Displaying items by tag: Cementos Argos

Colombia: Cementos Argos Colombia has reported on its situation and shared its business outlook as it returns to full operations post-coronavirus lockdown. The company says that 1700 people are currently active in operations, with 910 working from home and 660 on furlough. In May 2020 it served 5300 customers, down by 74% year-on-year from 7210 in May 2019. Cement volumes fell by 41% and concrete volumes by 43%. 44 of Cementos Argos Colombia’s 58 concrete plants were operational, and 73 of its 92 work centres.

During the lockdown period the company completed over 100 new infrastructure project supply contracts. Cementos Argos Colombia regional vice president Tomás Restrepo said, “We are confident in a positive future, in our resilience, in the ability to face challenges and that we have extraordinary talent who are aware of the importance of self-care and who work every day on good ideas to continue to be the best allies of our client.”

Panama: Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos has announced the “gradual reactivation” of its operations in Panama. The first stage of the post-coronavirus start of operations consists of “supply to prioritised public infrastructure works and sale to hardware stores,” begun on 9 June 2020. Presently the company is awaiting clearance from the Panamanian government to resume deliveries to “construction customers and other types of projects.”

Guatemala: Colombia-based Cementos Argos has announced that it is “exploring opportunities for importing cement into Guatemala.” Subsidiary Argos Guatemala will be responsible for the import and commercialisation of the cement, which will be produced by Cementos Argos in Panama.

Colombia: Cementos Argos has joined other Grupo Argos companies in delivering food packages and parcels to 15,200 unemployed informal construction workers under the ‘A Call to Empathy’ campaign. On 15 May 2020 the campaign has already made 8,500 deliveries in 15 cities across 15 departments of Colombia. It makes use of door-to-door drops and pick-ups from collection points and allied retailers.

Cementos Argos estimates that 100,000 families will benefit from the initiative.

Many of the first quarter financial results are in from the multinational cement producers and a few points are worth discussing. As usual a few caveats are worth mentioning such as seasonal and geographical variations between companies, such as producers in the northern hemisphere experiencing a generally slower period. It’s also worth noting that this is a selective look at some of the larger cement producers as not all of them release detailed figures at this stage and others have been delayed. However, the economic effects of the coronavirus lockdowns are clearly showing an effect in a kind of wave as the pandemic has spread.

Graph 1: Sales revenues in the first quarter of 2020 from selected cement producers. Source: Company financial reports.

Graph 1 above shows the effects of the earlier lockdown in China upon the results of the Chinese producers like CNBM, Anhui Conch and China Resources Cement (CRC). What’s interesting with these companies is that they have all suffered revenue hits of 20 – 25%. Huaxin Cement, a producer based in Hubei province near Wuhan where the Chinese lockdown was strictest, is not shown in Graph 1 but its revenue fell by 35% in the first quarter. See GCW452 for more on coronavirus effects on the Chinese cement industry.

Looking more widely, both LafargeHolcim and HeidelbergCement suffered declines of around 10%. This is somewhat misleading as both companies are constantly selling assets making the like-for-like results not quite as bad, particularly in the case of LafargeHolcim with its South-East Asian divestments. Although note this week that LafargeHolcim’s deal to sell its majority stake in Holcim Philippines lapsed this week due to the local competition regulator not granting permission in time. Yet, they are also beneficiaries and victims to an extent of their wide geographical spread with worse performance in Asia and better results in North America. For a fuller look at LafargeHolcim’s first quarter results see last week’s column. The rest of the producers featured generally reflect their tighter market spread with Buzzi Unicem particularly benefiting from the relatively untouched market in the US. Shree Cement, an Indian producer, escaped relatively unscathed, possibly as the Indian lockdown only started in late March 2020. All eyes will be on the results of UltraTech Cement, the largest producer in India, when they finally emerge.

Graph 2: Cement sales volumes in the first quarter of 2020 from selected cement producers. Source: Company financial reports.

