November 2024

India: Local villagers have been accused of setting fire to the JK Lakshmi Cement plant at Malpuri Khurd in Durg district on 4 April 2013. Police arrested 50 people following the disturbance.

Villagers of Malpuri Khurd, located around 50km from the state capital, were staging demonstrations in demand for jobs at the cement plant in exchange for their farmland. According to police reports the protest turned violent as around 200 protesters set fire to infrastructure including the cement plant, cars and tractors on the on the 80-acre site.

A company official for JK Lakshmi Cement estimated the loss in the fire to be around US$92m to US$128m, stating that almost 50% of the plant was gutted in the fire. The plant 's employees and officers also alleged that they were attacked by the mob.

However, villagers claim they did not set fire to the plant. Some villagers have been reported as having left their homes fearing police retaliation and local media has reported claims of intimidation by the plant management.

India: Chettinad Cement has proposed setting up a 100MW captive power plant (CPP) as a part of its 4Mt/yr cement plant in Solapur district in Maharashtra.

The proposed CPP, comprising two units of 50MW each, would require 600,000t/yr of coal. Of the total requirement, 70% would be imported coal and the remaining 30% would be indigenous coal procured from the open market. Until the 100MW CPP is commissioned, the 34.4MW power requirement of the cement plant will be met by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB).

The US$121m project is has been conceived by Chettinad Cement with a view to entering the western and central markets of the country and in turn have a pan-Indian presence.

India: Jaiprakash Associates has asked the Himachal Pradesh government for permission to start land acquisition for its cement plant in the state, according to the Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri. He said that the company required 212 hectares, including 158 hectares of forest land, for the plant at Malokhar in Bilaspur district. "The company has now sought permission to start acquisition of 172 hectares," said Agnihotri.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and the company for the project was signed on 18 August 2010. The forest clearance for the project was given by the state on 10 October 2011.

China: Following a recent trend for declining profits in the Chinese cement sector, Henan Tongli Cement Co Ltd has announced that it expects to record a poor performance for the first quarter of 2013. It says that its net profit will drop by 88.5-99.6% year-on-year to between US$16,100 and US$484,000 in the first quarter of 2013.

Pakistan: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Lafarge Pakistan Ltd and the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) for provision of health and safety training and awareness to all its members. Amr Reda, CEO of Lafarge Pakistan observed, "The cement industry operates in an environment with multiple types of hazards, making it our priority to ensure the safety of all people, working directly and indirectly, in it."

The APCMA welcomed the initiative and is encouraging all of its members to not only study and apply these safety standards and take the initiative to share the best practices across their organisations. Aizaz Sheikh, CEO of Kohat Cement and Chairman of APCMA stated, "APCMA is thankful to Lafarge Pakistan for coming forward with the idea and are happy to embrace this initiative. The proposal was unanimously approved by the council and the APCMA looks forward to further initiatives under this MoU".

Amr Reda expressed his delight on the APCMA agreement, saying, "We are happy to share our learning and best practices with other companies through the platform of the APCMA. As part of our long-term commitment to health and safety, Lafarge Pakistan will continue to impart knowledge and awareness on this subject to other industrial establishments in Pakistan."

Sri Lanka: Pakistan's Thatta Cement is proceeding towards the construction of a US$15m grinding plant in Sri Lanka after signing a 25-year lease agreement with the island's port agency in the week ending 5 April 2013.

The plant, with a capacity of 0.3Mt/yr, will be located at the Hambantota port in the southern Sri Lankan region of Hambantota District. It is expected to grind 0.1Mt of cement in the first year, catering to the domestic market. It will gradually increase its output to 0.3Mt/yr. A second stage expansion is expected to take capacity up to 1Mt/yr.

"The team at Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) were all supportive," said Thatta's chief financial officer, Muhamad Taha Hamdani. "At the last meeting with SLPA chairman, he was very supportive. There was a certain issue (but this) was solved within 15 to 20 minutes."

Thatta Cement chief executive Fazlullah Shariff said the firm had been exporting more than 0.1Mt/yr of cement to Sri Lanka since 2011 and that the firm had acceptance among constructors in the country. He said the grinding plant would not be limited to clinker from Pakistan but would also accept clinker from other countries depending on the international movement of prices.

Egypt: Suez Cement, Egypt's biggest cement maker by market value, has said that a lack of fuel supplies had forced it to cut production by as much as 30% so far in 2013. Two years of political upheaval have brought chaos to Egypt's economy and a lack of state funds and foreign currency is now disrupting imports of vital energy supplies.

"A lack of fuel supplies has cut our annual production of 12Mt/yr by 20-30% since the start of the year," said Mohamed Shanan, director of business development at Suez Cement, a subsidiary of Italy's Italcementi. "Any increase in (fuel) prices must be matched by an increase in cement prices," he told local press. He highlighted that fuel costs had doubled in the past three year while cement prices have grown by just 30%.

Long queues at petrol stations, protests at cooking gas shortages and ever more frequent power cuts point to a gathering fuel crisis in the North African country. Energy accounts for around half the cost of producing cement in Egypt.

Turkey: Adana Çimento reported a total revenue 0.1% lower in the final quarter of 2012 than in the same period of 2011, taking US$41.4m. Its net profit, however, grew by over half year-on-year, rising by 50.2% to US$19.3m for the quarter.

Batisoke Soke Çimento saw its 2012 sales revenue fall by 4.5% to U$45.0m from US$45.2m in 2011.

Bursa Çimento's saw its net profit and revenue both fall in 2012. Its net profit dropped by 73.6% to US$6.7m on revenues that were 9.2% lower than in 2011 at US$274.2m.

Çimsa Çimento saw its revenue increase by 7.9% year-on-year in 2012 compared to 2011, taking US$487m over the year. However, the company saw its net profit fall by 6.5% year-on-year to US$64.5m in 2012.

Çimentas Izmir has reported a net profit of US$16.3m for 2012, 38.2% more than it earnt in 2011. The company has made a profit in four of the past five years. The company's sales revenue came in at US$333.7m for 2012, a 6.9% improvement on 2011 when it took US$297m in sales.

Mardin Çimento made a net profit of US$20.5m in 2012 after it saw its net profit slump by 56.4% compared to 2011. The company's total revenue was down by 19.7% to US$116m.

Unye Çimento's total revenue was down by 19.7% to US$116m in the fourth quarter of 2012, while its net profit for the quarter was 46.8% higher year-on-year at US$10.5m.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement, a construction materials producer in Kazakhstan, has announced that it sold 166,121t of cement in the first quarter of 2013 compared to 170,000t in 2012. However, its revenue from cement sales was US$15.1m, 17% higher than the US$12.9m that it took in the first quarter of 2012.

While it sold more cement in the first quarter of 2013 than in the same period of 2012, Steppe Cement was unable to keep pace with expansion in the wider Kazakh market. It saw its domestic market share fall to 15% in the first quarter of 2013 versus 18% in the first quarter of 2012.

Germany: HeidelbergCement said that its profits would be hit by about Euro30m in the second quarter of 2013 due to a fine for infringement of cartel rules. HeidelbergCement said that the fine, a total of Euro161.4m for cartel infringements during the years 1990 to 2002, would not affect its earnings outlook.