September 2024
Semen Indonesia continues to benefit from Holcim Indonesia acquisition as local sales fall 31 July 2019
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s revenue grew by 23% year-on-year to US$1.17bn in the first half of 2019 from US$0.95bn in the same period in 2018. Its net profit halved to US$34.3m from US468.8m. Its domestic sales volumes of cement fell by 7.17% to 7.78Mt in the first five months of 2019 from 10.54Mt in the same period in 2018. Exports rose by 7.42% to 1.38Mt from 1.28Mt. Both local sales and exports fell at its Thang Long Cement subsidiary in Vietnam. However, its acquisition of Holcim Philippines in February 2019 has boosted its overall sales by 17% to 15.2Mt.
Australia: Adelaide Brighton says that it expects its net profit, after tax excluding property, to be no higher than US$90m in 2019. This is a further reduction on the forecast of around US$110m it made in May 2019. It has blamed poor residential and civil construction markets, continued competition in Queensland and South Australia, growing raw material costs and fees related to a cancelled import order.
Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement’s sales revenue rose by 37% year-on-year to US$165m in the first half of 2019 from US$121m in the same period in 2018. Its net profit after Zakat and tax grew by 53% to US$56.3m from US$36.8m.
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement’s sales revenue rose by 26% year-on-year to US$194m in the first half of 2019 from US$154m in the same period in 2018. Its net profit after Zakat and tax grew by 12% to US$59.9m from US$53.4m.
Vietnam: Kien Giang province has granted an investment licence to Siam City Cement Vietnam for a limestone and clay mining project and a clinker kiln project in Kien Luong district. Both projects have a combined investment of around US$470m, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The subsidiary of Thailand’s Siam City Cement Group operates five plants in the country following its acquisition of Holcim Vietnam in 2017.
UK: Cemex has invested around Euro1m on relocating and upgrading its Eversley ready-mixed concrete plant. The new plant will be located at the Bramshill Quarry in Hampshire reducing the need for truck journeys to the fomer site nearby. The unit is being replaced with a Liebherr 2.25 mobile mix plant. The plant will have a storage capacity of 300t of cement, and 240t of aggregates. It will increase production from 80m3/hr to 24m3/hr. The inclusion of a central mixer will also enable special products such as traditional sand cement screed and flowing screeds like Supaflo to be produced, increasing the product range available.
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s profit fell in the first half of 2019 due to non-recurring effects related to the divestment of its assets in Ukraine. Its profit fell by 33% year-on-year to Euro291m in the first half of 2019 from Euro435m from in the same period in 2018. Its revenue rose by 9% to Euro9.21bn from Euro8.43bn. Its sales volumes of cement fell slightly to 61Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales volumes grew by 6% to 24.4Mm3. Its profit fell by 33% to Euro435m from Euro291m.
“In general, the market dynamics weakened slightly in the second quarter in comparison with the first quarter. Nevertheless, we were able to improve our result in the second quarter because of our strong global positioning. Good margins in Asia, as well as Western and Southern Europe, more than compensated for the weaker business due to adverse weather conditions in North America and the Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin Group area,” said Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.
Lucky Cement fights growing costs with export sales 30 July 2019
Pakistan: Lucky Cement has counteracted mounting costs with increased export sales. Its gross sales rose slightly to US$420m in its financial year to 30 June 2019. Its profit after tax fell by 14% year-on-year to US$65.2m from US$75.8m from the same period in 2018. Its cost of sales grew by 11% to US$190m from US$211m. Its cement sales volumes fell by 1.8% to 7.67Mt. However, its export sales increased by 60.9% to 1.82Mt.
The cement producer said that the first shipment of machinery from China’s Sinoma to its new 1.2Mt/yr integrated plant project at Samawah in Iraq. A power plant has also been ordered from Finland’s Wärtsilä. Commercial production at the site is planned for mid-2020.
Ciments du Maroc buys Atlantic Cement and Cimsud 30 July 2019
Morocco: Ciments du Maroc has signed a deal to buy Atlantic Cement and Cimsud from Anouar Invest Group. Atlantic Cement is building an integrated plant in Settat province and Cimsud has recently commissioned a 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant at Laâyoune. Ciments du Maroc said that the agreement would strengthen its market presence in the central region. The acquisition is planning to complete in the second half of 2019 subject to regulatory approval. No value for the purchase has been disclosed.
Ciments du Maroc, subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, operates three integrated cement plants and two grinding plants. It also runs 30 ready-mixed conrete plants and four quarries.
Alpacem buys terminal in Trieste 30 July 2019
Italy: Austria’s Alpacem purchased a terminal and bagging plant at Trieste in Italy from Italcementi in April 2019 for an undisclosed sum. The unit will be run by the company’s Slovenian Salonit Anhovo subsidiary with support from its Italian subsidiary W&P Cementi. Cement processed at the terminal will be delivered from the Salonit Anhovo integrated plant in Slovenia for sale in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia.