September 2024
Polimeks commissions 1.4Mt/yr cement plant in Turkmenistan 20 February 2013
Turkmenistan: Turkish company Polimeks Insaat Taahhüt ve San. Tic. A.Ş. has commissioned a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant in the east of Turkmenistan, an official Turkmen source has said. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine flew by helicopter to the venue for the opening ceremony of the cement plant.
The plant in Garlyk in the Lebap region will produce Portland cement, oil well cement and sulphate-resistant cement. Raw materials will be taken from a nearby quarry and when operational the plant is expected to employ 800 people.
In October 2011, Polimeks launched a similar plant in the west of Turkmenistan, in the area of the city of Jebel in the Balkan region. Its cost is estimated at Euro180m.
UltraTech starts US$297m capacity expansion at Chhattisgarh 20 February 2013
India: UltraTech Cement, a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, has started a US$297m capacity expansion project with the help of International Finance Corporation (IFC), the multilateral lending arm of World Bank Group. About US$100m of the project comprises loans from the IFC.
The proposed project comprises a brown field expansion at UltraTech's operational integrated plant in Chhattisgarh and the investment for the necessary infrastructure to support the expansion. In a recent statement IFC said that the project is a key component of the company's cement capacity expansion strategy in the eastern part of India. Located on 389 hectares of land, existing operations were commissioned in 1995. The existing facilities and ongoing expansion include expanding the clinker capacity up to 6.5Mt/yr, the cement line up to 6.5Mt/yr and taking a coal-fired captive power plant up to 80MW.
Currently, UltraTech has 12 integrated cement manufacturing plants, 15 grinding units, five bulk terminals and more than 100 ready mix concrete plants spanning India, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with a capacity of 52Mt/yr
India Cements revenue down by 54% to US$4.84m in third quarter 20 February 2013
India: South India's largest cement producer by volume, India Cements, has reported that its revenue fell by 54% to US$4.84m in the quarter ending on 31 December 2012. The producer reported US$10.4m in the same period in 2011.
However, the company's revenues rose by 14.82% to US$200m in the quarter. The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) remained steady at US$36.1m. .
"Considering the problems we had in the quarter the performance is good. Almost all costs went up sharply. For example, freight and handling costs are up 25% year-on-year," said vice chairman and managing director N Srinivasan. "For us, the EBIDTA is steady at around 18% sequentially when there was substantial drop in margins for competitions."
Srinivasan added that India Cements' expansion into many locations also helped to increase capacity utilisation in the quarter, which was about 70%. The company is looking at strong growth in some of the markets like Gujarat. It is also contemplating adding one more production line in its Mahi plant in Rajasthan, which currently has a capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. The proposed expansion may entail an investment of up to US$130m.
Poor results on the Arabian Peninsula 19 February 2013
Saudi Arabia: Hail Cement has announced a net loss of US$7.1m, the third consecutive year with a net loss, although it reduced its loss from US$10.9m in 2011. Hail reported a 29.5% drop in revenue to US$391,635 and negative operating cash-flow.
UAE: Ras Al Khaimah Cement made a net loss of US$2.0m during the whole of 2012 despite a 15.1% increase in its revenue to US$60.5m. 2012 was the third year in five that the company made a loss. In 2011 the company made a net loss of US$5.4m.
Production begins at two new HeidelbergCement India plants 18 February 2013
India: HeidelbergCement India has successfully completed and commissioned two projects in Damoh district in central India, with production starting today at both facilities. It has increased production at its Narsingarh, Madhya Pradesh, plant from 1.2Mt/yr to 3.1Mt/yr. In Imlai it has taken its cement capacity from 1Mt/yr to 2Mt/yr.
HeidelbergCement India said that the expanded capacity will enable the company to increase its market share in central India, where the company's brand 'mycem' is already a premium brand.
Lagan and Quinn drop joint venture plans 15 February 2013
Ireland/UK: Lagan Cement and Quinn Building Products have dropped plans to form a joint venture (JV).
"Discussions have now concluded and both companies have decided not to progress further with the proposed joint venture," the companies said in a statement.
The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding December 2012 to explore the possibility of a JV between their cement and building products businesses based in Ballyconnell, Derrylin, Kinnegad, Belfast, Cork and Benelux. At the time, Quinn Manufacturing Group chief executive Paul O'Brien and his opposite number, Jude Lagan, said that the idea was to create a 'sustainable' independent Irish cement producer.
The decision follows the receipt of a package containing a bullet which was sent in the post to the Lagan's chief executive, Kevin Lagan. The bullet, which was sent to Lagan at his Belfast office, was accompanied by a message stating, "Quinn ... is this what you want".
"This is clearly an attempt to intimidate myself and the Lagan Group at a time when we are engaged in discussions with Quinn on combining our cement and building products businesses," said Lagan in a statement released on 14 February 2013.
Nepal heading towards self-reliance in cement 15 February 2013
Nepal: Nepalese cement plants are increasingly using their self-produced clinker for cement production in Nepal. In 2011 three cement manufacturers, Siddhartha, Bridge and Supreme, all based in the Lumbini Industrial Corridor, used to rely on clinker imported from India. Now, they produce more than 90% of the clinker that they require. These highlights show that areas of the country are slowly moving towards self-reliance on clinker.
According to cement producers quoted by the Katmandu Post, Nepal requires around 3Mt/yr of clinker. Of the total demand, only 18% is fulfilled by domestic production. With such demand, more domestic cement producers are starting clinker production. Sarbottam Cement, promoted by Saurav Group, and another cement factory of Dugar Group are also planning to start clinker production.
"There are a lot of hassles while importing clinker from India. If the industrial environment is improved, clinker import will not be required within the next three years," said Rajesh Agrawal, managing director of Argakhachi Cement. "It will save US$416.7m/yr."
In a bid to make the country self-reliant on clinker, the government recently decided to ban clinker imports within five years. According to the Industrial Promotion Board, domestic cement producers should either produce clinker on their own or manufacture cement by using clinker produced by Nepalese manufacturers after the imposition of the ban.
EPA issues revised cement plant emissions rule 14 February 2013
US: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a rule called 'National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the Portland Cement Manufacturing Industry and Standards of Performance for Portland Cement Plants.'
The rule, published in the Federal Register on 12 February 2013 by Lisa P Jackson, US EPA Administrator, states, "On 18 July 2012 the EPA proposed amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the Portland Cement Manufacturing Industry and the Standards of Performance for Portland Cement Plants. This final action amends the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for the Portland cement industry."
"The EPA is also promulgating amendments with respect to issues on which it granted reconsideration on 17 May 2011. In addition, the EPA is amending the new source performance standard for particulate matter. These amendments promote flexibility, reduce costs, ease compliance and preserve health benefits."
"The amendments also address the remand of the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for the Portland cement industry by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on 9 December 2011. Finally, the EPA is setting the date for compliance with the existing source national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants to be 9 September 2015."
Three of the big multinational cement producers - HeidelbergCement, Cemex and Italcementi - have already released preliminary reports for 2012. Here's what they tell us.
Geographically, performances in the Americas and Asia propped up balance sheets. Europe, however, continued to ruin the party in 2012.
In its Western and Northern Europe section HeidelbergCement saw a 3.9% decrease in sales of cement and clinker to 21.3Mt from 22.1Mt in 2011. However this was still higher than the sales in 2010 of 19.7Mt.
Cemex's Northern Europe section witnessed a 13% drop in overall net sales to Euro3.05bn. Its Mediterranean section did worse, with a 15% drop in net sales to Euro1.08bn. Both declines were similar to the falls in cement volumes in these regions. Italcementi watched its Central Western Europe region plummet by 16.1% to 16Mt.
To demonstrate the comparative exposure to Western Europe, 25% of HeidelbergCement's sale volumes came from Western Europe and 35% of Italcementi's sale volumes came from Western Europe. Cemex hasn't released any figures for sales of cement in its preliminary results but overall in cement, aggregates and concrete, 37% of its sales came from its two European regions.
HeidelbergCement noted that demand for construction materials remained stable in Germany and Northern Europe. However it weakened in the UK and the Netherlands. By contrast Cemex noted a decrease in cement volumes for the year in Germany although it became stable by the fourth quarter. For the UK it had the same experience as HeidelbergCement, with a similar downturn in France and Poland. In its Mediterranean region Cemex recorded a whopping 40% decrease in cement volumes. Although light on detail, Italcementi pointed out a 25% drop in cement consumption in Italy and a 8% drop in France and Belgium.
In November 2012 the European Commission forecast that gross domestic product (GDP) would fall by 0.3% in the European Union (EU) in 2012. Broadly in line with the national situations reported above, Germany's GDP is forecast to have risen in 2012; the UK's, the Netherlands', Belgium, Italy and Spain's GDPs looks to have fallen in 2012. Curiously though, both France and Poland were forecast to have improving GDPs in 2012. HeidelbergCement and Cemex's experiences suggest that this didn't happen in the French construction industry. The (next) light at the end of the tunnel for 2013 is that EU regional GDP growth is forecast to become positive again.
With Lafarge and Holcim due to release their annual report for 2012 in late February 2012, we'll revisit this topic in a few weeks time.
Holcim (US) appoints Filiberto Ruiz president and CEO 13 February 2013
US: The board of directors of Holcim (US) has appointed Filiberto Ruiz to serve as the company's president and chief executive officer. Ruiz's appointment also includes serving as president and chief executive officer of Aggregate Industries US, a Holcim Group Company.
Additionally, Bernard Terver, currently a member of the Holcim Ltd Executive Committee, formerly president and chief executive officer of Holcim (US) and Aggregate Industries US, has been named chairman of the board.
Ruiz has served as the company's deputy chief executive officer since August 2012 and has been with the company for more than 26 years, holding a range of general management, manufacturing and sales and marketing positions both within and outside of the US.
Terver has been president and chief executive officer of Holcim (US) since October 2008 and Aggregate Industries US since 2010. He has more than 30 years' experience in the cement and mineral components industry both in the US and internationally.