Displaying items by tag: Democratic Republic of Congo

Cameroon: The Cameroon Minister of Trade Luc-Magloire Mbarga has authorised cement producers and importers to begin importing more cement from Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in order to combat a local shortage. The Business in Cameroon newspaper has reported that Mbarga said that authorisation will operate temporarily, until high cement prices drop.

In 2021, Cameroon produced 4.5Mt of cement. Its domestic consumption was 4Mt, up by 14% year-on-year from 3.5Mt in 2021.

Tanzania: Burundi-based Intracom is planning to build a US$250m integrated cement plant in Kigoma Region. The project is intended to supply cement to the Lake Tanganyika region including Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the Daily News newspaper. Intracom Country Representative Rubenga Samson said that the company has obtained land in the region and construction is set to start soon. The project is reportedly using a loan from CRDB Bank to finance the project. The plant will have a cement and clinker production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr and 1Mt/yr respectively. Commissioning is scheduled for mid-2024. Intracom has also invested in a fertiliser project in Dodoma.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has recorded nine-month sales of US$1.17bn in its 2022 financial year, up by 38% year-on-year from US$846m in the corresponding period of 2021. The company’s consolidated cement volumes fell by 7.1% to 7.07Mt, while its unconsolidated cement volumes fell by 3.4% to 5.51Mt. Unconsolidated costs per tonne of cement rose by 49%. Explaining its net sales growth, the company noted the ‘impressive’ performance of its overseas cement business, which includes a stake in Democratic Republic of Congo-based Nyumba Ya Akiba Cement. Lucky Cement’s profit after tax for the period was US$143m, up by 20% from US$119m.

Lucky Cement says that a cement plant expansion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is progressing and on-schedule for completion in 2022.

Kenya: Bamburi Cement’s net profit was US$11.9m in 2021, up by 22% year-on-year from 2020. The company attributed the growth to increased domestic selling prices in Kenya, due to a higher proportion of premium products sales and targeted price actions in the retail segment.

Managing director Seddiq Hassani said that he envisages cement demand growth in Bamburi Cement’s markets in the rest of 2022, supported by a stable economic environment. He looked optimistically to possible export growth arising from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s admission into the East African Community (EAC) in March 2022. He further noted the impact of the Rwanda-Uganda border closure as a downside risk.

South Africa: PPC’s group revenue grew by 3% year-on-year to US$625m in its financial year to 31 March 2021 from US$607m in the same period in 2020. Group earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 16% to US112m from US$96.6m. Sales and earnings rose due to a recovery in cement sales, particularly outside of Zimbabwe, and general cost cutting.

Cement sales in South Africa benefited from retail demand in the inland region, while the coastal regions experienced a lagged recovery in demand. In Rwanda, the group’s Cimerwa subsidiary reported ‘strong’ cement sales due to the roll-out of government projects, retail demand and exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Operations in Zimbabwe were hampered by high inflation
and a shortage of foreign currency.

“Despite the difficult trading conditions in most of our markets, our businesses have benefited from a recovery in cement demand, resulting in improved financial performance,” said chief executive officer Roland van Wijnen. He added that the group has worked on capital restructuring and refinancing projects. It has concluded an agreement with PPC Barnet's lenders, which terminates their right to recourse to PPC, signed agreements for the sale of PPC Lime and an aggregates business in Botswana and agreed with its lenders in South Africa to defer the equity capital raise in South Africa from March 2021 to September 2021.

Iraq: Lucky Cement has started commercial cement production at its 1.2Mt/yr integrated Samawah cement plant. The News International newspaper has reported that the plant brings the company’s overseas installed cement production capacity to 4.1Mt/yr. It operates the 1.7Mt/yr Basra grinding plant in Iraq and a 1.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company said, “Despite the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, the project has successfully achieved its milestones on time.”

Democratic Republic of Congo/Uganda: The Democratic Republic of Congo has increased its imports of cement from Uganda by 30% to 90,000t in the two years since 1 February 2019 compared to the two prior years. The Daily Monitor newspaper has reported the reason for the increase as a Rwandan ban on Ugandan goods across the East African countries’ border. This contributed to a 3% fall in Uganda’s value of cement exports to US$59.9m in the 2020 financial year from US$61.5m in the 2019 financial year.

Democratic Republic of Congo: The government of Tanganyika Province has announced the start of construction of a 2.0Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement plant in Kabimba. The Financiel Afric newspaper has reported that the plant will occupy the site of the former Kabimba cement plant, which was mothballed in 2016.

Governor Zoé Kabila Mwanza Mbala said, “The revival of the Kabimba cement plant will revitalize the social sector and restore the economic fabric throughout Tanganyika Province.

Democratic Republic of Congo: China-based Zijin Mining Group and Lualaba Carrilu have launched a new 0.8Mt/yr cement plant near Kolwezi, the capital of Lualaba province. A start-up ceremony at the unit was attended by Julien Paluku Kahongya, the Minister of Industry, and Richard Muyej, the governor of Lualaba, according to L'Agence congolaise de presse (ACP). The plant is expected to create up to 1000 jobs.

South Africa: PPC has delayed the publication of its annual results for the year to 31 March 2020 for a second time due to a “restructuring and refinance project.” It now expects to publish the results by late September 2020. It previously delayed reporting its financial results when the Johannesburg Stock Exchange allowed it to delay releasing the figures because of challenges created by the coronavrius pandemic. The cement producer also said it has found errors in its financial reporting for the year that ended in March 2019 due to mistakes made in valuing operations in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe and a miscalculation of the accounting of a foreign-exchange transaction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The group expects that revenue for the year to 31 March 2020 will decline by no more than 5% year-on-year from US$605m in the same period in 2019. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are expected to fall by up to 20% from US$113m.

In an operational update for April to July 2020 the group said that it ramped up cement operations in May 2020 following the relaxation of coronavirus-related lockdowns in most of its territories. It attributed strong growth in cement sales volumes in June and July 2020 due to a reduction in imports as well as pent-up demand. Similarly, sales volumes were strong outside of South Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and Rwanda, and in the DRC to a lesser extent.