Displaying items by tag: GCW276

In June 2016, the polls said that the UK would remain in the European Union (EU), but now we have the prospect of Brexit. Democrat supporters in the US now know how the UK's 'Remainers' feel. The unthinkable has happened: the so-called 'Deplorables' have taken over the asylum. Donald Trump has won the US presidential election and he will be the 45th US president, after confounding all the polls, the media, the analysts and the commentators. He'll be able to appoint a swathe of right-leaning office-holders, including a crucial replacement for the late Antonin Scalia on the US Supreme Court. This will change the direction of US law-making for years, possibly decades, towards a less-liberal and more conservative outlook.

Trump will also be aided by having Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and will actually be able to get things done. President Obama had to fight hard for eight years to achieve anything, and finally had to fall back on enacting laws by presidential dictat or 'Executive Orders.' 'The Donald' will not have to stoop so low, and once he takes office will effectively be 'sweeping with the wind.'

Trump looks set to change US policy in a number of areas, including being less conciliatory towards America's foes ("I'm going to bomb the s••t out of ISIS"), taxing imports and tearing up trade agreements and rolling back US environmental efforts (he has promised to abolish the US Environmental Protection Agency, to cancel the Paris climate change deal, to sanction more drilling for oil and to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline the fourth phase of which was recently rejected by President Obama). Who knows what else he has planned?

Well, one thing that we do know is that Trump's election is very probably great news for the US cement industry.

Early on in his victory speech, moments after receiving a telephone call from Hillary Clinton conceding defeat, Trump laid out the first step of his plan to 'Make America Great Again:' building US infrastructure. Trump said: "We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it." He didn't actually mention cement (nor did he mention a 'big beautiful wall'), but all of these projects will require plenty of cement and concrete. Whether they voted for him or not (and Trump noted that there are those 'who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people'), workers in the cement industry will be celebrating the prospect of fuller order sheets, higher prices, better profitability and more overtime. From a current GDP growth rate of around 1%, some have suggested a surge past 3%/yr and beyond during a Trump presidency. The crucial question, often overlooked, is "How are we going to pay for all this investment?" With the US debt heading towards US$20Tn, perhaps Trump's history as a Democrat - and all the tax-raising territory that comes with that position - might come in handy after all.

Trump has indicated that he's already looking to a second term ("I look very much forward to being your president, and hopefully at the end of two years or three years or four years, or maybe even eight years...") based on what he might achieve in his first term. Well, let's see. Donald Trump's deeds now need to speak louder than Donald Trump's words.

Jamaica: Peter Donkersloot Ponce has been appointed as the general manager of Caribbean Cement Company with effect from 7 November 2016. He replaces Alejandro Varés Leal who was originally appointed in May 2015 subject to an agreement between Caribbean Cement’s owner Trinidad Cement and Cemex. However, Varés Leal has taken up a promotion with Cemex. In accordance with the Agreement, Ponce was proposed by Cemex to replace Varés Leal.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has reported its first financial results following the completion of its takeover of Italcementi in mid-October 2016. Its revenue rose by 8% to Euro10.9bn in the first nine months of 2016 from Euro10.1bn in the same period in 2015. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose by 1.7% to Euro1.40bn from Euro1.38bn. However, its profit fell by 3% to Euro738m from Euro763m. The boost in sales revenue was attributed to the integration of Italcementi into the group but the drop in profits was blamed on higher taxes in North America.

Cement sales volumes grew by 21% to 73Mt from 60.6Mt. Although, on a like-for-like basis, with adjustments consolidation effects, this was reported as 2.5%. Particular growth was reported in the Western and Southern Europe territory due to the influx of new assets from Italcementi. The group’s sales revenue from cement grew by 12% to Euro5.24bn from Euro4.66bn.

