September 2024
Surplus cement supply stabilises prices in Egypt 27 April 2015
Egypt: Cement producers have decided to keep the prices of cement 'stable' for the fifth consecutive month, Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy has announced. Medhat Stephanos, head of cement companies at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FDI), said the supply surplus is behind the price stability, according to local media.
Hanafy stated that 854,000t had been produced for the current month and that the total amount of supplied cement was 1.86Mt. Around 818,000t of cement were distributed in the local market and around 500,000t were exported between 9 and 15 April. Staphanos added to Daily News Egypt that the country's cement production capacity has increased following the introduction of coal as a source of energy, which reduced the energy problem that faced producers.
"We expected more activity in the processes of construction but those expectations were not met," said Stephanos. "Some projects were expected to start but have not started yet."
UltraTech Cement profit falls by 24% to US$103 in Q4 27 April 2015
India: UltraTech Cement has reported a 24% drop year-on-year in consolidated net profit at US$103m for the fourth quarter of 2014 - 15, mainly due to a US$18.5m fine imposed by the Competition Commission of India for cartel accusations. This compared to a US$136m net profit for the same period in the 2013-14 year. Turnover rose by 4.47% to US$1.04bn for the fourth quarter from US$993m.
During the quarter, the company commissioned a 2Mt/yr cement plant and a 10MW waste heat recovery system in Rajasthan, and a 6MW waste heat recovery system in Karnataka.
For the financial year that ended on 31 March 2015, the Indian cement producer reported a 4.88% drop year-on-year in its net profit to US$330m. Its turnover rose by 12.5% to US$3.83m. Cement and clinker sale of grey cement rose to 44.9Mt during the year from 41.5Mt in 2013 – 14. White cement sales rose slightly to 1.22Mt from 1.14Mt. The company raised its cement production capacity to 60.2Mt/yr during the 2014 – 15 financial year after it acquired cement plants from the Jaypee Group.
"With the focus on development of the infrastructure and housing sector, the company is positioned across the country to meet the rise in demand and participate in the next phase of growth in the country," said UltraTech Cement in a statement.
Global Cement marks presence at IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 Cement Industry Technical Conference 27 April 2015
Canada: Global Cement has taken centre-stage for delegates registering at the IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 Cement Industry Technical Conference with copies of the April 2015 issue on offer. The conference runs from 26 – 30 April 2015 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto, Canada.
Delegates attending the IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 can keep informed about the conference cement plant tour by reading a feature interview with the team who run St Marys Bowmanville. The plant tour is scheduled to take place on Thursday 30 April. The April 2015 issue of Global Cement Magazine also includes a country feature on the Canadian cement industry.
Chile: The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has filed charges against the Cemento Polpaico cement company regarding environmental irregularities at the Cerro Blanco plant in Til Til, near Santiago. SMA discovered that the plant failed to comply with carbon emission directives and did not have an adequate contingency plan for the preservation of underground water sources. The company now has ten days to adjust procedures or reply to the charges laid by the entity within 15 days before SMA issues penalties.
US: Essroc Italcementi Group has signed an agreement with Holcim to purchase its slag cement grinding facility in Camden, New Jeresy. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. The acquisition will finalise when the pending Holcim and Lafarge merger completes later in 2015.
"The acquisition of the Camden slag grinding facility reiterates Essroc's commitment to the northeast market," said Francesco Carantani, Essroc's president and chief executive officer. "With the focus on sustainability and durability, there is a projected growth in the demand and usage of slag cement."
The Camden facility can produce upwards of 700,000t/yr of slag cement. Essroc currently produces slag cement at its Picton, Ontario, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, cement plants and at its slag grinding facility in Middlebranch, Ohio. With the addition of Camden, Essroc has a combined annual production capacity in excess of 1Mt/yr. Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc once the transaction completes.
PPC to slow expansion as debt rises 24 April 2015
South Africa: PPC will slow its international expansion due to rising debts, says chief executive officer Darryll Castle. The South African cement producer is building cement plants in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe, Algeria and Mozambique in order to generate 40% of its sales outside its home market by 2017. However, spending on these projects is pushing up its debt levels and Chief Executive Officer Darryll Castle said PPC's debt would likely hit as much as US$982m in the next two years and possibly breach agreed covenants with banks, according to Reuters.
