Displaying items by tag: Cementir Holding

Italy: Cementir Holding raised its sales by 0.5% year-on-year during the first nine months of 2023, to Euro1.3bn. It sold 7.93Mt of cement, down by 3.1% year-on-year from 8.19Mt in the corresponding period of 2022. Cementir Holding attributed the decline to reduced demand, primarily in Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Malaysia and the US. This offset an increase in consumption in China and Türkiye. The group’s operating costs dropped by 6.6% to 1.01bn, while its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 33% to Euro321m.

Italy: Cementir Holding, a subsidiary of Caltagirone Group, recorded Euro841m in sales in the first half of 2023. This corresponds to year-on-year growth of 1.1% from Euro832m in the first half of 2022. The producer's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 40% to Euro201m from Euro144m. Likewise, its net profit rose by 36% to Euro90.3m from Euro66.6m

Cementir Holding said that its cement sales volumes fell by 5.5% year-on-year during the half, to 5.1Mt. Volumes growth of 16% in China and Türkiye, and of 8% in Egypt, failed to offset a drop in Belgium, Denmark, Malaysia and the US. In Türkiye, the group increased its focus on the domestic market, and halved its export volumes. Exports also dropped in Malaysia, by 12%, as well as in Denmark.

Chair and chief executive officer Francesco Caltagirone said “The first half of 2023 closed with encouraging results, with significant increase in EBITDA, earnings before interest and taxation and net profit, thanks to careful management of profitability, which offset the general reduction in sales volumes."

Italy: Caltagirone Group subsidiary Cementir Holding reported year-on-year growth in sales of 15% to Euro415m during the first quarter of 2023. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 34% to Euro81.2m. The group ended the period under review with a net debt of Euro32.1m, down by 64% year-on-year.

Cementir Holding said that its cement sales volumes rose in Türkiye, but failed to offset declines in its Nordic & Baltic, Belgium and US regions, resulting in an overall decline of 4%.

Türkiye: Çimentaş has signed a contract to order an electrical switch facility and transmission line from Girisim Elektrik. The price of the deal is around US$3m.

Girisim Elektrik is an engineering, sales and marketing company in the electrical and energy sectors based in Türkiye. Çimentaş is a subsidiary of Italy-based Cementir Holding. It operates cement factories in İzmir, Edirne, Elazığ and Kars.

Italy: Cementir Holding recorded 'record' revenues of Euro1.72bn in 2022, up by 27% year-on-year from 2021 levels. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 7.8% to Euro335m, also a record figure, according to the group. Throughout 2022, Cementir Holding sold 10.8Mt of cement and clinker, down by 2.8% from 11.2Mt. It attributed this to a 'general slowdown of the market,' mainly in Türkiye, Denmark, China and Belgium, especially during the second half of the year.

Chair and CEO Francesco Caltagirone noted the 'solidity and resilience' of Cementir's business model, even in spite of 'geopolitical uncertainty and more restrictive monetary conditions.' He said "We have already achieved significant results in terms of decarbonisation, innovation and transparency, evidenced by the improvement of all environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and we want to continue on this virtuous path, in the interest of all stakeholders."

Congratulations to Lafarge France for launching the first calcined clay cement unit in Europe. The subsidiary of Holcim says that the unit, based at the integrated Saint-Pierre-la-Cour cement plant, is the first of its kind on the continent. It is using the company’s proprietary proximA Tech technology and will produce up to 500,000t/yr of cement in its ECOPlanet range. The operation is also powered with biomass alternative fuels and uses a waste recovery system to further drive down overall CO₂ emissions. Once production ramps-up the producer expects that 30% of cement from the Saint-Pierre-la-Cour plant will be from the ECOPlanet range by 2024.

The investment at Saint-Pierre-la-Cour was Euro40m. Holcim is also producing calcined clay cement at its La Malle plant in France. It received an investment of Euro6m in 2022 to produce low-carbon cements. Together, both plants are aiming to produce over 2Mt/yr of calcined clay cement by 2024. As is usual for these kinds of projects, the French government partly funded the clay calcination unit at Saint-Pierre-la-Cour as part of the ‘France Relance’ scheme investing in large-scale decarbonisation and energy efficiency initiatives.

