September 2024
Maasai seek to calm cement fears 07 March 2012
Kenya: The Maasai Council of Elders (MCE) has assured cement manufacturing companies in Athi River of their willingness to allow them get raw materials from Kajiado county, following disputes over land. MCE spokesman, William Kirrinkai, gave the assurance after a meeting of stakeholders and representatives of the five cement manufacturers at Nkurrunka area in Kitengela.
Kirrinkai is also the treasurer of the recently-formed special council mediator group to negotiate the re-opening of all the mines that had been closed over alleged misunderstandings between the locals and the companies. He was quick to point out that earlier demands made by the MCE still stand.
The elders had given an ultimatum to the companies to look again at their social corporate responsibilities and consider some of the requirements of the Maasai community. Some of the demands were the implementation of employment quota for Maasai young graduates, two directorial positions in all of the companies, building of health centres in all the mining areas, building of tarmac roads in areas leading to the mines and helping members of the community pay school fees for their children.
During a meeting on the matter at Kitengela on 27 February 2012, the East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) and Athi River Mining Cement (ARMC) representatives requested to be given time to consider the demands. Kirrinkai, who attended the meeting, agreed with the then EAPCC chairman, Mark Karbolo, and ARMC's representative Peter Danga to meet again on 10 March 2012 to review the matter.
Kirrinkai separately addressed more than 2000 members of the local Maasais and other communities in Kajiado County, saying that local and non-locals living in the region have a right to all the available resources.
Brazil: Cement manufacturer Holcim, which already operates cement plants in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, is considering a new plant or joint-venture with a company already established in the Brazilian cement market. The group has untouched limestone reserves in the south, mid-west and the north east regions to offer any potential collaborator.
Holcim President Otmar Hübscher said that the company has been looking at possible locations and wants to focus Holcim to meet the growing cement demand in Brazil, where it is currently operating at its 5.3Mt/yr capacity. The company has already announced an US$800m expansion of its plant in Barroso, Minas Gerais. It is presently waiting for environmental clearance for the project, which will see that plant increase its capacity from 1.2Mt/yr to 3.5Mt/yr by 2014.
Iranian cement exports up 07 March 2012
Iran: Cement exports from Iran increased to over 9.3Mt in the first 11 months of its current calendar year, which ended on 19 February 2012, marking a 17% rise compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports of clinker stood at 1.5Mt in the same period of time.
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari announced that, with the implementation of new projects, the country's cement capacity could reach 110Mt/yr by the end of 2015.
Venezuela: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has authorised the transfer of US$10m to build a new quarry to help stimulate cement production in the country. The executive also greenlighted a measure to change local cement firm Cemex Venezuela's name to Venezolana de Cementos, as well as measures to develop and strengthen the firm.
The Venezuelan government nationalised Cemex Venezuela, formerly operated by Mexican cement maker Cemex in August 2008. The Mexican firm received US$600m in compensation in 2011.
Chávez also said that future investments for the cement sector would aim to develop relevant technology, perform environmental impact studies and improve benefits for cement workers.
Siam Cement targets Indonesia for major investment 05 March 2012
Indonesia: Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG) has revealed plans to build a new cement plant in Indonesia to capitalise on the country's rapidly-growing demand for construction materials. Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of SCG, said that the company would invest US$300m in a cement plant in Sukabumi, West Java. The plant will have a capacity of 5000t/day and construction is expected to start by the end of 2012.
The investment comes after SCG bought a 100% stake valued at US$135m in Boral Indonesia, a company that produces ready-mixed concrete, from Australia-based Boral in February 2012. Kan said that SCG's growth lies outside of Thailand and that Indonesia is a big part of that.
The SCG chief, who has previously lived and worked in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, said that he had been impressed with Indonesia's improvement during the past few years. "During the last four to five years, the growth was very good. SCG has a lot of confidence in Indonesia," he said. Kan said he that he was not afraid of competition with Indonesia's more established cement makers as SCG had already acquired supporting companies such as Kokoh Inti Arebama, an Indonesian construction-material distributor.
Semen Gresik, Indonesia's largest cement producer, and other cement makers plan to invest a total of US$6.27bn during the next three years to boost production. The investment is expected to produce an additional 30Mt/yr of cement in the country, with annual output reaching 90Mt/yr in 2017 from 52Mt in 2011. Chaovalit Ekabut, SCG's chief financial officer, added that demand for SCG's products remained high in Indonesia.
Looking ahead, Kan said that in the next five years, the company would invest US$5bn in its ASEAN-country operations. In 2012 it will spend US$1.3-1.5bn in various regional investments, but Kan did not disclose how much the company has set aside for Indonesia.
Titan profit drops by 89% 02 March 2012
Greece: Titan Cement, Greece's biggest cement producer, has posted an 89% drop in its 2011 net profit compared to that of 2010. It has forecast further declines in 2012 after the collapse of the building industry in its recession-hit home market. The company, which recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, said that it will not distribute a dividend for the first time in 58 years.
Titan has been hit hard by a plunge in private housing investment and drastic cutbacks in public spending on infrastructure in Greece, which is stuck in its fifth year of recession at the centre of the Eurozone crisis.