"We wouldn't want to stretch our balance too much. The focus currently is on existing projects," said Castle. He added that PPC was in talks with banks about changing the agreed debt covenants to reflect the fact that some of the debt was ring-fenced from the South African balance sheet.
Bestway Cement Limited takes over Lafarge Pakistan 23 April 2015
Pakistan: Bestway Cement, a subsidiary of Bestway Group, has announced assumption of management control of Lafarge Pakistan. This follows the company's successful bid for 75.86% of Lafarge Pakistan's shares for US$329m in July 2014. Bestway Cement also acquired another 12.07% shares of the target company through the public offer process taking its shareholding in Lafarge Pakistan to 87.93%.
Acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan's 2.5Mt/yr cement plant located in Chakwal, means that Bestway Cement has now become the largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan with a total capacity of more than 8Mt/yr representing 18% of the entire industry's capacity in the country. Bestway intends to invest nearly US$30m in the acquired company including, among other things, an environmentally friendly waste heat recovery power plant.
Century Textiles to sell cement business to UltraTech 22 April 2015
India: Century Textiles & Industries is reportedly planning to sell its cement business and merge it in an all-share deal with India's largest cement maker UltraTech. Both companies are in the final stages of a plan to merge the cement businesses, according to local media.
Once approved by shareholders, the merged entity's cement production capacity would total 87M/yr. This would help UltraTech achieve 100Mt/yr ahead of its target of 2020. UltraTech would gain access to the eastern market while strengthening its presence in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Lafarge appoints new director of Malogoszcz cement plant 22 April 2015
Poland: Lafarge has appointed Jacek Patyk as new director of the Malogoszcz cement plant. He will replace Miroslaw Majchrowicz, who will be in charge of Lafarge's cement plant in Beocin, Serbia
What price for cement industry development in Cameroon? 22 April 2015
Cameroon announced this week that it intends to ban imported cement to aid the sales from the new Dangote owned cement plant in the country. Readers should note that Dangote is a Nigerian-based company. Protective legislation such as this should come as no surprise given the rise of Nigeria's own cement industry and similar initiatives in that country. The difference here, however, is that the Cameroonian government is protecting investment by a foreign company rather than propping up any home grown concerns.
The new Dangote-run cement plant in Douala will start with a cement production capacity of 0.95Mt/yr with the intention to rise to 1.5Mt/yr in 2016. A meet-and-greet by company officials with local press in early April 2015 revealed that the company intends to snatch 30% of the local cement market in 2015 with prices primed to just undercut the other major producer.
What then of the country's two other integrated cement plants? Both have foreign ownership. Cimenteries du Cameroun, with a 1Mt/yr plant, is a subsidiary of France-based Lafarge. Ciments de L'Afrique, with a 0.5Mt/yr plant, is a Moroccan firm. Add the new 1.5Mt/yr Dangote cement plant and domestic production in Cameroon is anticipated to exceed local demand.
When this happens how will the Cameroonian government view the two non-Dangote producers who may well be importing clinker and other products into the country for their operations? If the experience of Nigeria is a model then a 'self-sufficiency' battle may ensue in the media. Alongside this the price of cement may well stay fairly stable despite any alleged 'gluts'. This week, for example, the Cement Producers Association of Nigeria has lobbied the President-elect of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, to cut the price of cement by half. The hypocrisy during the Nigerian spat over imports was that Nigeria wanted (and has become) a cement exporter.
At the time this column asked how that could work if imports at the time were so much more competitive that they had to be banned at home. Then as now deals seem to mark the way. At that time, in early 2013, Liberia relaxed its tariffs on cement just as Dangote was building a new plant there. Now, in Cameroon, once again Dangote appears to be negotiating some form of preferential treatment.
At the root of these issues, Cameroon's citizens and industry want to build and develop their country. Cheaper cement will enable them to do this by pushing up per capita cement consumption. Protecting their domestic industry or those that have invested in the country may not necessarily lead to cheaper cement.