November 2024

Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has declared a profit after tax of US$21.0m for the quarter ending 30 September 2012, 33.8% higher than the same quarter of 2011 when it made a net profit of US$15.7m.

Gross profit for Lucky Cement, which is Pakistan's largest cement manufacturer, increased by a similar margin. This rose by 32.9% year-on-year as its net sales revenue improved by 18.1% to US$92.4m. Higher sales volume in the domestic markets, in line with the company's strategy gave rise to the increased profit.

Lucky's local sales volume during the quarter grew by 5%, rising to 0.86Mt compared to 0.82Mt sold during the 2011 quarter. However, its export sales volume declined by 9% from 0.62Mt to 0.56Mt. This was mainly due to intentional focus on the domestic markets, which increased the overall profitability of the company. The company also managed to decrease its financing cost by 76% compared to 2011.

Lucky has also reported that it had successfully sourced uninterrupted electricity from Hesco since 1 July 2012, averaging a supply of over 20MW/hr during the quarter. It said that this new source of electricity had helped to reduce Pakistan's power generation problems.

The company also reported progress with respect to its joint venture investment in a new cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where plant and machinery has been negotiated and finalised with a renowned European supplier, and on its joint venture investment for a grinding facility in Iraq, where the teams for the project have been mobilised at the site.

Oman: Oman Cement is in the process of increasing its cement grinding capacity by installing an additional 15t/hr cement mill. The tender process has been initiated for building the plant, according to the company's chairman Dr Abdullah Abbas Ahmed.

Oman Cement is also planning to improve the pollution control equipment on its line 2 to control dust emission levels. It is in the process of identifying a consultant for this project.

Meanwhile, the company said that its net profit increased by 32.5% to US$30.4m for the first nine months of 2012, from US$25.2m for the same period of 2011. Its sales revenue also increased, to US$108.5m, compared to US$94.2m during the period.

The company has achieved sales of 1.69Mt for the first nine months of 2012 compared to 1.40Mt for the same period of 2011.

Italy: Italcementi has announced that it will invest Euro150m in order to revamp its cement plant in Rezzato, which was built in 1964. Italcementi has stated that it wants to turn the plant into the most modern and ecological cement plant in Europe, with work set to start in November 2012. It said that the opening of the adapted plant would be scheduled for some time towards the end of 2014.

Italcementi's CEO Carlo Pesenti said that the restructuring would lead to an improvement in the environmental and economic sustainability of the plant, as well as cutting production costs by 23% and reducing specific consumption of raw materials by 8%.

Lafarge UK's release of its 2011 Sustainability Report for its cement business this week presented some bold headline figures. Key statistics for the period covering 2009 - 2011 included a 17% reduction in CO2 emissions through the use of solid recovered fuels (SRF), a 17% reduction in the use of electricity and a 26% cut in emissions to air.

For a European producer this is some positive news in a time of gloom. Looking a little deeper into the report reveals the usual ambiguities that can arise with interpreting statistics. Lafarge UK's fossil fuel consumption actually rose by 9% from 285,000t in 2009 to 311,000t in 2011. CO2 emissions to air rose by 15% from 2.31Mt to 2.65Mt. In terms of emissions per tonne of Portland Cement Equivalent (tPCE), the figures are more encouraging with fossil fuel use decreasing from 87kg/tPCE to 82kg/tPCE (6%) and CO2 emissions remaining stable at 704kg/tPCE. These figures are good considering that Lafarge's production increased from 2009 to 2011 due to construction for the London 2012 Olympics.

As mentioned in Edwin A R Trout's article 'The British cement industry in 2011 and 2012' the move to refuse-derived fuels (RDF) has consistently made the news with projects at several Lafarge plants. RDF use at Lafarge UK plants rose by 48%, from 92,758t in 2009 to 137,143t in 2011. Each of the alternate fuels – tyres, waste-derived liquid fuel, processed sewage pellets (PSP), meat and bone meal, SRF – roughly increased its unit share per tonne of cement produced by 2%.

