Displaying items by tag: Anhui Conch

Lots of fascinating information has been emerging in recent weeks about changes in the Chinese cement industry as the larger producers have published their annual financial results. One example is the focus on using alternative fuels to fire up kilns. As explained below, the spotlight on co-processing is state-mandated and this is why the producers are now keen to promote their adherence. Even so, as ever with China, the scale of the change is staggering.

For example, Anhui Conch reported that it had completed 15 waste treatment projects and one sludge treatment project in 2016. In addition it had three projects still undergoing construction at the year-end. The group said that it co-processed 600,000t of domestic waste in its cement kilns in 2016. All of this was achieved by a company that says it only started co-processing municipal waste from its first project in 2010. China Resources Cement’s (CRC) progress was slower but it managed to start a co-processing project at its plant in Binyang County, Guangxi in December 2015 and a sludge project in Nanning City, Guangxi in July 2016. New projects at Tianyang County, Guangxi and Midu County, Yunnan are being built at present, with completion expected by the end of 2017.

Long held rumours about production overcapacity in China came to head in 2015 with the National Bureau of Statistics in China (NBSC) reporting that sales dropped in 2015 following a decade of steady growth. Then the results of most of major producers followed this by falling in 2015. CRC presented a good history of what happened next in the Chinese cement industry in its results report [LINK]. In brief, in 2016 the Chinese government implemented supply-side structural reforms focusing on production efficiency, reiterating attempts to stop new production capacity being built and pushing environmental reforms. Throughout the year various government offices released guidelines to encourage market consolidation, cut obsolete production capacity, increase co-processing rates and decrease the energy needed to produce each tonne of clinker.

Graph 1: Cement sales in China, 2012 – 2016. Source: National Bureau of Statistics in China.

Whether or not any of this has helped the Chinese cement industry to overcome the problems it faced in 2015 is unclear. As Graph 1 shows, Chinese cement sales started to rise again slightly to 2.35Bnt in 2016 from 2.31Bnt in 2015. Sales revenue from some of the major cement producers presents a more varied picture as can be seen in Graph 2. Anhui Conch’s revenue rose by 9.7% year-on-year to US$8.12bn in 2016, China National Building Material Company’s (CNBM) revenue rose by 1% to US$14.8bn and CRC’s revenue fell by 4.2% to US$3.3bn. CRC may have suffered here from its relative business concentration in southeast China. Both Anhui Conch’s and CNBM’s results seemed to look patchy in mid-2016 when they released their half-year reports, but both sales and profits seemed to pick up sharply in the second half of the year.

Graph 2: Sales revenue from selected major Chinese cement producers. Source: Company annual reports.

As the current set of structural reforms kick in within the Chinese cement industry it will be interesting to see what happens next. From plans to cut 10% of local clinker production capacity by 2020 to ambitious environmental aims the sector barely has time to catch its breath. The question is whether the major producers balance sheets are being helped more by a recovering local market or by the reforms. Either way the uptake of alternative fuels is encouraging.

Uzbekistan: China’s Anhui Conch has met with representatives of the Umar Corporation to discuss building a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Samarkand. Delegates from Anhui Conch visited proposed sites to build the unit in late March 2017, according to the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper. Representatives from Umar plan to visit China in April 2017 to complete the negotiations. The expansion plans by the Chinese cement producer are part of its country’s government-sponsored plans to expand its industries internationally.

China: Anhui Conch returned to rising sales revenue and profit in 2016 after a problematic year in 2015 beset by a poor market for cement. Its revenue rose by 9.7% year-on-year to US$8.12bn in 2016 from US$7.40bn in 2015. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker rose by 8% to 277Mt. Its net profit rose by 14% to US$1.24bn from US$1.09bn. The group says that its adoption of a flexible marketing strategy for different regions and plants and a focus on lowering production costs delivered sales growth and operating savings. However, its full year results are in contrast to its ones for the first nine months of 2016, in which it reported small declines in its revenue and net profit.

