Displaying items by tag: ARM Cement
South Africa: ARM Cement Ltd has yet to receive its directors' approval for a plan to construct a plant in South Africa.
"We have not approved any budget or plans at our board yet," said Pradeep Paunrana, managing director of ARM Cement. Mafikeng Cement, in which ARM has a 70% stake, plans to build a 3000t/day plant in South Africa.
ARM Cement is considering selling Eurobonds to help fund a planned US$300m expansion programme that will double cement production within four years, according to Paunrana.
African nations are investing heavily in the construction of ports, railways and power generation projects that will help to accelerate economic growth. Kenya's cement consumption has surged by 60% to 85.7kg/capita since 2009, while South Africa's has increased to 300kg/capita and Egypt's has reached 500kg/capita.
ARM announces new Kenyan plant to counter Dangote's advances
23 December 2013Kenya: ARM Cement is set to build Kenya's largest cement plant in Kitui County, setting it up for a fight with Nigeria's Dangote Cement, which also has plans to open a U$400m plant in the same region.
ARM says that it will raise up to US$300m to fund new plants including the planned unit in Kitui, which will produce 8000t/day (~2.5Mt/yr) of cement. This will make it the single largest cement factory in the country and places the unit ahead of the planned Dangote plant, which has a planned daily capacity of 5500t/day (~1.8Mt/yr). ARM's fund-raising will be done through a mixture of bank loans, corporate bonds and rights issues.
"We plan to start construction of the Kitui plant late in 2014. It is a major development for us," said Pradeep Paunrana, ARM's chief executive, to the Daily Press.
This announcement will re-open the fight for Kitui mines, which were the subject of a fierce court battle between ARM and Bamburi Cement in 2010. The 100km2 area is rich with high-quality limestone. The East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has also directed its management to strike a deal with Kitui County so that it can secure key raw materials and counter moves made by Dangote and local rivals.
Kenya produced 4.7Mt of cement in 2012, up from 2.8Mt in 2008, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. With double-digit cement market growth expected in the coming years, Kenya has caught the eye of Dangote Cement and new entrants National Cement and Mombasa Cement as well as the established players.
Kenya: ARM Cement's pre-tax profits for the first half of 2013 have risen by 28% year-on-year to US$11.5m driven by a rise in cement sales, according to Reuters. The Kenyan cement producer has also forecast a strong performance for the second half of 2013.
Kenya: ARM Cement (formerly known as Athi River Mining Ltd) has posted a net profit of US$9.71m for the first nine months of 2012. This marks a 328% growth in profit compared to same period in 2011 when it made US$2.26m. ARM's turnover has climbed by 29% to US$90.7m, driven primarily by higher sales of its Rhino Cement brand.
ARM Cement Ltd received US$50m from the African Finance Corporation (AFC) to partly fund a plant in Tanzania as well as expansion efforts into the region. Rhino Cement, which is ARM's flagship brand, was launched in Tanzania in October 2012.
"(The Tanzanian launch) will contribute to the group revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012," said the company in a statement. The statement further explained that construction at a 1.2Mt/yr clinker plant in Tanga is progressing to schedule. ARMs' overall outlook remains optimistic for the immediate future with expectations of growth in demand for Rhino Cement and other products.
Meanwhile, Standard Investment Bank (SIB) has announced that, since 2007, the cement industry players in east Africa have invested over US$500m into capacity expansion projects in the region. This investment has seen cement grinding capacity in the region increase by 65.8% over the same period to 10.4Mt/yr, a figure that SIB expects to further increase by 41.8% to 14.76Mt/yr by 2015.
Between 2001 and 2010 total cement traded across the East African Community jumped from 0.45Mt/yr to 2.18Mt/yr. Kenya remains the region's largest net exporter with 0.61Mt in 2010, up from 0.23Mt in 2002. Rwanda is the largest net importer with 0.21Mt in 2010.