Lafarge UK is clearly reacting to uncertain input costs and preparing for any further future green taxes. It failed to meet its 2011 target rate for RDF substitution of 31% (it reached 29%) but it has raised the target to 35% for 2012. It is also continuing to secure permits for PSP use at its Dunbar plant and SRF use at its Hope plant, although by the time this is approved Hope may be someone else's facility. However, the key question is, how can Lafarge push alternate fuels? It will be interesting to see how much Lafarge UK's fuel mix can be reduced in cost over the next five years.

India: Sagar Cements has announced its director, Wemer CR Poot, has resigned from the board with effect from 28 September 2012. John Eric Fernand Pascal Cesar Bertrand has been appointed as the new company director from 17 October 2012.

Germany: Indian filter manufacturer Himenviro has invested in Intensiv-Filter & Co KG. On 1 October 2012 Himenviro acquired around 60 employees at Intensiv-Filter's Velbert-Langenberg site. The German industrial dust specialist declared insolvency in May 2012.

"The competence and experience of the Intensiv-Filter team combined with the technical know-how of the investor has set the course for a long-term successful filter technology company," said temporary insolvency trustee Dr Marc d'Avoine. Part of the agreement between the insolvency administrator and the Himenviro was to maintain the employment of Intensiv-Filter's experienced workforce.

Thailand: Siam Cement's third-quarter net profit has fallen by 13% to US$201m from US$240m. The conglomerate blamed higher expenses and the cost of sales.

For the quarter ending on 30 September 2012, sales increased by 11% to US$3.39bn from US$3.01bn. The cost of sales rose by 9.1% to US$2.89bn from US$2.65bn. Total expenses grew by 15% to US$305m from US$266m. Contributions from the cement unit rose by 33% to US$2.45bn.

Despite the profit decline, the conglomerate said that its board had approved plans to spend US$358m on a new cement plant in Indonesia and US$179m on an expansion of its cement business in Cambodia. Siam Cement has aggressively expanded its business in local and overseas markets over the past few years, particularly in members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as it seeks to boost future income and diversify risk across markets.

South Africa: Sephaku Cement, a subsidiary of Nigeria's Dangote Cement, has secured US$223m of domestic debt funding for a US$389m cement plant and grinding facility project in Mpumalanga and North West provinces.

Two of the country's big four banks, Standard Bank and Nedbank, advised by Sasfin Capital, have jointly funded the 10-year deal. Sephaku said this was a 'strong' vote of confidence in South Africa's market and that the agreement would enable it to become a significant competitor in the wholesale and retail cement trade in the region.

Sephaku Cement, established in 2006, is an associate of JSE-listed Sephaku Holdings, a 64%-owned subsidiary of Nigerian-based Dangote Cement. Dangote had invested more than US$126m in the venture, the largest ever foreign direct investment in South Africa by an African company. The new project includes a production facility, which would produce about 1.2Mt/yr, at Aganang near Lichtenburg in North West.

India: Business conglomerate Aditya Birla Group has revived negotiations to purchase cement manufacturer Jaiprakash Associates' cement plants in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Aditya Birla is reported to have made an offer of up to US$130/t to buy the cement assets of Jaiprakash Associates which have an overall capacity of 9.8Mt. This follows Irish building materials firm CRH decision to cancel talks with Jaiprakash Associates in early October 2012. In August 2012 CRH was reportedly close to buying a 51% equity stake in the Indian cement producer's plants in Gujarat. Top officials from Aditya Birla's cement business and executives from foreign lender Barclays Bank are in talks to finalise the pricing of the deal.

US: The Carroll County Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved plans by Lehigh Cement Co. that will allow it to build an underground conveyor system from the company's New Windsor quarry to the plant in Union Bridge, Maryland.

The conveyor transportation systems are now allowed to be built in both the county's industrial zoning districts and the agricultural district. Conveyor systems will be prohibited in residential districts and in all other zoning types they will be listed as a conditional use, which means they would have to be approved by the county board of zoning appeals. Lehigh Cement has said that a conveyor system is the favoured method for transporting limestone from its quarry to the plant in Union Bridge, about 6km away, compared to other options like using rail or trucks.

Once completed the conveyer will carry about 12,000t/day of stone from the quarry to the plant. Lehigh needs to get material from the new quarry after its quarry in Union Bridge ends production in 2020. Lehigh says the conveyor will be 3m to 20m underground.