Bolivia: The government plans to build a 1.3Mt/yr cement plant at Cutara in the Potosí department with an investment of US$306m. The government will spend US$245m on plant infrastructure and US$61m on road, electricity, water and natural gas connections, according to the ABI news agency. The new plant will join the state’s 1.3Mt/y cement plant being built in Oruro for US$244m.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB) has officially launched its 1Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Mambong for a cost of US$45m. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the unit was awarded to Germany’s Christian Pfeiffer Maschinenfabrik GmbH in April 2014. Construction at the site started in July 2014, production ramp-up commenced in December 2015 and it was fully commissioned earlier in 2016. The plant comprises a 150t/hour ball mill, a high efficiency separator, 2 units of 10,000t concrete silos, four-line bulk loaders and a 3000 bag/hour packing and palletising machine.

“This third plant will increase CMSB’s total annual rated cement production capacity by almost 60% to 2.75Mt/yr, well above current local demand of around 1.7 – 1.8Mt/yr.” said Richard Curtis, Group Managing Director of CMSB. The plant joins the company’s integrated cement plant at Mambong and a grinding plant at Bintulu. CMSB intends to meet growing cement demand in Sarawak, including from big projects such as the Baleh Dam and the Pan Borneo Highway.

The official launch also included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CMS Clinker and ZHA Environmental to enter into negotiations for the use of shredded rubber tyres as an alternate fuel in the production of clinker. CMSB has also signalled its intent to use slag in its cement manufacture as sources become available.

Denmark: FLSmidth’s has grown its services activities slightly to Euro997m in the first nine months of 2016. Other than this revenue, profit and order intake have all fallen. Revenue has dropped by 12% year-on-year to Euro1.7bn, profit by 15% to Euro45.7m and order intake by 7% to Euro1.85bn. The engineering company has said it will take corrective actions through site closures, reducing management, optimising its supply chain and making procurement savings.

"The market for new cement capacity continues to be characterised by pricing pressure. That said, the pipeline of potential projects is encouraging, and current tendering activity gives reason to be cautiously optimistic about the mid-term outlook," said Group CEO Thomas Schulz.

India: My Home Industries plans to build a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant at a cost of US$225m in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. The plant is intended to take advantage of demand for cement generated by construction at the new state capital of Amaravati, according to comments by S Sambasiva Rao, executive director of My Home Industries, made to the Hans newspaper. Groundbreaking at the 1000 acre site is planned for late 2017 and the plant will take up to three years to build.

My Home Industries is a joint-venture between India’s My Home Group and Ireland’s CRH. It has production capacity of 8.4Mt/yr from plants in Nalgonda district in Telangana and Kurnool and Visakhapatnam districts in Andhra Pradesh. It is currently building a 1.2Mt/yr plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

Somaliland: Raysut Cement is set to choose a contractor to build its cement terminal in Berbera. Soil investigation studies have been completed and the company is now about to choose an engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contractor, according to a recent financial report. Once selected the construction of the plant is expected to take 12 months. The project is a joint-venture with Barwaaqo Cement Company that will build a 12,000t terminal for a cost of US$7.5m.

Uruguay: Fancap, the workers union of the Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcoholes y Portland (ANCAP), has criticised imports of cement produced in Turkey by Cementos Charrua. It says that these imports have been dumped in the country at lower than the local price of production, negatively impacting the local industry, according to the El Observador newspaper. Cement is allegedly imported from Turkey and then it is repackaged in bags with the Uruguayan brand for resale. Fancap has asked the government to reassess tariffs for cement imports. It says that these imports are affecting operations at both ANCAP and Cementos Artigas.

CORRECTION: This story originally mentioned Turkey's Çimsa Çimento in relation to Cementos Charrua. Çimsa says it has never been involved in any commercial cooperation with this company in Uruguay.

India: Dalmia Bharat and OCL India have agreed to merge creating the fourth largest cement producer in the country with a production capacity of 25Mt/yr. Dalmia Bharat already owns a 75% share in OCL and the merger has been described as a move to ‘simplify the ownership’, according to Puneet Dalmia, managing director of Dalmia Bharat Group, in comments to the Economic Times.

“The merger will simplify the holding structure and create further consolidation in the cement sector,” said Dalmia. “This action further strengthens our position as one of the leading cement players in India, uniquely placed to support India’s economic growth, and demonstrates our commitment towards achieving simplification and consolidation.”