Displaying items by tag: Holcim

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked cement producers in the Philippines to justify recent price hikes that led prices to exceed the suggested levels set by the agency.

Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C Maglaya said the three largest cement firms in the country - Holcim Philippines, Lafarge Republic, Cemex Philippines - have started submitting documents to support adjustments in their prices. Eagle Cement is set to meet with DTI and Board of Investment (BOI) officials to explain its pricing scheme. Maglaya said one of the large cement manufacturers had made a submission but had yet to complete all requested data due to 'antitrust issues', referring to laws addressing anti-competitive behavior among corporations.

In April 2013, Maglaya said that cement companies had increased their prices due to the higher cost of coal, a raw material that accounted for about 25% of the cement industry's manufacturing costs. Holcim reportedly raised its price by 11%, Lafarge by 7%, Cemex by 15% and Eagle Cement by 5%.

In 2012, the Cement Manufacturers' Association of the Philippines (Cemap) reported record-high sales of 18.4Mt, up by 17.5% from 15.6Mt in 2011. This was due to the boom in public and private construction projects. In the fourth quarter of 2012, 4.4Mt of cement were sold compared to 4Mt in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Mexico: Swiss construction materials company Holcim's subsidiary Holcim Apasco will be renamed Holcim México. Holcim Latinoamérica's CEO Andreas Leu said that the move had been taken in order to "Unify the brand and strengthen its presence as a global leader in the Mexican market."

A slowdown in the Mexican construction industry has caused a 10% decline in cement demand in the country in the first three months of 2013, but the firm expects cement sales to increase by 1-2% in 2013, according to Holcim Mexico's CEO Eduardo Kretschmer.

"Mexico has great potential in the construction sector, as it is an emerging economy with strong macroeconomic fundamentals, a young population that in the coming years will demand more and better housing and infrastructure," said Kretschmer.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines plans to construct a 2.5Mt/yr cement plant in Bulacan costing US$550m. Holcim Philippines chief executive Ed Sahagun said in a news briefing that the company had obtained first phase approval from its parent company Holcim.

The approval will allow the cement producer to obtain quotations, organise a project team and proceed with securing permit requirements. Final approval will be discussed in September 2013. Holcim Philippines plans to have the new plant on stream by 2016. Sahagun said that he expected demand for cement to further improve, once the public-private partnership projects were implemented.

Holcim Philippines' net income in the first quarter of 2013 grew by 77.2% to US$35.1m from US$19.8m in the same period in 2012, due to increased demand and higher cement prices.

Once again the winter weather was bad in Europe. Once again the major European cement producers reported a fall in sales. So what has changed between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013?

Lafarge's cement sales volumes in Western Europe for the first quarter of 2013 fell by 24% year-on-year, compared to an 11% drop in 2012. Holcim's decline in volumes stabilised, compared to a 13.2% drop in 2012. HeidelbergCement's volume decline increased slightly, from a drop of 8% in 2012 to one of 10% in 2013. Cemex didn't release sales volumes figures for cement but overall net sales in its Northern Europe region fell by 13% in 2013 compared to 11% in 2012. Italcementi's cement sales volumes maintained a steady decline in both the first quarters of 2012 and 2013 at about 19%.

Even with the reduced number of working days for the quarter in 2013 taken into account, things are not looking good. Generally the results fit the prediction made by the UK Mineral Products Association (in the UK at least) that construction activity remains subdued in 2013 so far.

Profitability measures for the European divisions of the big producers, such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), reinforce the gloomy outlook, suggesting that most of the cost cutting exercises aren't having much effect on investor balance sheets quite yet. Lafarge's EBITDA in Western Europe fell by 94% to Euro5m. HeidelbergCement's loss before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased to Euro91m. Cemex's operating EBITDA fell from US$55m in 2012 to a loss of US$17m in 2013. Italcementi's EBITDA decreased to Euro12.8m.

Only Holcim reversed this trend, growing its EBITDA by 43% to Euro23.5m. The Holcim Leadership Journey appears to be working. Although the sale of a 25% stake in Cement Australia certainly helped.

Elsewhere, we have an additional story at add to last week's focus on Iraq, with the announcement that Mondi has opened an industrial bags plant in Iraq. It's based in Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq near to the new Sinoma-Lafarge project that we reported on.

Finally, the news that the Competition Commission of India has been asked to investigate a complaint against a Chinese waste heat recovery vendor raises tensions between the world's largest two cement producers. The story echoes similar trends in the gypsum wallboard business in April 2013 where a selective anti-dumping duty was imposed on imports from China, Indonesia, Thailand and the UAE. Watch this space.

Switzerland: Despite net sales falling Holcim has reported a net income of Euro240m for the first quarter of 2013, compared to Euro91m in the same period in 2012. The gain was principally made through the sale of Holcim's 25% stake in Cement Australia. Elsewhere, market and weather induced decreases in sales volumes in all segments and higher variable costs impacted operating results.

The building materials producer reported that net sales fell by 7.2% to Euro3.52bn in the first quarter of 2013 from Euro3.84bn in the same period of 2012. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 10.3% to Euro681m from Euro617m. Sales of cement fell by 5% to 32.1Mt from 33.7Mt.

By region sales of cement fell in Asia Pacific by 3.8% to 18.6Mt from 19.4Mt. In Latin America sales of cement remained stable at 5.9%. In Europe sales of cement fell by 2.5% to 4.4Mt from 4.5Mt. Weaker construction activities were noted in India, Morocco and France.

In its outlook Holcim expected an increase in sales of cement in 2013 led by its Asia Pacific, North America and Latin America regions.

