September 2024
Arawak Cement reaches record exports in June 2016 28 July 2016
Barbados: Arawak Cement has recorded its highest exports in three years when it exported 20,000t of cement in June 2016. The figure contributed a 27% year-on-year increase in exports to 90,000t for the first half of 2016, according to the Nation News newspaper. The cement producer said that the boost in export sales was due to improvements to its jetty and dust emissions control systems at its St Lucy plant. The changes have allowed it to improve its cement loading rates and receive larger ships.
Jamaica: The Caribbean Cement Company’s net profit has risen by 21% year-on-year to US$832,000 in the first six months of 2016 from US$686,000 in the same period in 2015. Revenue grew by 10% to US$65.6m from US$59.4m. The rise in profit was attributed to increased revenue and reduction in costs but was tempered by stockholding, inventory restructuring and manpower restructuring costs. Cement export and clinker volumes fell by 8% and 77% respectively in the period despite the increases in revenue.
Cemex to cut emissions at five plants in US 28 July 2016
US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have agreed a settlement with Cemex, under which the company will invest approximately US$10m to cut air pollution at five of its cement plants to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Under the consent decree lodged in the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Cemex will also pay a US$1.69m civil penalty, conduct energy audits at the five plants, and spend US$150,000 on energy efficiency projects to mitigate the effects of past excess emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from its facilities.
“This settlement requires Cemex to use state-of-the-art technology to reduce harmful air pollution, improving public health in vulnerable communities across the South and Southeast,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA is committed to tackling clean air violations at the largest sources, cutting the pollutants that cause respiratory illnesses like asthma.”
The five Cemex cement plants affected by the deal are located in Demopolis in Alabama, Louisville in Kentucky, Knoxville in Tennessee and New Braunfels and Odessa in Texas. The Knox County, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky air pollution control authorities participated in this settlement. Cemex is required to install pollution control technology that will reduce emissions of NOx and establish strict limits for sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. The cement producer will install and continuously operate a selective non-catalytic reduction system for controlling NOx at the five plants and meet emission limits that are consistent with the current best available control technology for NOx. EPA estimates this will result in NOx emissions reductions of over 4000t/yr. Each facility will also be subject to strict SO2 emission limits.
This settlement is part of EPA’s National Enforcement Initiative to control harmful emissions from large sources of pollution, which includes cement plants, under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements. The total combined SO2 and NOx emission reductions secured from cement plant settlements under this initiative will exceed 75,000t/yr once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.
The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.
Cementir quietly grows its business 27 July 2016
And the winner of the Italcementi assets in Belgium is… Cementir. The Italian multinational cement producer picked up Compagnie des Ciments Belges for Euro312m this week. The deal included all of Italcementi's cement, ready-mix and aggregates assets in Belgium, Italcementi's stake in an existing limestone joint-venture with LafargeHolcim and a portion of HeidelbergCement's limestone quarry in Antoing. It was offered by HeidelbergCement to the European Commission to ensure approval of its acquisition of Italcementi.
The assets from Compagnie des Ciments Belges comprise one 2.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant, three terminals and 10 ready-mix concrete plants. As ever, the add-ons confuse the final price but the deal values the cement production capacity at Euro125/t or US$138/t. This figures seems low compared to the other big sale this week of Holcim Lanka to Siam City Cement. There, the Thai producer picked up an integrated cement plant and a grinding plant with a combined cement production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr for US$400m. That values the cement production capacity at US$250/t.
Increasing its presence in western Europe makes a lot of sense for Cementir. It’s one of the smaller European multinational cement producers with 14 cement plants, often white cement producers, in Italy, Turkey, Denmark, Egypt, the US, China and Malaysia. Altogether this comes to 15.1Mt/yr in cement production capacity. In its press release, Cementir described Gaurain-Ramecroix, the cement plant it is buying, as the largest integrated cement plant in France-Benelux, region with ‘state-of-the-art’ technology and long-life mineral reserves.
Italcementi reported a 2.9% year-on-year fall in cement and clinker sales volumes in Belgium in 2015, noting a general reduction in cement consumption in all areas of the construction industry. The mineral reserves were confirmed at least as environmental clearance as granted and work began at the new Barry quarry at Gaurain-Ramecroix.
Cementir has rebuilt its revenue since hitting a high of Euro1.15bn in 2007 although it dipped again in 2014. Despite this ordinary portland and white cement sales volumes have been slowly falling from a high of 10.5Mt in 2011 to 9.37Mt in 2015. That said though its businesses in Scandinavia generated just under half of its operating revenue in 2015. So far in 2016, total group revenue rose by 2.8% to Euro210m in the first quarter of the year, with a fair portion of that attributable to Scandinavia. Bolting on a cement and concrete business in (relatively) nearby Belgium makes sense in this context provided the construction market eventually rallies.
Yet, another on-going Cementir acquisition back home in Italy may make the company reflect on the risks of buying assets in Belgium. Cementir is drawing closer to purchasing the cement and concrete arm of Sacci as it plans to pick up five cement plants and assorted ready-mix concrete assets for the bargain price of Euro125m, following a protracted bankruptcy. Cementir may remember that Lafarge sold some of these assets to Sacci for Euro290m in 2008 before the situation deteriorated. The top brass at Cementir must be praying that the Sacci’s fate doesn’t await them in Belgium.
France: Protest group SumOfUs has demanded that the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo drop LafargeHolcim as a corporate sponsor due to alleged links of deals with armed groups in Syria reported in the French media. SumOfUs say that over 37,500 people have signed an online petition calling for LafargeHolcim’s involvement with the Paris-Plages urban beach summer event to be terminated. The event, run by the office of the Mayor of Paris, creates temporary artificial beaches along the river Seine in the centre of Paris and the Bassin de la Villette in the northeast of Paris.
“This is a scandalous partnership with the City of Paris that should have never happened. By partnering with Lafarge for this summer’s Paris-Plages event, the City of Paris is whitewashing the company’s obscene show of corporate greed that profits off the war and violence created by terrorists. It is high time to make Lafarge accountable for its support of terror,” said Eoin Dubsky, Campaign manager at SumOfUs.
Premier Cement to upgrade grinding plant 27 July 2016
Bangladesh: Premier Cement has approved plans to double its cement production capacity to 16,000t/day from 6000t/day at its grinding plant near Dhaka. The cement producer will invest US$51m in the upgrade to its mill, according to the Daily Star newspaper. The upgrade will be completed by 2018.
UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the acquisition by Breedon Aggregates of Hope Construction Materials subject to a sale of selected assets. Breedon has offered to sell 14 ready-mix concrete sites to Tarmac and the Concrete Company, which has been accepted by the CMA. As indicated in Breedon’s announcement on 21 July 2016, it now expects to complete the acquisition of Hope on 1 August 2016.
“The way is now clear for Hope to join us and create the UK’s largest independent construction materials group. It will give us a stronger platform for growth, with a broader geographical footprint, increased scale, an improved product mix, greater financial capacity and a team of highly talented people,” said Breedon’s Chairman, Peter Tom.
With the acquisition of Hope, Breedon Group, as the company will be named from 1 August 2016, Breedon will become the UK’s largest independent construction materials group, with the country’s largest cement plant, around 60 quarries, nearly 30 asphalt plants, approaching 200 ready-mixed concrete plants, some 2100 employees and approximately 750Mt of mineral reserves and resources. The enlarged group’s strategy will be to continue growing organically and through consolidation of the UK heavyside building materials sector.
China: Huaxin Cement has warned that its net profit is likely to drop by up to 95% year-on-year for the first half of 2016. The Chinese cement producer reported a net profit of US$13.3m in the same period in 2015. It has blamed the situation on a ‘serious’ doemsti cement overcapacity and fierce competition in the main markets that led to the price of cement falling by 11.52%. Adverse weather also contributed to the decline.
India: ACC’s net profit after tax has risen by 26% year-on-year to US$69.3m in the first half of 2016 from US$55.1m in the same period in 2015. The cement producer’s sales revenue fell slightly to US$863m and its cement sales volumes rose by 3.8% to 12.48Mt from 12.02Mt. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim reported that it made an overall cost reduction of 9% in the second quarter of 2016 by optimising its fuel mix through higher rates of petcoke, by lowering costs of input materials such as slag, fly ash and gypsum and by improving its gypsum-mix optimisation.
Ambuja Cement profit rises by 29% to US$105m 27 July 2016
India: Ambuja Cement’s net profit has risen by 29% year-on-year to US$105m in the first six months of 2015 from US$81m in the same period in 2015. Its sales revenue rose slightly to US$745m. Cement sales volumes fell by 2% in the second quarter of 2016 to 5.76Mt from 5.88Mt in the same period in 2015. This reduced the net sales revenue reported in the quarter despite increased prices.
The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim also reported that its energy cost fell by 27% in the second quarter of 2016 due to low fuel prices and an increased usage of petcoke in its kilns, to 60% from 45% year-on-year. Various cost optimisation initiatives also contributed to reduced freight costs.