Displaying items by tag: China

China: Sichuan Shuangma Cement plans to buy a 25% stake in Lafarge Dujiangyan Cement for US$137m. Shuangma Cement will pay for the acquisition by issuing shares to the company's major shareholder, Lafarge China Overseas Holding.

China: Guangdong Province plans to launch carbon emission trading in December 2013. It will be the world's biggest carbon trading scheme after the European Union.

Guangdong has started allotting 388Mt of carbon emission quotas to selected enterprises, according to the provincial development and reform commission. Initially 242 companies from cement, power, iron and steel and petrochemical industries have been included in the quota allocation. The scheme will cap CO₂ emissions at 350Mt for 2013.

Quotas equivalent to 29Mt of carbon emissions will be auctioned and the base price will be US$9.8/t. The rest of the quotas will be allotted to companies for free.

Shenzhen City started its carbon trading market in June 2013 and Shanghai launched its market on 26 November 2013. The National Development and Reform Commission has also approved pilot carbon emission trading schemes in Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hubei. China has pledged to reduce CO₂ emissions by 40 – 45% per unit of GDP by 2020.

Minority shareholders have bowled a googly at Holcim's attempt to simplify its business structure in India.

Or for readers unacquainted with cricket terminology, domestic institutions which hold about 9% in Ambuja Cements have been widely reported in the Indian media as having voted against a move to merge the cement producer with its parent company, Holcim India. The final results of the shareholders vote will be publicly announced on 21 November 2013. The shareholders actions follow Holcim's recent approval by the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board for the merger.

That this is bad news for Holcim is not in doubt given that the multinational cement producer has taken a hit in its Asia-Pacific region, particularly in India. Overall for the region its operating profit fell by 32.5% year-on-year to US$333m for the quarter to 30 September 2013.

Specifically, Ambuja Cements managed to maintain its sales volume of cement and clinker year-on-year at 4.89Mt for the third quarter. However, its net profit after tax fell by 45.4% to US$27m. It blamed the decline on subdued demand due to overall economic slowdown combined with higher input costs. Meanwhile, ACC saw its sales revenue from cement fall slightly to US$388m for the third quarter while its profit for cement before costs and tax fell by 57% year-on-year to US$22m.

As mentioned in August 2013 when this column last looked at India, the parallels to cement industry consolidation in China are telling. In China guidelines have been issued to cut overcapacity in the cement industry, with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology releasing lists of companies that should cut excess production. Alongside this, the country's leading cement producers have reported a return to profit so far in 2013. Who exactly is taking the loss from this production retraction in China, if it is happening, remains unreported and unclear.

In India, much more light has been shone upon an over-producing cement industry. Holcim and its subsidiaries are just some of the companies reporting falling profits at present. Ambuja's minor shareholders look like they have made a decision that is counter to the best interests of the Indian cement industry.

In a recent UK newspaper article, political theorist David Runciman compared the respective merits of democratic and more autocratic modes of government. Unsurprisingly for a British academic Runciman came out in favour of democracies, yet the advantages of more centralised governments were noted, such as the ability to make wide-reaching decisions faster and more comprehensively.

In light of this, comparing the Indian and Chinese cement industries in 2040 will be fascinating. Minor shareholder tussles will likely be forgotten but cement (and hopefully cricket) will be as vital then as they are now.

China: Xinjiang Qingsong Building Materials & Chemicals has acquired a 31.6% stake in Yili Nangang Building Materials for US$27.7m. After the acquisition, Qingsong Building Materials' stake in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous-based company has increased to 51%, further expanding its market share in the region.

China: The board of directors of Anhui Conch has announced that Ji Qinying tendered his resignation as an executive director on 1 November 2013. A new executive director will be elected and appointed in due course.

China: China Resources Cement has entered into a strategic co-operative framework agreement with Jianhua Construction Materials (China) Investment Company Limited regarding the supply of cement for a term of five years.

Jianhua will give priority to China Resources Cement for the purchase of cement in all regions where both parties have established production facilities. China Resources Cement will ensure the timely delivery of the required grades and quantities of cement as required by Jianhua at the most 'favourable' market prices.

Jianhua is the largest concrete pile manufacturer in China in terms of production capacity, sales volume and the market share.

China: China's cement output has increased by 8.9% year-on-year to 1.75Bt for the first nine months of 2013, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Cement output in September 2013 rose by 6.4% year-on-year to 225Mt. In mid-October 2013 China's State Council issued guidelines to tackle production overcapacity in the cement and other industries.

China: Sinoma International has announced that its subsidiary Sinoma Construction has signed a US$277m contract to build a 6250t/day clinker production line for the United Cement Company of Nigeria's Calabar plant. Sinoma will be responsible for equipment and steel structure supply, design, installation, civil construction, commissioning and training in the whole process from mine crushing to cement shipping. Construction of the cement mill is planned to be completed by the end of 2015. Construction of the clinker line is planned to be finished by mid-2016.

Germany: AVIC International Beijing Company (AVIC) has lead an offer to buy KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG in a deal worth US$433m. It hopes to acquire all of the remaining KHD shares by way of a voluntary public takeover offer.

At the same time it has entered into share purchase agreements with numerous sellers to purchase 19.03% of shares in the German cement plant builder. Through its subsidiary, Max Glory Industries, AVIC already owns 20% of KHD, which will bring its total to 39.03%.

"This is a long-term investment for us. A more stable shareholder base will benefit KHD's worldwide employees, customers, suppliers and financing partners and KHD will continue providing environmental friendly and state-of-the-arts products and services," said Mr Diao, president of AVIC Beijing Company.

China: China's State Council, the country's cabinet, has issued a guideline to tackle production overcapacity in several industrial sectors. According to a statement on the Chinese government's website and reporting by the Xinhua News Agency, the guideline targets the cement sector and four other sectors suffering from overcapacity including steel, electrolytic aluminium, sheet glass and shipping.

The move is a key measure for the government to achieve stable growth, restructuring, transformation and an 'upgraded' version of the Chinese economy, according to the 'Guideline to tackle serious production overcapacity'. The guideline will play a key part in current and future efforts to transform the economic growth mode and boost industrial restructuring, according to the statement.