Ecuador: Loesche has announced that it will deliver one LM 56.4 type vertical roller mill for cement raw material grinding for the Guayaquil cement plant currently being expanded for Holcim Ecuador. The order was placed by the Chinese general contractor Sinoma-TJ (CBMI), which will supply a 4500t/day line.

The mill will grind cement raw material and has been designed for a capacity of 386t/hr. The mill motor capacity will be 4000kW. It will compliment an existing Loesche mill that has been operating at the same plant since 2010. Delivery is planned at the end of 2013.

Sri Lanka: Philippe Richart, formally responsible for the Ready Mix Concrete business in Holcim Vietnam, has been appointed CEO of Holcim Lanka.

The change of CEO, which was announced in February 2013, was part of a generational change in the company's leadership. Philippe joined Holcim Group Support in 2004 as a Commercial Project Manager for the Aggregates and Constructions Materials function, working on aggregates market development and performance improvement in various regions of the Group.

In 2007 he was appointed RMX director for Holcim Vietnam and successfully brought the division into the leading position in South Vietnam.

Before joining Holcim, Philippe held various roles in construction project management and business development for Lafarge Cement and Metso Minerals in Taiwan, USA, China and France. He holds a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Industrielles (Lille, France) and an MBA from George Washington University (DC, USA).

Indonesia: Cement producer Holcim Indonesia has announced plans to expand its production capacity by 40% to 12.5Mt/yr. Eamon J Ginley, Holcim Indonesian president director, released the news at a press conference in Jakarta reported on by the Jakarta Globe.

Ginley said that the increased output will come from the operation of Tuban 1 plant that will begin production in the second quarter of 2013, along with the acquisition of Tuban 2 plant in East Java. The capacity of both plants is estimated to be 1.7Mt/yr, adding 3.4Mt/yr to the company's current output of 9.1Mt/yr. Tuban 2 is expected to be completed in 2015. According to Ginley, Holcim Indonesia is investing more than US$800m - raised from internal cash, export credits and other loans - to boost its production capacity.

Overall in Indonesia, local and foreign producers have set aside US$6.7bn until 2017 on capacity expansion. This investment is expected to boost the country's cement production capacity by 80% to 109Mt/yr in 2017 from 60.5Mt/yr in 2012.

Somebody at HeidelbergCement is brave. Making an investment in a cement market characterised in 2012 by job losses and carbon taxation takes some nerve. Yet this is exactly what HeidelbergCement has done with the announcement that it plans to take joint control of Cement Australia with Holcim.

So what's in it for Holcim and HeidelbergCement?

Opportunity and foreign supply chains to minimise the carbon tax seem to be the main reasons. With Holcim's 2012 financial performance dragged down by Europe and Africa, its cost reduction programme, the 'Holcim Leadership Journey,' continues into 2013. Australia, as one of the few disappointing spots in the producer's Asia-Pacific region, is an obvious asset to sell. By contrast, HeidelbergCement reported growth in its operating income in 2012.

With regards to supply chains, both Boral and Adelaide Brighton – Cement Australia's competitors in Australia – acted to seize foreign clinker supplies in 2012. As they are multinationals, Holcim and HeidelbergCement have ready-built supply chains. Figures from the Global Cement Directory 2013 show that Holcim holds a cement production capacity of 9.7Mt in Indonesia, 5.75Mt in the Philippines and 0.55Mt in New Zealand. HeidelbergCement hold 16.5Mt in Indonesia. Despite regular annual high performance and regular capacity growth in the cement industry in Indonesia and the Philippines, having the option to export excess clinker to nearby Australia must be enticing.

For Holcim, minimising risk may be a key factor in their decision to reduce their share in Cement Australia. Holcim dodged mentioning the country's cement performance in its 2013 outlook although it did report an overall volume decrease across all its business lines in 2012. Boral expects its sales volumes to remain flat in the first six months of 2013, with pricing challenged by the high Australian Dollar and low sea freight prices. Adelaide Brighton expects its demand for cement to continue coming from South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Adelaide Brighton also took pains to point out the carbon tax will hit its 2013 profits by US$6m, nearly 4% of its 2012 profit. Going 50-50 with HeidelbergCement shares the risks for Holcim as well as the profits.

Holcim faces the same dilemma that Lafarge faced in mid-2012 when it sold two cement plants in the US. It needs to sell assets to cut costs and raise capital but it also needs to pick assets to sell that won't boost its competitors too much. The on-going recovery in the US building industry suggests at present that Lafarge may have made a poor choice in North America. Holcim's decision suggests that they aren't expecting a recovery in Australia anytime soon.

Switzerland: Swiss-based multinational building materials producer Holcim has announced that Wolfgang Reitzle will take over as chairman in 2014. To ensure continuity, current chairman Rolf Soiron has been proposed for re-election at the annual general meeting of 17 April 2013. Also at the meeting the board of directors will propose the election of Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen and Anne Wade to the board of directors of Holcim.

Sørensen is currently the CEO of Maersk Tankers based in Copenhagen, one of the world's largest tanker operators. She holds an MSc in Business Economy from the University of Aarhus.

Wade, an investor with extensive experience in capital markets, was the Senior Vice President and Director of an investment management company, Capital International, based in London from 1995 to 2012. She graduated with a BA from Harvard University and holds a Master of Science from the London School of Economics.

In addition the board of directors is proposing the re-election of Beat Hess for a three year term. He is currently deputy chairman of the board of directors. Markus Akermann and Peter Küpfer are no longer available for re-election. Christine Binswanger has resigned from the board effective from the date of the meeting.