September 2024
Birla Corporation commissions cement blending unit in Uttar Pradesh 03 November 2015
India: Birla Corporation has commissioned its 50,000t/yr cement blending unit in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. In August 2015 it agreed to acquire, either directly or through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lafarge India's Jojobera and Sonadih cement businesses for US$763m.
Rwanda delists Kilimanjaro Cement from preferential treatment 03 November 2015
Rwanda: Rwanda has delisted Kilimanjaro Cement produced by Amson's Tanzania Ltd from preferential treatment as part of its anti-dumping campaign to check external competition threatening the domestic market. However, Tanzania Ltd has appealed to the East African Community (EAC) committee on non-tariff barriers against the decision on Rwanda.
Rwanda, once a net importer of cement, is slowly building production capacity among local cement makers. Cimerwa and Kigali Cement have increased production capacity and will soon be able to supply local demand and also position the country to start exporting cement. Kilimanjaro Cement now attracts a 25% import duty like other goods imported from outside the EAC and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Rwandan officials have alleged that Kilimanjaro Cement is imported from Pakistan and repackaged in local bags and so is not qualified to be treated as manufactured within the region. William Musoni, Commissioner Customs Services at the Rwanda Revenue Authority, said that before the government blacklisted Kilimanjaro cement, they had jointly carried out investigations with officials from the EAC Secretariat that confirmed that some of the cement exported from Tanzania is repackaged.
Lithuania: Eternit Baltic UAB, the corrugated fibre cement sheet plant operating in Naujoji Akmene in the north of Lithuania, has begun the construction of new production facilities. The new production facilities will produce Cedral cement siding for the local market and for the Central and Eastern European markets.
Etex, which owns Eternit Baltic UAB, plans to invest approximately Euro34m in the construction of the new production facilities. Implementation of the project will take a little more than one year. Production is expected to start in early 2017. The new production facilities will enable the company to produce over 4Mm2/yr of cement siding. Approximately 50 new jobs will be created in the new production facilities in three years. Eternit Baltic currently employs approximately 150 people.
Suez Cement reports 18% revenue fall in the third quarter of 2015 03 November 2015
Egypt: Suez Cement Group has reported that a much improved energy availability, driven by coal utilisation and a more steady supply of the heavy fuel oil known as mazut, has allowed the Egyptian cement industry to boost its production by 29% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2015 and 23% in the first nine months of 2015.
During the third quarter of 2015, market demand grew by 2.1%, while cement demand grew by 1.6% in the first nine months of 2015. Combined with a steep reduction in exports, this resulted in a marked oversupply of cement products in the domestic market, causing prices to decline. This trend was exacerbated in the third quarter of 2015 with a market demand slowed down by an unfavourable calendar and strong production activity in contrast with summer 2014, when energy supply was at its lowest. Simultaneously, traditional energy prices grew by around 30% with the implementation by the government of the subsidy lifting programme. Suez Cement was able to maintain its market leadership, but saw its sales volumes decline slightly as it tried to defend its pricing. Exports to regional markets, such as Libya and Yemen, remained limited because of political and economic instability.
Suez Cement reported an 18% decrease in revenues for the third quarter of 2015 and a 12% fall for the first nine months of the year. The company continued to implement its action plans to improve internal efficiencies and modify its energy mix, with two plants now fully converted to use coal and waste-derived fuel. The resulting cost improvement was insufficient to offset the impact from pricing, energy price and cost of labour increases.
Suez Cement expects Egypt's supply-demand imbalance and lower cement prices to remain negative for the rest of 2015. However, it foresees improved cement demand and rebounding prices in 2016. Egypt will move forward with the implementation of several large national projects under the auspices of government stimulation initiatives designed to boost demand for cement across the country.
Suez Cement is currently preparing for the implementation of coal conversion projects at the Helwan and Tourah plants in the next two years. The company's energy diversification programme is focused on increasing the use of waste-derived fuels, petroleum coke, coal and renewable energy in order to prevent fluctuating natural gas and mazut prices from negatively impacting the company's bottom line. Suez Cement anticipates that its energy programme will continue to improve its manufacturing capacity and decrease operational and production overheads.
Mexico’s Cemex closes Euro160m sale of Austrian and Hungarian units 03 November 2015
Europe: Cemex has completed the sale of its business operations in Austria and Hungary to Germany's Rohrdorfer Group for about Euro160m.
Cemex's Austrian operations, which comprise 24 aggregate quarries and 34 ready-mix plants, reported Euro219m in net sales in 2014. The operations in Hungary include five aggregate quarries and 34 ready-mix facilities and had net sales of some Euro42.7m in 2014.
Cemex hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley & Co International plc to act as financial advisors in this transaction. The proceeds from the sale will be used mainly to finance general corporate purposes and to pay off debt.
Shree Cement commissions 2Mt/yr grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh 02 November 2015
India: Shree Cement commissioned a new 2Mt/yr grinding plant in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh on 30 October 2015.
India: JK Cements has reported a 58% fall in its consolidated net profit to US$2.09m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015. However, its total standalone income rose by 5% to US$133m. The company's total expenses grew to US$122m from US$11.7m.
Kumar Mangalam Birla named Vice Chairman of Century Textiles 02 November 2015
India: Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the US$40bn Aditya Birla Group, has been appointed as Vice Chairman of Century Textiles and Industries. KM Birla is grandson of 94-year-old BK Birla, who is the Chairman of Century Textiles. In BK Birla's absence, KM Birla was chairing the board meetings.
For the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, Century Textiles posted a net loss of US$3.69m compared to a net profit of US$117,422 for the same quarter of 2014. Total income grew from US$262m in the 2014 quarter to US$299m in 2015.
Egypt: ASEC Cement, a subsidiary of Egypt's Qalaa Holdings, has announced plans to sell its stakes in ASEC Minya and ASEC Ready Mix to Misr Qena Cement for US$125m. The respective stakes are 46.5% and 55%. The deal is expected close on or before 20 November 2015.
Holcim Romania to invest Euro32,000 in vocational education 02 November 2015
Romania: Holcim Romania is officially launching Holcim Workshops, a programme to support vocational education among pupils. The main beneficiaries of this educational programme are the pupils from grades XI and XII in Alexandru Roman High School in Alesd, as well as the Technical High School in Câmpulung Muscel.
After a pilot module delivered in 2015, the programme will be further developed in 2016 and will include a theoretical component and a practical one, throughout five - six weeks. The pupils selected for the practical module will have the opportunity of a hands-on experience in Holcim plants in Alesd and Campulung, some of the most performing and sustainable cement plants within Holcim Group, based on the results of the Holcim Plant Awards, organised every year by Holcim Group.
"Our intention with Holcim Workshops is to support the pupils from the technical high schools in Holcim communities in Romania to become more familiar with the industrial environment. It is important for them to better discover their abilities and skills through in-depth theoretical and practical sessions delivered by our specialists and to gain confidence in their qualities, so as to become more easily integrated to the labour market. The programme also provides an answer to a real challenge felt on the Romanian market, which is the reduced number of skilled craftsmen, in any field of activity, because the number of vocational schools has diminished," said Mădălina Crăciunescu, Organization and Human Resources Director of Holcim Romania.