September 2024
Italcementi’s ItalGen to produce 200MW from wind energy 02 September 2014
Egypt: An official source in Egypt's Ministry of Electricity revealed that ItalGen, one of Italcementi Group affiliates, plans to build a 200MW wind power plant to increase its production capacity to 320MW. The plant will cost around US$220m. The project will be the first privately-built wind power plant to supply energy to plants of Suez Cement, an Italcementi subsidiary. Production capacity for the first phase would be 120MW, which would increase to 400MW in the future.
Katavsky Cement to install a new ZVVZ dedusting system 01 September 2014
Russia: Eurocement has allocated Euro6.2m for the implementation of a new dedusting system at the Katavsky Cement plant in Chelyabinsk. The launch of the system, which was made by the Czech manufacturer ZVVZ, will reduce dust emissions by 33%.
China to construct a cement plant in Kyrgyzstan 01 September 2014
Kyrgyzstan: A ground-breaking ceremony was held on 29 August 2014 at the site of a new cement plant in Kemin, Chui Province, about 13km east of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The plant, which is being constructed by Chinese investment, will cost around US$70m, according to Sun He, business counsellor with the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz first vice prime minister Tayirbek Sarpashev said that he was confident that the cement plant would bring more jobs to Kemin and bring about tax revenues of between US$10m and US$15m each year upon completion.
Zhu Rongjun, general manager of ZETH-Cement, the Chinese investment subsidiary that is registered in Kyrgyzstan and the investor of the new cement plant, said that it would use advanced technology for production at the plant. Zhu added that the plant would start formal construction in 2014 and be completed and put into production within 15 months.
YTL profit up on cement sector in 2014 fiscal year 29 August 2014
Malaysia: The net profit of YTL Corp, which operates in the cement, property and other sectors, increased by 2.6% to US$107m in the fourth quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2014. Revenue, however, fell by 9.6% to US$1.44bn.
For the full year to 30 June 2014, YTL's net profit rose by 20.8% to US$490m from US$400m. Revenue slipped over the year to US$6bn from US$6.33m in the 2013 fiscal year.
"Our cement, property development and investment and hotel divisions all registered good growth," said group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping in a statement. Yeoh said the jump in net profit was mainly due to improvements in the group's cement business, along with its property and hospitality businesses.
Usje sees net profit up by 28% 28 August 2014
Macedonia: Usje, part of Greece's Titan Cement, has announced that its net profit rose to Euro12.8m in the first half of 2014, a 28% improvement year-on-year compared to the first half of 2013. Usje's operating revenue increased by 15% to Euro32.5m in the same period, while operating costs rose by 5% to Euro21.2m.
Apodi to invest in new Sergipe plant 28 August 2014
Brazil: Apodi, owned by entrepreneurs Ivens Dias Branco (68%) and Juscelino Sarkis (32%), is to invest US$444m to set up a cement plant in the Brazilian state of Sergipe. It reportedly anticipates that the move will reinforce its stronghold in the north east of the country.
The new unit will have capacity for 5000t/day, adding to Apodi's two plants in Pecem and Quixada, Ceara state and expanding the company capacity to 10,000t/day in total.
Malaysia: Scientists have discovered a new snail species on a limestone hill known as Kanthan in Malaysia. They have named the species, which is only 2-3mm in diameter, 'Charopa lafargei,' after Lafarge Malaysia, the cement producer that owns the hill.
As Kanthan is the only place that this species has been observed, Charopa lafargei was immediately classed as 'critically endangered' in the IUCN Red List for Endangered Species. This means that its future is effectively in the hands of Lafarge, which purchased the hill to make cement. The scientists decided to name the snail after Lafarge for this reason, although it is not clear if or how the name will affect the future actions of the producer.
"I'm not aware of a species threatened with extinction that has been given the name of the company that can determine whether it goes extinct or survives," said Tony Whitten from Fauna & Flora International.
The new snail is not the only endemic species found on the hill. Kanthan is also home to nine plant species that are on Malaysia's Red List of Endangered Plants. One critically endangered spider, one gecko and two other snails that are also found only on Kanthan.
Ramco Cement to set up new plant in Andhra Pradesh 28 August 2014
India: Ramco Cement has announced that it intends to construct a cement factory at Kilimigundla in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh at a cost of US$250m. The total investment in the cement plant and related infrastructure could go up to US$500m, as the development will require a 20km rail line to facilitate transport.
Ramco has requested that the State Chief Minister provide necessary land to develop the plant and also facilitate necessary clearances to develop the rail line, which Ramco claims would also be useful for other projects in the area.
Meanwhile, Ramco has indicated that its new plant near Visakhapatnam will also be ready for commissioning by 15 October 2014.
Pakistan cement export wars return to South Africa 27 August 2014
South African authorities have started a new investigation into imports of cement from Pakistan. This time the inquiry will examine trade dumping allegations made by local producers including Afrisam, Lafarge, NPC Cimpor and PPC.
The application made by the cement producers provided evidence that the difference between the price of cement (the dumping margin) in Pakistan and for imports from Pakistan in 2013 was 48%. Or, in other words, the price of Pakistan cement imported to South Africa was nearly half that of what is was being sold for in the country that it was actually produced in.
The data submitted to the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa comes from a report by Genesis Analytics on Pakistan cement prices in 2013 and tax information from the South African Revenue Service. Neither source is readily available for more detailed analysis here but data released by XA International Trade Advisors suggests that cement imports from Pakistan rose to 1.1Mt/yr in 2013 and at a value of US$59m. Roughly, this gives a price of US$55/t. This compares to an average price of US$90/t, from the All Pakistan Manufacturers' Association for the first nine months of the 2012 – 2013 Pakistani fiscal year, giving a dumping margin similar to the allegation by the South African cement producers.
Separate industry sources quoted by the Pakistan media on the story reported that the country supplies 1.5 - 1.6Mt/yr of cement to South Africa, its biggest export market, receiving a revenue of US$125m. Although this suggests a dumping margin lower than the one presented to the authorities it is still high.
Other information of note in the investigation notification is that the Pakistan cement imports are only competing heavily with the local bagged cement market in the Southern African Customs Union, which also includes neighbouring Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. The notification discounts bulk cement imports from Pakistan as being 'prohibitively' expensive suggesting that the Pakistan cement producers have no import infrastructure in southern Africa or that something else is stopping them. For example, the country's market leader for production, Lucky Cement, has export facilities in Karachi with silos and automatic ship loaders. Yet it's only 'brick-and-mortar' presence overseas are projects building an integrated plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a grinding plant in Iraq.
It may also be worth considering that South African industry newcomer Sephaku Cement hasn't joined the dumping allegation. The Dangote subsidiary was set to start producing clinker in late August 2014. This is out of character considering how prominent the Nigerian-based cement producer has been in campaigning against imports to its home nation. However, the Aganang plant in Lichtenburg, North West Province is over 700km from the coast and presumably safe from foreign imports at present.
One final question occurs. How are Pakistan cement producers able to dump bagged cement on the South African market at prices lower than what they are selling it for at home? If individual producers sold their excess at home at a lower price they could potentially undercut their competitors and make a profit. There are many barriers, from input costs to industry structural issues and other reasons that may be preventing this. However, if the South African cement producers succeed in their latest attempt to block imports from Pakistan it may add more impetus to remove such barriers.
Brazil: Antonio Ermírio de Moraes, a former chairman of Votorantim, died on 24 August 2014. De Moraes, who served as chairman and CEO of the company, died of heart failure at the age of 86. At the time of his death, De Moraes held a 25% in the group. His family hold the remaining 75% interest.