September 2024
CRH's My Home Industries to buy Sree Jayajothi Cements 12 August 2013
India/Ireland: Following earlier speculation, Ireland's Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH) has announced that its 50:50 Joint Venture in India, My Home Industries Ltd has reached an agreement to acquire the shares of Sree Jayajothi Cements, a 3.2Mt/yr cement producer in south India for a value of Euro175m.
Dow Jones reports that the investment will be financed from My Home Industries' existing debt capacity and by equity inputs from the joint shareholders (Euro70m). CRH's equity interest will amount to Euro35m.
Kenya: Bamburi Cement expects a robust second half of 2013 according to Reuters, after it saw its pretax profit drop by 12% in the first half of 2013. It attributed the decline to uncertainty over the Kenyan elections and a slowdown in its export markets.
Bamburi, which is controlled by the French multinational cement giant Lafarge, posted a first-half pretax profit of US$37.46m, while its turnover declined by 18% to US$180.8m.
"We started seeing a significant turnaround in the markets of Kenya and Uganda with continued signs of an improving macro-economic environment in both countries," said the company. "The group is therefore strongly optimistic of a stronger second half."
Michael Mutz appointed head of cement sales at Aumund 09 August 2013
Germany: Dr Michael Mutz has been appointed the head of cement sales at Aumund Fördertechnik. In his new role Mutz will oversee sales of both new equipment and retrofits. The new position will be in addition to Mutz's exisiting job as head of the Mineral Processing division (previously Mining & Minerals), which he assumed in April 2012. Aumund specialises in conveying and storage for the cement industry
Eagle Materials reports strong increases in revenue and earnings in first fiscal quarter 08 August 2013
US: Eagle Materials has reported financial results for the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2013. It saw its revenue for the quarter increase to US$227m, an increase of 47% year-on-year and earnings before interest and income taxes were up by 109% to US$49.5m. Its net earnings were US$30.1m, a 115% rise from US$14m in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year.
Operating earnings from Eagle's cement activities were US$19m, a 93% increase from the same quarter a year earlier. The earnings increase was driven by increased sales volumes and average net cement sales prices partially offset by a slight increase in operating costs.
Cement revenues for the first quarter, including joint venture and inter-segment revenues, came to US$117.7m, 55% higher year-on-year. The revenue improvement reflects a 46% increase in its first quarter cement sales volume, including sales volume attributable to cement plant assets acquired form Lafarge in 2012. The average net sales price for this quarter was up by 6% from the first quarter of the 2013 fiscal year.
Weston uncertainty ends in New Zealand 07 August 2013
Weston is off. The 'will-they, won't they' of the New Zealand cement industry took a more decisive turn this week with the announcement that Holcim New Zealand intends to import cement instead.
Once Holcim's existing cement plant at Westport winds down there will be no more indigenous cement production on New Zealand's South Island. Golden Bay Cement on North Island will be left as the nation's sole cement producer. Instead Holcim now plans to build US$80m on an import terminal and related infrastructure.
Given a previous price tag of US$400m for the Weston project, switching to an import strategy makes sense for Holcim which has had a hard time of late with a poor first quarter following a tough year in 2012. Despite the benefits that the construction sector in New Zealand has seen with the rebuilding following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Holcim is thinking of its wider strategy. Although, as one of the largest multinational cement producers, Holcim has a wide supply chain for clinker, Australia reported poor sales in 2012 and it would be an obvious hub to keep New Zealand topped up with sufficient product.
Last week's doubts about the Indian cement market – when Holcim announced major business restructuring in India – may also have an effect as Vicat too has reported problems in the country this week. The question to ask when Holcim releases its half-year results in mid-August 2013 is how much excess capacity does the company have?
Coincidentally, importing cement is one issue that has come up in the UK Competition Commission's on-going investigation into the UK cement industry. An Irish cement importer has alleged that unnamed European cement producers have blocked his attempts to import cement to Ireland. The UK Competition Commission will continue its investigation until late 2013. Whilst we are not suggesting that the New Zealand cement industry has any problems of this kind, as the market adjusts to a higher level of imports it will encounter new challenges.
Tabuk Cement Company announces the resignation of Director-General and appointed Director-General of the company 07 August 2013
Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement Company has announced the resignation of its director general Isa bin Baissy. He will work at the cement producer until 9 September 2013. His successor, Ali bin Mhmiaa Asmari, has worked with the company since 1996 as head of quarries, then director of the cement plant and deputy general manager.
