Displaying items by tag: Cahya Mata Sarawak

Malaysia: Following 12 months of graduated succession plan implementation, Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) is ready for the retirement of Group Executive Director Ahmad Alwee Alsree Datuk Syed. CMS chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Bin Abdul Manaf accepted Datuk Syed’s retirement with an outpour of thanks for his ‘immeasurable contributions over 15 years of loyal and faithful service.’ All of Datuk Syed’s roles have now passed to successors within the company, with Isaac Lugun Dato taking over as group managing director.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS)’s cement division has reported a net profit of US$19.5m in the six months to 30 June 2019, down by 37.1% from US$31.0m in the same period of 2018. The company’s total first half revenue rose by 8.9% to US$194m from US$178m in 2018.

In its financial statement, CMS blamed the cement profit slump on rising clinker import prices and the cost of fuel for its coal-fired cement plants. CEO Datuk Isaac Lugun has expressed hope for the group’s longer-term prospects due to its competitive power pricing and strong global presence.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) sales from its cement division rose by 7% year-on-year to US$137m in 2019 from US$128m in 2017. Its operating profit fell by 11% to US$22.2m from US$24.9m. CMS attributed the drop in profit on repair costs from maintenance to its integrated plant at Kuching. Rising international clinker prices were also blamed.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) cement division profits have fallen so far in 2018 due to planned maintenance shutdown at its integrated plant and rising clinker prices. Its profit before tax dropped by 14% to US$16.7m in the first nine months of 2018 from US$19.6m in the same period in 2017. The division’s performance was also hit by an increase in the price of imported clinker. The company said that this occurred due to a spike in global demand, following the reduction of clinker production in China and continued high demand for clinker especially from Bangladesh and the Philippines. Overall, CMS’ sales revenue and profit have risen so far in 2018.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has launched a new Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) product. The 32.5N strength product is targeted for low-rise concrete structures such as single storey residential, office and commercial buildings. It is also intended for plastering, bricklaying and for use in the construction of drains and rural or kampong roads. CMS has also been conducting trials with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) on testing it as a binder for soil stabilisation. The new cement type will compliment CMS’ existing Portland Cement 42.5N product.

CMS operates one integrated cement plant and two grinding plants. Both grinding plants, at Pending in Kuching and Bintulu, have direct access to ports allowing entry to export markets for bagged and bulk product. The state-owned cement producer also operates two bulk marine terminals at Sibu and Miri.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has appointed Abdul Rashid bin Abdul Manaf as it group chairman with effect from 1 October 2018. He succeeds interim group chairman Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, who returns to the post of deputy group chairman.

Abdul Rashid started his career in 1970 in the Malaysia Judicial and Legal Service and served as magistrate, president, sessions court and Senior Federal Counsel to the Income Tax Department. He left government service in 1997 to pursue his career as a practicing lawyer and subsequently in business. Notably he became one of the principal legal advisers to the Renong Conglomerate, with involvement in various Federal Government transactions.

He has held key positions in local corporations, including chairman of S P Setia, Loh & Loh Corporation, Pohmay Holdings and SMIS Corporation. Abdul Rashid also set up Eco World Development Group, a property development company.

Malaysia: Repair costs at Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) Kuching cement plant have reduced the profits of the company’s cement division. The planned maintenance period in January and February 2018 was the first major shutdown carried out by the group since it purchased the integrated unit in 2007. The division’s performance was also hit by an increase in the price of imported clinker due to a reported ‘tight supply’ in the international market. The division’s profit before tax fell by 17% year-on-year to US$9.56m in the first half of 2018 from US$11.5m in the same period in 2017. However, its revenue grew by 8%.

Overall, CMS reported revenue growth of 15% to US$183m and a pre-tax profit increase of 32% to US$42.9m. It attributed the strong performance to its other subsidiaries.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak's (CMS) sales from its cement division have fallen in 2017 due to lower sales volumes of cement and concrete. However, the cement producer said that the average production cost per tonne of cement had fallen due to cheaper coal prices and cheaper imported clinker. Its sales revenue fell by 7.5% year-on-year to US$133m in 2017 from US$144m in 2016. Its operating profit fell by 3.5% to US$25.9m from US$26.8m. The division also benefitted from the opening of the Mambong grinding plant in late 2016.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad’s (CMS) cement division’s operating profit rose by 2% year-on-year to US$23.6m in 2016 from US$23.2m in 2015. However, its sales revenue fell by 6% to US$127m from US$135m. The group blamed its falling sales on ‘challenging’ market conditions. Overall the group’s sales revenue and profit fell in 2016.

“2016 was a challenging period for us in terms of group performance meeting targets as we had faced challenging market and operational conditions. These macro factors included low commodity selling prices, higher costs of raw materials in the Cement Division resulting from the strong US dollar, and generally the sluggish private and public sector demand attributable to bank lending restraints and the lack of any new big projects. Our group’s core businesses, however, remained resilient during this period and continued to report stable earnings,” said Richard Curtis, Group Managing Director of CMSB.

Malaysia: Engineering company Christian Pfeiffer has released more information about a grinding plant that it completed at the Mambong cement plant for Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) in 2016. The engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract was originally signed in mid-2014 and it also included raw material handling, finished product storage silos and an automated packing plant.

The grinding plant consists of a two-compartment ball mill with a diameter of 4.8m x 15m effective grinding length equipped with a QDK 248-Z separator designed to produce 150t/hr of cement with a fineness of 3500cm²/g according to Blaine. The mill is supported by slide shoe bearings and driven by a lateral drive unit consisting of a girth gear and two pinion gear box with a floating shaft and a 5600kW main motor. The feed materials - clinker, gypsum and limestone - are dosed separately via weigh feeders, while fly ash can be added directly to the separator by a bucket elevator.

The ball mill is equipped with progressive lifting and classifying liners and filled with Allmax grinding balls. The material flow from the first to the second compartment is regulated by a Christian Pfeiffer intermediate flow-control diaphragm in Monobloc design, to ensure an ideal material level and particle size for fine grinding in the second compartment. The fine ground cement leaves the mill by a discharge diaphragm, in a Christian Pfeiffer Monobloc design, and is fed to the separator circuit by a bucket elevator. Separation of the ground cement is achieved by a bag filter application with minimum remaining dust content in the clean gas of below 10 mg/Nm³.

The cement produced is stored in two interchangeable 10,000t silos. One is a mono-cell and the other duo-cell, allowing for the production and storage of three different types of cement. Each silo is equipped with two bulk loading devices for conventional silo truck loading. Cement for the adjacent packing plant is transported via air slides and a bucket elevator. There, it can be filled into big-bags or cement paper bags by a rotary packer at a rate of 3000 bags/hr. At this stage the single packed cement bags can either be directly loaded on trucks or be transferred to a palletiser. The automated palletising system is designed for both pallet and palletless operation.

CMS officially launched the 1Mt/yr grinding plant in late 2016.