Displaying items by tag: China

National: China saw cement output increase by 8.9% year-on-year to 866Mt for the first five months of 2013, according to the recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Cement output grew to 224Mt in May 2013, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%.

Regional: Shanghai saw cement output slide by 4.1% year-on-year to 0.77Mt in May 2013, according to the local statistics bureau. However, the municipality's cement output grew by 2.4% year-on-year to 3.05Mt for the first five months of 2013.

Hubei Province, in central China, saw cement output edge down by 0.6% year-on-year to 40.7Mt in the first five months of 2013, according to the Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

Corporate: Asia Cement (China) has said that it has agreed to provide US$68m in loans to Far Eastern New Century (China) Investment Limited from 17 June 2013 to 16 June 2014. The loans will be used for working capital by the borrower.

Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement posted a revenue of US$9.6m from product rebates, government grants and investment returns over the first five months of 2013, according to a company announcement. The company will count the revenue to its total profit for the first half of 2013.

China: Top global cement producer Lafarge said on 5 June 2013 that it will continue to invest in China, despite overcapacity issues that have plagued the cement industry for years. Bruno Lafont, chairman and chief executive officer of Lafarge, said the company will invest in China using a 'value-growth' model.

Lafont said that Lafarge is likely to invest more in research, production and creating new partnerships in China. He said that the company will prioritise its existing position in Southwest China, although it may expand to other parts of the country. Lafarge expects to earn income of US$32.6m in China by 2015, according to Chen Mei, vice president of Lafarge Shui On Cement.

Lafarge has mainly operated in less developed regions in southwest China since it entered the Chinese market in 1994. Lafont said that China's overcapacity issues have appeared in other growing markets before, adding that inefficient and unsustainable players will eventually be phased out.

Just 69.4% of China's cement industry's capacity was used in 2012, according to a survey conducted by the China Enterprise Confederation.

National: China's cement output grew by 8.7% year-on-year in April 2013, rising from a 4% increase in the same month of last year, according to the latest statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). In the first four months of 2013, the country's total cement output reached 641Mt, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year from the same period in 2012. Profits for the cement industry fell by 29.4% for the first quarter of 2013 to US$606m.

Regional: In southwest China, Chongqing Municipality produced 17.7Mt of cement over the first four months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%, according to the local statistics bureau. Yunnan Province produced 28.4Mt of cement in the first four months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%.

The central Hubei Province saw cement output slide by 2.6% year-on-year to 31Mt for the first four months of 2013. Hunan Province saw its cement output rise by 8.3% year-on-year to 9.33Mt in April 2013.

Eastern China's Jiangsu Province saw cement output grow by 15.1% year-on-year to 55.5Mt for the first four months of 2013.

Government: China has confirmed that it intends to release a blueprint for urbanisation in 2013, the state-run Xinhua News Agency has reported, citing officials with China's top economic planner. Officials with the NDRC said the urbanisation development plan is 'very important' and that the NDRC was leading the drafting. Shares in cement suppliers and other construction-related companies have already benefited from expectations of more housing and infrastructure projects.

Corporate: Chinares Cement has announced it is in discussion with Fujian Cement about setting up a joint-venture to build cement grinding lines, and to coordinate marketing and sales. No agreement has been reached yet.

China: A new standard for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from cement plants drafted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection is expected to be issued on 1 July 2013, according to the China Securities Journal.

The new standard will cut the amount of NOx emitted by an existing cement plant to below 450mg for every normal cubic meter of cement produced. Currently on average Chinese cement producers emit 880mg of NOx. For those new cement production lines, the emission standard will be capped below 320mg. The drafted requirement is stricter than market expectations for the cap to be set at 500mg.

The Chinese cement industry produces about 11.6% of all NOx emissions across China's industrial sectors. It has been targeted in move to address air pollution, particularly after hazardous smog levels were reported since the start of 2013. In 2011, the Sichuan provincial government said power would be cut for cement plants that fail to achieve the NOx emissions target set by the provincial government for the 2011 - 2015 period.

China: China Tianrui Group Cement has said that Yu Yagang tendered his resignation as an executive director and chief financial officer with effect from 11 May 2013 for reasons of personal development. Yu will remain as the chief accountant of Tianrui Cement, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Tianrui.

Yang Yongzheng has been appointed as an executive director, authorised representative and a member of the nomination committee. Yang will remain as the general manager of Tianrui Cement. Xu Wuxue has been appointed as an executive director, chief financial officer and a member of the remuneration committee. Xu will remain as the chief financial officer of Tianrui Cement. Wang Delong has been appointed as an executive director and deputy chief executive officer.

