridejos. “This beautiful building will be part of the community for years and illustrates our commitment to being part of it.”
Siam City Cement profits hit by purchase of new assets 14 February 2017
Thailand: Siam City Cement’s profit in 2016 has been reduced by various costs including the purchase of Cemex’s assets in Bangladesh. The cement producer reported that its profit fell by 15% year-on-year to US$112m in 2016 from US$131m in 2015. Its sales revenue grew by 10% to US$977m from US$889m. In comments to the Nation newspaper, Siva Mahasandana, the cement producer’s chief executive officer, said the company's strategy to expand the business through key investments in Thailand and nearby regional countries had an immediate positive impact on sales. He added that the full benefit from its acquisitions were likely to be realised in 2017.
Italy: Cementir Holding’s sales revenue has risen by 6% year-on-year to Euro1.03bn in 2016 from Euro0.97bn in 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 2% to Euro198m from Euro194m and its sales volumes of cement rose by 7.9% to 10.1Mt from 9.4Mt. The gains arose from the company’s purchase of Compagnie des Ciments Belges in 2016. On a like-for-like basis revenue fell slightly, EBITDA fell more deeply and sales volumes of cement rose modestly in the period.
“Strong performance in the Scandinavian countries and Malaysia have substantially offset lower earnings in Turkey, Egypt and Italy. Also, group results have been negatively affected by the depreciation of the Turkish lira and, since the Brexit vote, the British pound, together with the fall in the value of the Egyptian pound and geopolitical events in Turkey and Egypt,” said Francesco Caltagirone Jr, chairman and chief executive officer of Cementir Holding.
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s sale revenue, volumes and profits have all been boosted by its acquisition of Italcementi in 2016. Preliminary figures for the group show that its revenue rose by 13% year-on-year to Euro15.2bn in 2016 from Euro13.5bn in 2015. Its cement sales volumes rose by 28% to 104Mt from 81.1Mt and its operating income rose by 7% to Euro2bn from Euro1.85bn. The group said that 2016 had been its best year since the financial crisis in 2008. However, on a pro-forma basis, taking into account the contributions of Italcementi in 2015 and 2016, the group’s sales revenue fell slightly and cement sales volumes and operating income rose far less steeply.
“The year 2016 was an important milestone for HeidelbergCement,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board. “With the acquisition of Italcementi, we made a big leap in growth and achieved the best operating income since the financial crisis. The integration of Italcementi is well under way and offers significant earnings potential resulting from the implementation of identified synergies.”
By region, HeidelbergCement’s Western and Southern Europe division reported rising sales volumes of cement but falling revenue and operating income. Improving markets in Germany and the UK were offset by weak demand in Italy, France and Spain and the falling value of the British Pound versus the Euro. By contrast revenue, cement volumes and operating income were all up in the Northern and Eastern Europe-Central Asia area with a particular emphasis in Norway. Notably, demand growth was also reported in Russia driven by markets in Moscow and St Petersburg. In North America financial figures rose in 2016 but revenue fell in the last quarter of the year. Strong sales were recorded in the north and south of the US but a drop in sale volumes was noted in the Canadian Prairie provinces due to falling oil production. In the group’s Asia area sales volumes rose but revenue and operating income fell in 2016 due to a ‘significant’ fall in prices in Indonesia and Thailand. Finally, in the Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin the market picture was mixed with small increases in sales volumes, a drop in sales revenue and a slight increase in operating income due to increased market competition in Sub-Saharan countries.
Germany: Langley Holdings, the UK-based owner of Claudius Peters, has reported that its subsidiary’s revenue fell by 14% year-on-year to Euro106m in 2016 from Euro124m in 2015. Claudius Peters’ orders on hand rose by 13% to Euro50.3m from Euro57.7m. The plant engineering manufacturer noted that the industries it serves, including cement and gypsum, remain at a ‘low point’ in their business cycle and that capital investment is low.
“The division’s order intake did improve in the final quarter and with commodity prices coming off the bottom there are signs that the climate is improving, although it is too early to call a recovery. In all, the results were satisfactory in a still much subdued sector,” said Langley Holdings chairman Anthony J Langley. He added that poor markets in Brazil and Russia affected the division’s results. However, Claudius Peters China performed ‘quite well’ due to export projects with Chinese contractors and divisions in France, the US, UK, Spain and Italy did well.
LafargeHolcim Montcada i Reixac cement plant to celebrate 100th anniversary in 2017 13 February 2017
Spain: LafargeHolcim’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant in Catalonia is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017. A number of events will be held throughout the year to mark the centenary of the establishment of the plant by local industrialist Eusebi Güell including an exhibition at the Castellar de n’Hug Cement Museum. LafargeHolcim says that the plant contributed over Euro18m to the local economy in 2016.
Cemex completes sale of Fairborn cement plant to Eagle Materials 13 February 2017
US: Cemex has completed the sale of its Fairborn cement plant in Ohio and a cement terminal in Columbus to Eagle Materials for US$400m. Cemex said proceeds from the sale will be used for debt reduction and general corporate purposes. Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor to the cement producer for the transaction.
AfriSam opens blending and packing plant in Lesotho 13 February 2017
Lesotho: Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili has officially opened AfriSam’s cement blending and packing plant in Maseru. The unit is the cement producer’s first cement plant in the country, according to the Lesotho News Agency. The plant can produce up to 0.2Mt/yr of cement and it has been built at AfriSam’s existing distribution centre.
Dangote Cement building upgrades at Mugher plant in Ethiopia 13 February 2017
Ethiopia: Dangote Cement is building a bagging plant and a third silo at its Mugher cement plant. The US$19m bagging plant will have a capacity of 120 million bags/yr, according to the Ethiopian Reporter newspaper. It is scheduled for completion by July 2017. The silo should be completed by the third quarter of the year.
Deep Kamara, the managing director of Dangote Industries Ethiopia, also said that the company is considering building a second production line in the country. However, procuring spare parts is proving difficult for the plant due to shortages of foreign currency and delays in shipping new parts. The company is expecting help from the government and it needs to spend up to US$15m on spare parts for the plant.
The Mugher cement plant opened in 2015 with a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr. Equipment at the plant was set on fire in late 2016 in a series of riots in the region.