During the year the cement producer finished building six clinker production lines at Yingjiangyunhan Cement and Yiyang Conch Cement and it completed 18 cement grinding plants at Wenshan Conch Cement and Ganzhou Conch Cement. In addition to purchased the assets of Anhui Chaodong Cement. Outside of China the group completed lines in Indonesia and Myanmar, started buildings projects in Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos and started early work on new projects in Russia and Myanmar. At the end of 2016 the group says it has a clinker and cement production capacity of 244Mt/yr and 313Mt/yr respectively. It also reported that it had completed 15 waste treatment projects by the end of the year to feed cement plant kilns with domestic waste.

China: Anhui Conch has reported that its revenue fell by 0.05% year-on-year to US$5.6bn in the first nine months of 2016. Its net profit fell by 2.2% to US$881m from US$901m. Although after extraordinary items, due to government subsidies and asset disposals, its profit rose by 28% to US$782m. No comment was made on the results but the cement producer did note that its prepayments for coal and other raw materials and fuel rose during the third quarter of the year.

Check out this graph of Chinese cement prices from September 2015. An author at Business Insider attributes it to Larry Hu, the Chief China Economist for Macquarie. It pretty much sums up the mood analysts have at the moment regarding the Chinese cement industry.

Figure 1: China cement prices, 2012 – 2015. Source: CEIC, Bloomberg, Macquarie Research September 2015.

The recent announcement by the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission regarding the merger of China National Building Materials Group Corporation (CNBM) and China National Materials Group Corporation (Sinoma) comes hot on the heels of a series of poor half-year financial returns from China’s major cement producers. Attempts to tackle overcapacity in its local cement industry have been underway for a few years now. Actions taken include demolishing outmoded capacity, merging companies and expanding overseas. However as the construction markets have cooled in the country the scope of what the cement industry is facing has become clear, as revenues and profits have tumbled.

Now that the first half cement sales volume data has become available from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC) the response of the cement industry to its predicament has emerged. As can be seen in Figure 2 there has been a rough trend of sales decline throughout 2014 and 2015. The first half of 2016 has started to buck this trend as sales volumes have risen year-on-year for both quarters.

Figure 2 – Chinese cement production by quarter, 2014 – 2016. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China.

Sales revenues have dropped for most of the major companies that have publicly released their results for the first half of the year. The exception is Taiwan Cement, which makes a large proportion of its sales revenue outside of China (People’s Republic of China). Its sales revenue in China barely rose year-on-year in the first half of 2016. However, the cement sales volumes for all these companies have started to show what is happening. They have risen for most of the producers examined. Essentially, each of these producers is producing more cement but making less money. As Digital Cement puts it, the industry is in a 'low-profit position.' Increased market competition and endemic industry overcapacity are causing this.

Mergers and acquisitions have been the big story for the European multinational producers following the economic crash in 2007. Returns from low growth markets have been substituted for efficiencies of scale, knowledge sharing and greater international reach. Lafarge and Holcim merged in 2015 and HeidelbergCement is due to complete its acquisition of Italcementi later this year. However, as LafargeHolcim's disappointing financial returns and its continued slew of divestments show so far, the merger has not worked as well as may have been hoped… yet.

Whether China's version of this works with its large state owned enterprises is uncertain. Mergers are meant to cut out inefficiencies through economies of scale. Yet the question remains: can even larger Chinese cement producers do this when they are state controlled and harangued by pressures outside the normal market, particularly when local regions try to preserve their industries. The last such big deal, between Anhui Conch and China Resources Cement, fell apart in July 2016. The plans for CNBM and Sinoma may fare better but if the price of cement keeps falling then the market may have other ideas.

For more information see the China country report in the September 2016 issue of Global Cement Magazine

China: Anhui Conch’s net profit has fallen by 29% year-on-year to US$506m in the first half of 2016 from US$710m in the same period in 2015. Its revenue fell slightly to US$3.61bn from US$3.65bn. It sold 128Mt of cement in the period, a rise of 11% year-on-year, but falling prices reduced its revenue. By region the sales were up overseas and in Central China but they fell in East China and South China. The group blamed the fall in profit on an economic downturn and intense market competition.