Tajikistan: Tojikcement, Tajikistan's largest cement plant, has been accused of failing to replay US$2.5m to the Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation (EGAP), a Czech state-owned credit insurance company. However, the Tajikistan Ministry of Energy and Industries has announced that a Chinese firm has started preparations for a major upgrade costing US$7.73m.

Hana Hikelova, chair of the EGAP PR department, made the accusation and has been quoted by Asia Plus news agency. According to Hikelova, EGAP in insured a loan provided by the Czech Export Bank to Tojikcement for modernisation of the Dushanbe cement plant in 2006. According to a statement released by the Czech Embassy in Tashkent in February 2013, "The main problem of further development of Czech exports is the unsettled debt of Tojikcement."

Meanwhile, on 10 May 2013 the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) Secretariat announced that Beijing Uni-Construction Group had started preparations works at Tojikcement, to install a coal-fired rotary kiln. Eleven Chinese specialists are reportedly working in the plant in Dushanbe. The coal-firing kiln is expected to be delivered to Dushanbe in mid-June 2013 and the installation work is expected to be completed by mid-September 2013, an official source at a MoEI said. The total cost of the upgrade is US$7.73m, with US$150,000 provided by Tojikcement and the remainder by Beijing Uni-Construction Group.

Tojikcement, which has a cement production capacity of 1.1Mt/yr, is the largest cement producer in Tajikistan. The plant has not been operational since the beginning of 2013 due to a lack of natural gas supplies. Currently there are five cement plants operational in Tajikistan with a combined cement capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. In 2012, Tajikistan produced 235,000t, including 203,000t produced by Tojikcement.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating a complaint against a Chinese company offering waste heat recovery (WHR) solutions for the cement industry. This case is believed to be the first instance where a Chinese company has been affected by Indian competition law.

According to sources quoted by the Financial Express, Transparent Energy Systems (TESPL) filed a complaint against the Indian operations of Nanjing Triumph Kaineng (NTK). The complainant alleged the Chinese firm is severely impacting its business by quoting prices for tenders much below the market rates.

NTK specialises in WHR and accounts for a 30% market share of WHR power generation in the Chinese cement industry. It entered the Indian market in 2011 through a joint-venture with Tecpro Systems.

Regions: Central China's Hubei Province produced 11.3Mt of cement in January and February 2013, a year-on-year decline of 13.8%. However, clinker production rose by 1.98% to 6.73Mt.

Cement producers in the eastern province of Zhejiang produced 115Mt of cement and 56.7Mt of clinker in 2012, a year-on-year decrease of 4.8% and 5.9% respectively.

Companies: Sinoma International Engineering Co recorded an operating-revenue of US$710m in the first quarter of 2013, a year-on-year decline of 20.4%. The company's net profit slid by 12% to US$38.3m.

Zhejiang Jianfeng Group recorded an operating-revenue of US$267m in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 0.26%. Net profit fell by 39.2% to US$26.5m.

Anhui Conch Cement has reported that its net profit fell by 22.2% year-on-year to US$157m for the first quarter of 2013. Its operating revenue rose by 11.8% on-year to US$1.6bn.

Shaanxi Qinling Cement has reported that its net loss was US$6.32m for the first quarter of 2013. It's operating revenue was US$21.4m for the same period. The company predicts that its cement sales would increase and that it would make profits in the second quarter. However, it is likely to suffer 'slight' losses in the first half of 2013.

Zhejiang Jianfeng Group has reported an operating revenue of US$267m in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 0.26%. Its net profit fell by 39.2% year-on-year to US$26.5m.

Cement companies in Zhejiang Province produced 115Mt of cement and 56.7Mt of clinker in 2012, year-on-year decreases of 4.8% and 5.9% respectively.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement has said that leading Taiwanese cement makers will benefit from industry consolidation in China because it will boost prices. Due to the mergers, Taiwan Cement's clients in China are no longer demanding the price reductions they did in 2012 said Robert Chen, deputy spokesman of Taiwan Cement, to the Taipei Times.

Average cement prices in eastern and south-western China have risen recently, while prices have stopped declining in the south, said Chen. In addition, cement demand in China's rural areas has increased after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Asia Cement Corp said the problem of oversupply is easing after the Chinese government asked companies to close down inefficient kilns. The cement market in China was severely hit when the Chinese government decided to curb rising house prices, according to an official at Asia Cement. However, the official said that cement prices in China only recovered to the levels of 2011, when the Chinese government decided to open up the cement market and increase the number of suppliers.