September 2024
CRH concludes final part of LafargeHolcim acquisition in Philippines 15 September 2015
Ireland/Philippines: CRH has completed the Philippines element of its Euro6.5bn acquisition of certain Lafarge-Holcim assets and as such has now completed the entire deal.
On 2 February 2015, CRH announced that it had reached agreement to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for a total enterprise value of Euro6.5bn. On 3 August 2015, CRH confirmed that the majority of the transaction was complete, with the exception of the operations in the Philippines. In a press release issued on 15 September 2015, CRH announced that the Philippines element of the transaction is now complete.
Turkmenistan to build 220 facilities for US$18bn in 2016 14 September 2015
Turkmenistan: The Republic of Turkmenistan plans to construct more than 220 facilities for US$18bn in 2016, according to president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
The construction will take place under a large investment development programme and will include a natural gas pipeline that will transverse Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India and will ship 33Bnm3/yr of gas. The projects will also include a 1Mt/yr cement plant in Lebap, a gas-chemical complex designed to produce 467,000t/yr of polyethylene and polypropylene, a plant to produce 600t/yr of petrol from natural gas, as well new airports in the cities of Atamyrat and Garabogaz.
"Over the past few years, gross domestic product has been growing rapidly in Turkmenistan. During this past year, GDP growth hit 8.3%. Capital investments rose by 8.2% and the average monthly wages increased by 10%," said Berdymukhammedov.
Asia Cement expects loss in 2015 14 September 2015
China: Asia Cement said it expects to record a net loss for the nine months that end on 30 September 2015 compared to a net profit for the same period in 2014. The loss in first three quarters of 2015 was primarily attributed to the decrease in average sales prices and the foreign exchange loss from US Dollar-denominated bank borrowings as a result of the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan.
China 22MCC Group to sell cement assets 14 September 2015
China: China 22MCC Group Corporation Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), plans to sell its cement assets for a combined US$9.05m, according to the China Beijing Equity Exchange.
China 22MCC Group plans to sell a 6.74% stake in Jidong Cement Luan County Corporation for about US$6.98m and a 9% stake in Tianjian Jidong Cement Corporation for about US$2.07m. In the first half of 2015, Jidong Cement Luan County Corporation reported an operating revenue of US$30.9m and a net loss of US$6.07m, while Tianjian Jidong Cement Corporation reported an operating revenue of US$13.5m and a net profit of US$281,168.
Statistics show that in January – July 2015, China's cement industry earned profits of US$2.31bn, down by 63.8% year-on-year.
ARM Cement’s clinker plant will boost margins 14 September 2015
Kenya: Kenya's ARM Cement expects profitability to improve now that it produces its own clinker for its east African cement plants, according to managing director Pradeep Paunrana.
Reuters reported that ARM Cement posted a pre-tax loss of US$4.5m in the first six months of 2015, which the company blamed on unrealised foreign exchange losses associated with borrowing for its new clinker plant, a vital raw material for cement.
Paunrana said that the new 1.2Mt/yr clinker plant was operating at about 75% capacity since production began in April 2015. "What this essentially means is that our production cost has come down drastically because imported clinker is much more expensive, at least 70 or 80% more expensive than what we are producing locally," said Paunrana. "So we expect improvement in our margins both in Kenya and in Tanzania with the production of our own clinker." He added that ARM was also selling clinker to other companies in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.
ARM's operating margin was 13.4% in 2014 according to Thomson Reuters data, compared with an industry median of 15.5%. ARM's Tanzanian plant has 1.5Mt/yr of cement production capacity, while its Kenyan plant can produce 1Mt/yr and its plant in Rwanda can make 100,000t/yr.
Paunrana said that he expected an improved financial performance in the second half of 2015, citing the 9% rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first half to US$18.4m. "The company is still very profitable, especially now that we have more clinker production and more volume growth," said Paunrana. He added that earnings in foreign exchange were rising and that ARM now had an advantage over some rivals. "We are keeping our margins steady and are now becoming a lot more competitive against those who import either clinker or finished cement."
Italy: Italcementi aims for 10% of its sales to be covered by innovative products in 2020, compared with 6.5% in 2014 and 1.5% in 2005, CEO Carlo Pesenti said during the conference for the presentation of biodynamic cement, which was used for the construction of the Expo 2015 building.
Polish cement production falls by 2.3% in August 2015 11 September 2015
Poland: Cement production in Poland decreased by 2.3% year-on-year to 1.47Mt in August 2015, while sales increased by 0.7% to 1.47Mt, according to the Poland's Cement Producer Association. In the first eight months of the year, cement production grew by 1.4% year-on-year to 10.3Mt, while sales grew by 2.1% to 10.5Mt.
Cementos Argos included in the DJSI for the third consecutive year 11 September 2015
Colombia: The Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) has selected Cementos Argos one of the three most sustainable cement companies in the world. For the third consecutive year, the company was included in the World and Emerging Markets Indices.
For the economic dimension, Argos obtained the highest score in the industry, nearly doubling its average score. It was also the best-placed company for aspects such as transparency, compliance and conduct, risk management and supply chain. For the social dimension, it got the best score for human capital development and social reporting. Finally, for the environmental dimension, it scored best in biodiversity, water-related risks and international production standards.
"This recognition truly reflects Argos' spirit. The conviction of doing work that is carried out comprehensively and delicately in order to find a balance between social, economic and environmental aspects and, through our efforts, taking the lead in building a better society in the countries in which we operate," said Jorge Mario Velásquez, Cementos Argos' CEO.
Beumer exhibits at CeMAT Russia 11 September 2015
Russia: Germany's Beumer will exhibit its range of space-saving, fully-automatic palletising robots at CeMAT Russia, which runs from 22 to 25 September 2015 in Moscow. Its new stretch hood model range, which has been optimised for greater efficiency, is part of Beumer's enhanced product offering.
Maple Leaf Cement posts US$33.6m profit 11 September 2015
Pakistan: Higher volumetric sales and lower coal prices helped Maple Leaf Cement beat market expectations as the company boosted its profits by 22% to US$33.6m during its 2015 financial year that ended on 30 June 2015.
Maple Leaf Cement's revenue grew by 9.2% year-on-year to US$199m. The growth in earnings was due to higher dispatches and expansion in margins. Monetary easing and deleveraging helped ease Maple Leaf Cement's finance cost, which was US$9.59m, down by 26% from US$14.4m in its 2014 financial year. The company has announced a plan to invest US$47.9m in Maple Leaf Power Limited to set up a 40MW coal-fired power plant.