During the reporting period three clinker production lines at PT Conch South Kalimantan Cement, Myanmar Conch Cement and Yingjiang Yunhan Cement and seven cement-grinding units at Ganzhou Conch Cement and Guangxi Sihegongmao were put into operation. The group’s clinker and cement production capacities have increased by 4.6Mt/yr to 240Mt/yr and by 8.1Mt/yr to 300Mt/yr respectively. Four waste heat recovery systems have also been commissioned, adding 25.5MW capacity.

International projects in Indonesia and Myanmar have completed construction and started operation during the reporting period. The group’s Merak grinding mill project in Indonesia is continuing as scheduled with trial operation planned for the second half of 2016. Preliminary work on projects in Laos and Cambodia and research for future projects in Russia and Turkey is also continuing.

India/Switzerland/UK: The five bidders that gave their final bids for Lafarge India’s 11Mt/yr cement business have been called to London, UK for the final leg of discussions, which started on 7 July 2016. Multinational bidders, including Mexico’s Cemex and China’s Anhui Conch, are believed to have bid aggressively. Domestic bidders Ajay Piramal Group, Nirma and Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Cement also submitted bids earlier in the week.

The bids are in the range of Euro1.19-1.33bn, which implies an enterprise value of US$108-121/t, comparable to UltraTech’s recent acquisition of JP Group’s cement assets for US$116/t.

“This discussion in London could take three to four days to finalise,” said a banker familiar with the development. “The winner will be decided not just on the price quoted for assets but also other conditions for the bid,” he said. Once the winning bid is decided, an exclusivity agreement will be signed with the bidder and it will take around three months to complete the deal.

China: Anhui Conch has cancelled a deal to buy West China Cement. The commerce authorities failed to approve the deal by a deadline on 30 June 2016. Anhui Conch offered nearly US$600m to buy West China Cement in November 2015. In a joint statement the cement producers said that ‘certain conditions’ including approval by the authorities had not been met. They added that, “they will continue to meet future opportunities for business collaboration in different structures or manners.”

Myanmar: The state-run No. 33 cement plant in Kyaukse, Mandalay will be upgraded to produce up to 5000t/day of cement in a partnership with Myanmar Conch Cement. The plant was established in 1983 and has been running under the Ministry of Industry with a capacity of 300t/day. The upgrade is expected to be finished in three months, according to Myanmar Business Today.

The agreement with Myanmar Conch Cement will give the government profit from 2.71% of production in the first year and from 5% in the following 19 years. “In profit sharing, the government owns its net profit without investment for production and staff payment. The partnership company will pay for it,” said U Saw Aung, General Manager of Technology at the Development Department of the Ministry of Industry.

Domestic demand for cement in Myanmar is around 8Mt/yr with half of this figure imported from abroad.

Cambodia: Battambang Conch Cement, a joint venture between China’s Conch International Holdings and Cambodia’s Battambang KT Cement, has announced plans to build a US$230m cement plant in Battambang province. The plant will being operation in December 2017 and it will have a cement production capacity of 1.8Mt/yr, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

“We will be the fourth cement company to supply the market,” said Vinh Hour, director of Battambang Conch Cement. According to Hour, Cambodia’s demand for cement has reached 8Mt/yr and the existing three cement plants in Kampot province can only supply about half of this amount. The remainder is imported from Asian suppliers. Battambang Conch Cement has applied for an industrial mining licence to use limestone from a nearby mountain in the district. The company aims to supply five provinces in northwest Cambodia: Battambang, Pursat, Bantey Meanchey, Siem Reap and Preah Vihear.

Hort Pheng, director of industrial affairs at the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft, said the ministry has approved five cement factories to date – three of which are in Kampot province and already supply the market. Chip Mong Insee Cement has also received approval to build a production line in the southern province, with construction on the US$260m cement plant expected to finish in 2018.