Calcined clay cements in Europe aren’t exactly new, but Holcim’s new unit in France does appear to be the first full-scale line located at a cement plant. Research by OneStone Consulting, for example, reckons that the first flash activated clay unit expressly set up to supply the cement sector was commissioned in 1995 in Toulouse, France. More recently, Hoffmann Green Cement inaugurated its 50,000t/yr pilot plant at Bournezeau in France in 2018. This site produces cements made from flash calcined clay and blast furnace slag, although it is unclear how demand for the different products varies. A new 0.25Mt/yr plant in the Vendée department was scheduled for commissioning in the second half of 2022. Another 0.25Mt/yr plant in Dunkirk is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2024.

Cementir Group launched its calcined clay cement product FUTURECEM in Denmark in 2021 with production via a pilot plant. It then extended this to the Benelux and French cement markets in 2022. As part of its industrial plan for 2021 - 2023 it was planning to build a clay calcination unit to support the growth of FutureCem. FLSmidth revealed in June 2021 that it had won a contract to build a 400t/day clay calcination unit for Vicat’s Xeuilley integrated cement plant. The deal was worth around Euro27m and commissioning is scheduled for 2023.

Firstly, it is interesting to see a focus on France for some of the projects above. The presence of Lafarge’s technical centre in Lyon may explain the interest for that company. However, Hoffmann Green Cement and Vicat are also active in the field. It is worth noting that France also holds a busy secondary cementitious material market with standalone operators including Ecocem, Cem’In’Eu and Hoffmann Green Cement. Secondly, despite the early start, clay calcination for cement is currently more active outside of Europe. In Africa, for example, there is at least one live full production line and a number of other projects on the way. Various other pilots and projects are also happening elsewhere around the world, often in conjunction with the limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) initiative. Where calcined clay cement production in Europe goes from here is uncertain at present as it is one solution among many for lower carbon cement products in the future. Yet, the projects that have made it so far to the commercial scale will be watched closely by the companies that have invested in them - and their competitors.

Italy: Cementir Holding has appointed Roberto Marazza as its Group Chief Financial Officer with effect from 15 March 2023.

Marazza, graduated in business administration and accounting from Genoa University, started his career in IBM as accounting manager and then covered roles of increasing responsibility, including the position of CFO in fuel and energy and renewable energy companies such as Total ERG and Italiana Petroli (API Group).

Italy: Cementir Holding sold 8.2Mt of cement and clinker during the first nine months of 2022, down by 1.7% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 levels. China, Denmark, Egypt and Türkiye all contributed to the decline. Group nine-month revenues were Euro1.26bn, up by 25% year-on-year. Third-quarter 2022 revenues rose most sharply, by 45%, in Türkiye, followed by the US (38%), the Nordic and Baltic region (20%) and Belgium (17%). During the third quarter of the year, operating costs increased by 36% to Euro365m from Euro268m. Raw materials, fuels and transport costs all contributed to the rise.

In the first nine months of 2022, the group recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Euro238m, up by 11% from Euro215m during the first nine months of 2021.

Italy: Cementir Holding’s sales rose by 22% year-on-year to Euro811m in the first half of 2022 from Euro665m in the first half of 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 7.7% to Euro144m from Euro134m. Its net profit grew by 39% to Euro66.6m from Euro47.9m. During the half year the group sold 5.41Mt of cement and clinker, down by 0.8% from 5.46Mt. The group attributed this to local sales declines in China, Denmark and Turkey.

Chair and chief executive officer Francesco Caltagirone said, “The first-half 2022 results are aligned with our forecasts. Despite the severe geopolitical tensions and the significant increase in raw materials, energy and logistic costs, the group is showing great resilience thanks to an increased geographical and product diversification and a focused cost management.”

Italy: Cementir’s revenue rose by 21% year-on-year to Euro362m in the first quarter of 2022 from Euro301m in the same period in 2021. It attributed this to higher prices linked to the increase in the costs of fuels, electricity, raw materials, transport and services. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 26% to Euro60.7m from Euro48.1m. Grey, white and clinker sales volumes increased by 1.8% to 2.4Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales volume remained stable at 1.13Mm³. Cement sales volumes grew in Belgium, Denmark and the US but fell in Turkey. Concrete sales volumes grew in Belgium and Norway but fell in Turkey, Sweden and Denmark.