Displaying items by tag: Flood

Brazil: The heavy rains and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul state have negatively affected cement sales in May 2024, with volumes dropping by 5.6% year-on-year to 5.3Mt, according to the National Union of the Cement Industry (SNIC). Overall sales for the first five months of 2024 reached 25.2Mt, a slight increase of 0.8%. Despite a 0.8% growth in GDP in the first quarter of 2023, the construction sector saw a 0.5% decline due to high interest rates impacting financing and investments. A positive business outlook is expected for the second half of the year, buoyed by labour market trends and wage increases.

Paulo Camillo Penna, President of SNIC, said "In support of the population affected by the severe floods and rains, cement plants in Rio Grande do Sul are fully operational to assist in reconstruction, with normalised supply of the product, which will be essential for the execution of hundreds of necessary projects throughout the state."

Pakistan: Thatta Cement produced 211,000t of cement during the first half of 2023 financial year, up by 3.7% year-on-year from 204,000t during the first half of 2022 financial year. Its clinker production rose by 55% to 190,000t from 122,000t. The producer despatched 215,000t of cement, up by 4.7% year-on-year from 205,000t. Its despatches of clinker fell to 0t from 4990t.

Thatta Cement said "During the period under review, persistent political instability and indecisive monetary measures have left the business to face gross challenges. Recent floods brought on by extremely strong monsoon rains have damaged the national infrastructure and created a food crisis. The catastrophic flood has killed thousands of people, besides flooding one-third of the country. This has further compounded the agony of an economy which has already been struggling for its survival due to ever increasing current account deficit, sharply rising inflation rate and massive rupee devaluation."

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has suspended cement production and despatches at its Vallemí cement plant in Concepción. The La Nación newspaper has reported that torrential rain washed away raw materials stocks stored at the site. INC expects the plant to remain shut until 17 March 2023. It reassured customers that its Villeta grinding plant will continue to despatch cement as usual. CEO Ernesto Benítez said that it was 'inconceivable' that the suspension would not disrupt the domestic cement supply, given INC's 40% market share.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement recorded sales of US$876m in the first half of its 2023 financial year, up by 42% year-on-year from US$616m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. It sold 3.57Mt of cement and clinker, down by 24% year-on-year from 4.7Mt. The producer's costs rose by 50% to US$585m from US$391m. It recorded a profit of US$73.1m, up by 6.8% from US$68.4m.

During the half-year period, total national cement sales dropped by 17% year-on-year to 20Mt, while Pakistan's cement exports fell by 49% to 1.7Mt. The aftermath of flooding, high interest rates, inflation and cost of goods and cuts to government spending all impacted the domestic cement market, while 'global recessionary trends' cut into exports, according to Lucky Cement.

Lucky Cement holds a 15% share in the Pakistan market and a 34% share in the export market.

Nigeria: The Daily Independent newspaper has reported that BUA Cement is allegedly preparing a 'multi-million dollar lawsuit' against its gas supplier, Greenville Liquefied Natural Gas (Greenville LNG). The supplier reportedly raised prices, as stipulated in the parties' gas supply contract, following an increase in its costs. Greenville LNG attributed the increase to the dilapidation of roads and collapse of upstream gas infrastructure due to flooding, as well as a lack of access to imports. It said that none of its 44 other industrial customers has challenged the price change.

Greenville LNG chair Eddy Van Den Broeke said "It is not a breach of contract because not only are we continuing the gas supply to the BUA cement plant in Sokoto, but also because we are discussing in good faith the changed business and economic conditions that afflict both companies." He concluded “In this case, we only activated the contractual price adjustment clause. We cannot explain how it is possible that social media misrepresented so grossly the present circumstances and the conditions of our contract, which were not reflected at all."

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has distributed ration bags, tents and first aid kits to victims of flooding Dadu, Khairpur, Sanghar and Uthal.

The Balochistan Times newspaper has reported that the company said “The immense destruction of houses and damages to crops caused by the floods, made victims homeless and they are now in the state of starvation.” It continued “In this time of crisis, Lucky Cement, Pakistan's largest cement manufacturer, has reached out to far-flung areas which were worst affected by the flash floods in North and South of Pakistan to provide relief to the victims.”

Pakistan: Cement sales fell by 24% year-on-year in Pakistan in August 2022, due to increased energy, fuel and transport costs. Total despatches for the month came to 3.3Mt, against 4.3Mt a year earlier, according to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). Local shipments for August 2022 came to 2.9Mt against 3.8Mt in August 2021, a fall of 24%. Exports fell by 26% to 0.39Mt from 0.52Mt in August 2021.

APCMA officials are of the view that the government needs to generate a viable policy for the construction industry, keeping in view the huge damage to national infrastructure after unprecedented recent flooding.

China: China Tianrui Group has forecast its full-year profit and total comprehensive income as US$187m - 218m in 2021. This corresponds to a 30 - 40% year-on-year decline from its US$312m profit and comprehensive income in 2020. The company attributed the expected decrease to a year-on-year rise in coal prices and decline in cement prices, the latter due to flooding-related demand disruptions in Henan Province.

Belgium: Magotteaux says that its production plants at Vaux-sous-Chèvremont and Trooz near Liege were ‘severely hit’ by flooding in mid-July 2021. The industrial equipment and services supplier is currently assessing the extent of the damage but production is expected to be affected. It reported that all of its staff were safe following the incident.

Thailand: SCG’s revenue from its cement division fell by 7% year-on-year to US$5.7bn in 2020. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3% to US$719m. It blamed falling sales on the coronavirus pandemic and a ‘challenging’ economy but said that it managed to raise earnings and profits through efficiency improvements and a lower production costs. In the fourth quarter of 2020 the business faced resurgent coronavirus outbreaks and flooding in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Overall, the group’s revenue fell by 9% to US$13.3bn with declines in most division apart from packaging.