Cement sales volumes tell a similar story, although a few different companies are featured in Graph 2. Note CRC’s year-on-year fall of 26% to 11.2Mt in the first quarter. It’s the only larger Chinese cement producer that we’ve found so far that has released sales volumes. Semen Indonesia is interesting too because its figures jumped in January 2020 as its acquisition of Holcim Indonesia only went on the books in February 2019. It’s February and March sales volumes have each been 4 - 5% down year-on-year but it’s far from clear whether this is due to general production overcapacity in the country or from the global health crisis. Despite this, its export volumes from both the mainland and its TLCC subsidiary in Vietnam have held up well. Unfortunately though, its performance in Vietnam may be an outlier if data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs is to be believed this week. It indicated that overall cement exports from the country fell by 9.7% year-on-year to 7.73Mt in the first quarter of 2020. Cementos Argos is also worth looking at as it suffered from the government lockdown in Colombia despite having an international presence in the Caribbean and the US.

Most of the world’s largest cement producers are preparing for the economic shockwaves from lockdowns to hit balance sheets in the second quarter of 2020. Many have said exactly this and have paraded their liquidity levels in preparation. Alongside this the results of the Chinese producers in the next quarter may offer some light on what kind of recovery is possible from easing lockdown measures. Yet the risk of second waves of infections from coronavirus potentially jeopardises any kind of fast or easy recovery without a vaccine. Today’s news that Cemex is considering mothballing its integrated plant at South Ferriby in the UK has been blamed on an analysis of the company’s European cement supply chain. The company says it is not related to coronoavirus but it does suggest the company is making savings.

This week has seen international press coverage return to Wuhan, China and South Korea where small numbers of infections have started to build despite being thought mostly eradicated. No one wants the so-called ‘W’ economic recovery with its rollercoaster ride of crests and dips or indeed the ‘L’ with its slow tail of recovery. Yet, for better or for worse, some form of normality has to return after the lockdowns end. The UK, for example, the country with the worst death rate from coronanvirus in Europe, has allowed its construction workers to pick up tools this week. If and when they can do so in the UK and everywhere else without causing the basic reproduction number (R₀) to rise then the future starts to look a little brighter.

Colombia: Cementos Argos’ first quarter profit was US$1.00m, down by 73% year-on-year from US$3.76m in the corresponding period of 2019. Sales fell by 0.2% to US$545m from US$547m. The volume of cement it sold fell by 6.1% to 3.62Mt from 3.86Mt in the corresponding period of 2019. The company launched RESET, a savings initiative in response to the coronavirus outbreak, which aims to save between US$75.0 and US$90.0m in 2020.

Cementos Argos’ CEO Juan Esteban Calle said, “Given the US$154m-strong cash position of the company, the saving initiatives within RESET, the support from our stakeholders, and the passionate commitment of our more than 7000 employees, we firmly believe that Argos is fully prepared to face the current market conditions.”

Colombia’s coronavirus lockdown ended on 13 April 2020 for infrastructure projects and on 27 April 2020 for cement production and residential and commercial construction. On 5 May 2020 Cementos Argos said that domestic demand was at 50% of pre-lockdown levels.

Colombia: Cementos Argos owner Grupo Argos has announced a raft of cuts to investments and expenses worth a total of US$245m in response to the impacts of Covid-19. Noticias Financieras News has reported that US$61.2m of the cuts will be to planned investments in expansion projects and raw materials inventory restocking, including to some in the cement business. Group Argos President Jorge Mario Velasquez said that the measures would, “give additional currency for the different sources, cash and funding that the organization has access to and give us relative peace of mind in our cash structure.”

Grupo Argos said it would stick to its US$3.67bn five-year investment plan.

Honduras: Colombia-based Grupo Argos energy subsidiary Celsia has announced that it has installed a 10.6MW solar power plant at Cementos Argos’ 1.0Mt/yr integrated Piedras Azules cement plant in Comayagua. Renewables Now News has reported that the 32,000-panel plant on the roof of the Piedras Azules plant will generate 20% of its operating power needs. Celsia says that the solar plant, its first in Honduras, will reduce Cementos Argos’ annual CO2 emissions by 10,000t/yr.

Colombia: In 2019 Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos’ sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$2.8bn from US$2.5bn in 2018 and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% year-on-year to US$0.5bn from US$0.4bn in 2018. Cement dispatches rose by 0.6% to 16Mt. In the US, its main market, the company sold 6.3Mt of cement, up by 9.5% from 5.8Mt in 2018.

Argos CEO Juan Estaban Calle praised the company’s successes in 2019, such as the completion of its Thermally Activated Clays (TAC) project at its 1.4Mt/yr integrated Cementos Rioclaro plant in Colombia. “This allows for production and distribution of green cement with a greatly reduced clinker factor, 38% lower CO₂ emissions and 30% of the energy consumption of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production,” he said.

