Displaying items by tag: Fuel

India: UltraTech Cement has imported a 157,000t shipment of coal from Russia for US$25.8m, which it paid in Chinese Yuan. ET NOW News has reported that this is the first instance of an Indian entity using the currency in international trade. The deal has a value of US$164/t, 50% below average South African coal prices and 20% below average Australian cement prices in India. The deal reportedly signals the possible end of Indian coal prince inflation in the medium – long term.

Ghana: Alan Kyerematen, the Minister for Trade and Industry, has blamed the increasing price of cement on negative currency exchange effects and growing fuel prices. He informed the Parliament of Ghana that the cost to import clinker has risen significantly, according to the Ghana News Agency. Kyerematen also noted that the cost of freight has surged due to the coronavirus pandemic and then the war in Ukraine.

Australia: Adbri is part of a consortium of eight Australian industrial manufacturers, developers and port operators collaborating with AGL Energy on a feasibility study for a green hydrogen plant at the site of the latter’s Torrens Island power plant in South Australia. AFR Online News has reported that any future hydrogen plant established by the partners would rely on solar and wind power, which has large potential in the region.

The South Australian government previously launched its first US$414m green hydrogen project in Whyalla in March 2022.

India: India Cements’ fourth-quarter sales were US$183m in its 2022 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2022, down by 4% year-on-year from US$190m in the corresponding quarter of the 2021 Indian financial year. The producer’s net loss was US$1.37m, as against a first-quarter 2021 financial year net profit of US$6.47m. During the quarter, the company’s cement sales volumes fell by 1.4% to 2.63Mt from 2.67Mt, while its clinker sales volumes fell by 88% to 38,000t from 324,000t. For the full 2022 financial year, India Cements’ sales of cement rose by 2% to 9.07Mt from 8.9Mt. Coal costs ended the financial year at US$300/t, five times the 31 March 2021 price of US$60/t.

India Cements said “The spiralling prices of fuel, along with the shortage in availability of the same, affected the margins of the industry. The woes of the industry worsened further with the outbreak of Russia's war with Ukraine resulting in sanctions being imposed on Russia and its exports, fuelling further shortage of coal and oil in the market.”

India: Cement producers and analysts say that a government cut to fuel duty may reduce the price of cement. The reduction may be minimal but it will stand out amongst inflation on other input costs for cement production, according to sources quoted by the Business Standard newspaper. Shree Cement hopes to pass on any reduction in costs from transportation to consumers but UltraTech Cement and JSW Cement are yet to announce a price cut. Most cement producers raised their prices by 8% month-on-month in April 2022 with a similar increase expected in May 2022.

Russia: SibCem’s first vice president Gennady Rasskazov says that the local production cost of cement is expected to rise by 30% year-on-year in 2022 due to the new ‘economic circumstances’ the country faces. He added that, due to economic sanctions, the price of coal rose by 76 - 86%, goods and materials by 55%, diesel by 30%, oils and lubricants by 83% and transport and logistics costs by 14 - 24% in the first quarter of 2022. The average growth in worker pay at SibCem will rise by 30% in 2022 as the company has implemented indexed salaries. Rasskazov made the comments at a meeting with cement producers, consumers and local officials at the Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Dominican Republic: First-quarter domestic cement consumption in the Dominican Republic rose by 2.9% year-on-year in 2022. The Dominican Association of Portland Cement Producers (ADOCEM) said that producers’ costs rose year-on-year, particularly in the area of fuels, which accounts for 60% of costs. Electricity prices also rose during the quarter.

Association president Felix Gonzalez said "Without a doubt, energy management is a key point in the economic sphere of a cement plant since it makes this industry very susceptible to deficiencies and high tariffs in the electricity sector, as well as to the continuously increasing costs of oil and its derivatives.”

In 2021, ADOCEM members produced 6.5Mt of cement, up by 27% year-on-year from 5.1Mt in 2020. Full-year consumption was 5.5Mt.

India: UltraTech Cement recorded consolidated sales of US$6.86bn in its 2022 financial year, up by 18% year-on-year from US$5.83bn. The Aditya Birla subsidiary's net profit was US$957m, up by 34% from US$713m. Its total expenses also increased, by 20% to US$5.61bn from US$4.69bn. The sharpest rise, of 45%, was in power and fuel expenses, to US$1.43bn from US$985m.

South Korea: Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has announced plans for a further increase to his country’s coal imports from Australia in order to enable cement production to continue and prevent a shortage. The Yonhap News Agency News has reported that the government plans to accelerate customs clearance processes around the fossil fuel. Hong added that the government will ‘sternly deal with any illegal hoarding or price fixing’ of cement.

Serbia: The impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mean that the Serbian cement industry’s operations are ‘endangered’ and will likely fail to meet steady market demand in the coming months. Serbian Cement Industry Association director Dejana Milinkovic said that the industry relied on Russia and Ukraine for 50% of its coal supply in 2021.

In 2021, the industry produced 2.6Mt of cement, up by 10% year-on-year, operating close to 100% capacity utilisation.