Vicat holds sales steady in first half of 2013 07 August 2013
France: The Vicat Group has reported that its sales rose by 1.7% year-on-year to Euro1.15bn in the first half of 2013 from Euro1.13bn in the same period of 2012. The group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained static year-on-year at Euro201m.
" Performance in Turkey, Kazakhstan and the United States improved substantially, making up for the tough competitive environment in India and the uncertainty that continues to prevail in Egypt. Operating performance in France also improved despite the persistently unfavourable market climate," said Vicat chief executive officer Guy Sidos.
Vicat's cement sector saw its volumes increase by 3.8% year-on-year to 9.21Mt from 8.87Mt. Operational sales increased slightly by 1.2% to Euro693m from Euro685m. EBITDA for the cement sector fell by 5.2% to Euro147m from Euro155m.
By region for its cement business, sales in France fell by 10.5% in the first half of 2013, mostly caused by a poor first quarter and a decline in export markets. Vicat declined to present specific figures for certain territories. In Switzerland its cement business saw its EBITDA fall by 6.2% and in Italy sales fell by 16%. In the US sales rose by 4.1% with strong growth from new infrastructure projects.
In Turkey sales rose by 18.9% due to volume and price rises. In India overall sales rose by 18.4% to Euro87.3m as Vicat built up its cement businesses. However competition, increased production costs and start-up costs for Vicat Sagar caused EBITDA to fall by 77.7%. In Kazakhstan overall sales rose by 42.8% to Euro38.9m. In Egypt sales fell by 11.8% to Euro47.2m despite a sharp increase in prices. In West Africa sales fell by 4.1% due to a fall in prices.
PPC to buy Safika Cement for US$35m 07 August 2013
South Africa: PPC (formerly Pretoria Portland Cement) has announced details of an agreement to buy a controlling stake in Safika Cement Holdings for US$35.3m, according to a Johannesburg Stock Exchange release.
"We are very excited to be able to add another complimentary business to PPC. This is an important step in our 'Keeping the Home Fires Burning´ strategy. The proposed transaction is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities as well as the conclusion of the due diligence process," said chief executive officer of PPC Ketso Gordhan.
Safika is a blended cement producer that owns five blending plants and one milling operation. It produces blended 32.5N cement under three brands: IDM Best Build, Castle and the Spar Build-It house brand.
UK/Ireland: Irish cement importer Eircem has told the UK's Competition Commission that 'there is no free competition' in the cement market in Europe. Managing director Peter Goode submitted the comments as part of the evidence being gathered by the UK Competition Commission in its ongoing investigation on the UK cement industry, as reported by the Irish Independent.
"The most recent act of such practices and anti competitive activity by [European Cement Producer 1] and [European Cement Producer 2] against me, my business and my family is so blatant that it defies reality and logic," said Goode in his submission to the Competition Commission.
Goode alleges that his previous company suffered anti-competitive measures from a European cement producer in 2009 when it attempted to import cement from Turkey. Further claims include an incident on a visit to a UK cement plant in 2012 when an employee of a cement producer refused to supply him with cement because it had a pre-existing agreement with another company not to supply cement to Ireland.
According to the Irish Independent, Goode previously owned Goode Concrete, which collapsed in early 2011. The company is currently attempting to sue Irish building materials manufacturer CRH for damages also related to alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
The Competition Commission's investigation on the UK aggregates, cement and ready-mix concrete market is due to be completed in late 2013 with a publication date set for December 2013. Evidence from the investigation has been published on the Competition Commission website.
Cementos Pacasmayo sales up by 11% in Q2 07 August 2013
Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo has reported a rise in sales of 9.1% to US$197m for the second quarter of 2013 from US$180m in the same period in 2012. However the Peruvian cement producer's net profits were hit by negative exchange rate changes in the second quarter of 2013 and fell by 21.7% to US$8.38m. Despite the effects of the exchange rate drop, the company attributed its increase in sales to growing domestic demand for cement by so-called 'self-construction' projects.
The company's operating profit rose by 72.9% in the second quarter to US$27.9m from US$16.1m. Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 60% to US$32.8m from US$20.5m. Total cement production increased year-on-year to 0.55Mt from 0.51Mt.
In its summary of quarterly events Cementos Pacasmayo reported that it obtained the approval of the environmental impact study in May 2013 for the construction of the new cement plant in Piura. Construction of the plant is expected to begin in the 'coming months.'