There was fantastic news for fans of novel cements this week, when Cementos Argos announced the completion of work on a new 0.45Mt/yr calcined clay production line at its Rio Claro plant in Colombia. This artificial pozzolanic material, developed and promoted by the Swiss-led LC3 consortium in recent years, can dramatically lower cement CO₂ emissions by replacing slag and/or fly ash in cement mixes. The Rio Claro plant is the first major cement plant to install such a line following smaller trials in Switzerland, India and Cuba.

Suitable clays are more widely available than slag and fly ash, alleviating some of the difficulty and cost of obtaining supplementary cementitious materials. They also need to be calcined at just 800°C, offering massive savings in terms of fuel costs, CO₂ emissions and embodied energy compared to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) production. Karen Scrivener from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the leading academic party in the LC3 consortium, explained that calcined clays are at their best when in ternary (three-way) blends alongside clinker and limestone in the September 2019 issue of Global Cement Magazine. “It has long been known that calcined clays can be pozzolanic,” she explained. “When used alone, the maximum substitution level is around 30%, which gives a moderate saving in CO₂ emissions. However, if we substitute a further 15% of the clinker with limestone, we get a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions, with a product that has almost identical properties to the blend that contains just the calcined clay.”

While the exact composition of Rio Claro’s new products is unclear, it will enable Cementos Argos to produce ternary cement blends with CO₂ emissions 38% lower than OPC. Energy consumption is also cut by 30%, which provides secondary benefits in terms of reduced off-site CO₂ emissions. At the plant’s launch, Cementos Argos’ President Juan Esteban Calle clearly stated that calcined clays were the way forward, announcing, “With this project we are sowing the seeds of the Argos of the future. It starts today with a new production line at Rio Claro. In our commitment to climate change, this project makes us very proud.”

The response from Argos’ consumers will be keenly watched, especially in Europe. Just this week LafargeHolcim and Vicat, along with France’s Technical Association of the Hydraulic Binders Industry (ATILH), called on the European Commission and European Committee for Standardisation to hurry up and publish ternary cement standards across the European Union (EU). At the moment these producers are primarily concerned with CEMII / C-M and CEM VI cements. These classes of cement comprise a range of ternary blends that contain clinker and limestone, plus a third component, be it slag, fly ash, natural pozzolans or calcined clay. They claim that placing low-clinker cements on the market could reduce the amount of CO₂ emitted by 127kg/t, around 20% of the 656kg/t average in Europe at present.

Frustrated with the delays at Commission level, cement producers have now taken things into their own hands. The plan is to establish the same standard within each EU Member State at the national level, rather than waiting in vain for standards from ‘on high.’ One pressing driver for this behaviour is the rapid approach of the Phase 4 of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in January 2021. In Phase 4 it is likely that EU cement producers will be allocated only 80% of the free allowances they have become accustomed to. They will have to buy the remainder at market prices, currently Euro25.1/t of CO₂ (17 February 2020). This will represent a massive new expense for some producers. The opportunity to sell cement that emits only 58% of the CO₂ of OPC is clearly exceedingly attractive as a way to reduce outgoings. CO₂ emissions will be reduced, of course but, as usual, the way to make companies do things is to hit them in the wallet.

Indeed, on this point, Vicat seemed to almost goad or ‘troll’ its competitors in Europe this week by announcing that it has never sold any EU ETS allowances and is sitting atop a 5Mt CO₂ reserve worth Euro120m. This is sufficient to last it until 2030 at current prices. The key part of that last sentence is ‘current prices,’ which are subject to change. In its press release, Vicat was keen to point out that it is not resting on its laurels, highlighted by its advocacy for ternary blends and continued development of alternative fuels. This may be wise, considering that EU ETS allowances will likely cost more once Phase 4 kicks in.

With clinker factors of just 50 - 65% for CEMII / C-M, and 35 - 50% for CEM VI, Edelio Bermejo, director of research and development (R&D) at LafargeHolcim insists, "These cements are no longer at the research and development stage. They have been widely validated and we are ready to produce them, especially as their manufacture does not require modification of our facilities." The establishment of Cementos Argos’ Rio Claro calcined clay plant proves his point. We can expect to hear a lot more about these blends in the coming months. In the words of Bermejo, “The future is here!”