The group said that its net profit fell to Euro11m in 2011 from Euro103m in 2010. Conditions at home are not expected to improve in 2012.
"In Greece there is no visibility at this time of either a reversal of the downward trend in private construction or the much anticipated restarting of infrastructure works," the company said in a statement."Demand for the group's products will record a further considerable decline in 2012."
The company has been counting on growth in new markets such as north Africa and Turkey to offset building slumps in Greece and the United States and difficult conditions in Egypt where it also has operations. However, political unrest in Libya, where Titan runs two cement plans, halted exports to the region throughout 2011. Group sales across all of Titan's markets declined by 19% year-on-year to Euro1.1bn in 2011. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 23% to Euro243m.
Titan has embarked on a two-year restructuring plan, which is expected to cut costs by Euro26m/yr. The impact of the restructuring and a Euro19m asset impairment charge hurt its fourth quarter performance. In the last quarter of 2011, Titan had a net loss of Euro42m versus a net profit of Euro5m in the same period in 2010.
UK: Lafarge UK is celebrating the achievement of one of its UK cement production sites, which has reached the milestone of 10 years without a lost-time injury (LTI). Workers at the Cookstown Works in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, have not suffered any injury that prevents an employee or contractor returning to work the next day since 2002.
Thanks to a strong team commitment to safety, the achievement has put Cookstown Works in the Lafarge Group's record books. Of the company's 170 cement production sites across the world, this is the longest any site has gone without a LTI.
Commenting on the major achievement, Cookstown Works manager William McGuckne said, "This is a proud moment for the team. Through continued hard work and constant vigilance on safety in all aspects of our operation, we have managed to maintain our safety performance and achieve this fantastic record. A culture of assessing risks, proceeding with care and looking out for each other has helped us contribute to the Lafarge Group's ultimate goal of zero harm to any of our employees or contractors."
Lafarge UK president Dyfrig James added, "My congratulations go to the whole Cookstown Works team of employees and contractors for achieving this world first for Lafarge's cement business."
Cimpor propped up by emerging markets 01 March 2012
Portugal: In 2011 Cimentos de Portugal (Cimpor), Portugal's largest cement group, posted a net profit of Euro198.1m, down 18% year-on-year but turnover rose by 1.6% to Euro2.3bn.
The group, which is currently more than 50%-owned by Brazilian groups Camargo Corrêa and Votorantim, saw its interests in Mozambique, China, Brazil and Turkey bolster its results for the year. In Mozambique Cimpor's turnover rose by 30% to Euro114.6m and in China it was by over 20% to Euro127.6m, according to the group's chairman Francisco Lacerda.
The group's turnover also rose by 13% to Euro689m in Brazil while Portugal (-13.7%), Spain (-8.3%) and Egypt (-27%) were markets in which the group's turnover decreased."Because of its economic vigour and the size of the group's presence in that market, Brazil continued to be the main growth driver in Cimpor's portfolio," said Lacerda.
Between a wet and a dry kiln 29 February 2012
A US environmental pressure group is reportedly claiming that Ash Grove has started the process to close two of its wet kilns in Midlothian, Texas. Ash Grove has retorted that the decision is not final yet.
The move fits with a new emissions timetable imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to come into effect in 2013. Yet Ash Grove's response also suggests that it is keeping an eye on the impending Cement Sector Relief Act. Approved by the US House of Representatives in October 2011 with strong Republican support, if this bill makes it to law then the EPA will be forced to recind some of its existing rules concerning emissions from cement plants. This situation could help Ash Grove to manage its kiln investment. Either way, it's no wonder that Ash Grove hasn't committed yet.
All this democratic uncertainty contrasts rather nicely with the last missive from the Chinese Ministry of Information and Technology announcing more cement industry targets as part of the latest Five-year Plan. China's cement industry will source 65% of its electrical needs from waste materials by 2015. Simple! China is currently dealing with wet kilns in a similar fashion. They are being 'eliminated.'
Before we become too fixated on supposed Western decline, our third kiln-related story this week follows a test run at the Lafarge-Strabag plant in Hungary. Billed as one of the most environmentally friendly plants in Europe, the 1Mt/yr facility is due to be finished by 2015. Just in time for China's next Five-Year Plan.
CRH announces shuffles to the board 29 February 2012
Ireland: The board of CRH has appointed Nicky Hartery as chairman designate and Heather Ann McSharry as a non-executive director. Hartley will succeed the present chairman, Kieran McGowan after the company's annual general meeting in May 2012.
Hartery, aged 60, who joined the board of CRH in 2004, was vice president of manufacturing and business operations for Dell Inc.'s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations from 2000 to 2008. Prior to joining Dell he was executive vice president at Eastman Kodak and previously held the position of president and chief executive officer at Verbatim Corporation in the United States. Hartery is a chartered engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, an electrical engineering graduate from University College Cork and holds an MBA from University College Galway.
McSharry, aged 50, is chairman of the board of trustees of Bank of Ireland Pension Fund and is a director of Ergonomics Solutions International, IDA Ireland and the Institute of Directors. She is a former managing director of Reckitt Benckiser and Boots Healthcare in Ireland and was previously a director of Bank of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Studies degree from University College Dublin.