Displaying items by tag: Indonesia
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s cement sales volumes have struggled to grow in the first half of 2017 following its acquisition of Italcementi. Its sales volumes rose to 60.7Mt year-on-year in the first half of 2017 from 39.9Mt in the same period in 2016. However, on a pro forma basis its sales fell by 1% with falling sales noted in its Asia-Pacific region. The group blamed its poor performance in the second quarter of 2017 on reduced working days, bad weather in the US and a late Ramadan period that reduced selling days in Indonesia.
“In the light of the difficult general conditions, we achieved a good result in the second quarter,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board. “We were able to almost offset the effect of higher energy costs, bad weather conditions, fewer working days, and increased competition in some emerging countries. The synergies from the Italcementi acquisition are clearly visible in the results.”
The group’s sales revenue rose by 31% to Euro8.39bn from Euro6.41bn although it only rose by 1% on a pro forma basis. Its earnings before interest and tax rose by 6% to Euro776m from Euro728m.
By region cement sales rose in all regions on both a consolidated and pro forma basis except for Asia-Pacific. Here, cement and clinker sales fell by 3.1% once the newly acquired Italcemeni assets in India and Thailand had been excluded. A particular decline was recorded in Indonesia due to the timing of Ramadan in June 2017 and reduced demand for residential housing. Elsewhere, the US market was hit by poor weather, although the housing market remained promising. In the group’s Africa-Eastern Mediterranean, the group reported issues in Egypt but strong increases in cement sales were reported as new production capacity started in Togo, Tanzania and Burkina Faso.
Indonesia: Rizkan Chandra, the President Director of Semen Indonesia, has died at the age of 48 years. He was appointed to the post in May 2016 for the period 2016 – 2020, according to the Jakarta Globe newspaper. Rizkan, who graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 1987, was previously appointed as strategy and business development director at the cement producer. He was also a former network and information technology director at Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom).
Darmawan Junaidi will be the acting president director for Semen Indonesia. He has previously served as finance director for the company.
Southeast Asia: LafargeHolcim has signed an agreement on biodiversity conservation with Fauna & Flora International (FFI). Under the agreement, FFI will perform an independent external review of the group’s existing biodiversity management plans (BMP) at sites in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines; contribute to the development of a group-wide strategy on karst management; identify opportunities for enhancing biodiversity in quarry rehabilitation; and organise a stakeholder dialogue bringing together an external expert group, local government, local non government organisations and LafargeHolcim staff to consult on BMP recommendations. The agreement is intended to help LafargeHolcim meet the biodiversity aspects of its 2030 sustainability plan.
“Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge. We aim to be good stewards of the land where we operate and demonstrate that proper management of quarries can reduce and reverse our impacts and even generate positive change for biodiversity. The new engagement work with FFI will play a key role in achieving our commitment,” said Caroline Hempstead, Group Head of Communications, Public Affairs & Sustainable Development at LafargeHolcim.
Indonesia: The Fitch credit rating agency says that cement sales are starting to rise due to increased investment in infrastructure projects but that overcapacity will continue to limit improvements in cement producers' profitability. Indonesian Cement Association's (ASI) data show that domestic cement sales volumes rose by 7% year-on-year in May 2017 to 5.5Mt. Sales volumes for January to May 2017 increased by 4% to 25.3Mt.
Fitch has attributed this growth to a 13% growth in sales of bulk cement, which is used mainly for infrastructure-related developments. By region, the main driver of the increase was in central Java, where toll road projects are underway and where sales rose by 17%. Demand for bagged cement, which is generally used for property developments, rose by 5% in May 2017.
Indonesia: Cemengal has completed the commissioning of a new modular grinding station Plug&Grind XL for Cemindo in Benkulu. This is the third unit that Cemindo has installed in the country.
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia increased its cement sales by 10% year-on-year to 11.5Mt in the first five months of 2017. The cement producer was pleased with the result, despite competition concerns and lower than expected government infrastructure spending, according to the Antara news agency. Company communications chief Sigit Wahono added that the company controls about 43% of the local market and this has remained stable since 2012. At present its market depends on bagged residential retail sales.
Indonesia: PT Indocement, the second-largest cement producer in Indonesia, has reported a poor quarterly result amid stiff competition and lower cement prices. Its profit for the first quarter of 2017 was down by 53.8% to US$37.5m, despite the fact that its revenue only fell by 14.1% to US$248m.
Indocement president director Christian Kartawijaya attributed the slump to tight competition in the domestic market from other producers, such as Karawang-based PT Jui Shin and Banten-based PT Cemindo Gemilang, which frequently sell cement at lower prices. "The profit decline is inevitable amid very tight competition. Meanwhile, the cake is getting smaller, so we've experienced the decline in profits and revenue," said Christian.
Indocement, a part of major diversified conglomerate Salim Group, also cited persistent cement oversupply in the domestic market this year, while demand was estimated to rise by only 5% year-on-year to 65Mt. This pushed down the cement price by 12% in the January-March period compared to the first quarter of 2016. "As long as there is an oversupply, we can't avoid a price war," Christian added.
Despite a gloomy outlook throughout this year, the company has still earmarked a sizeable US$128m sum for capital expenditure for expansion, although the figure is still 5.9% lower than 2016. Its key projects include the development of cement terminals and cement packaging terminals in Sumatra and other undetermined sites. Christian also said Indocement would also go ahead with its plan to construct a cement factory in Pati, Central Java, which is subject to public controversy because of claims that there is no legal basis to execute it.
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia plans to start commercial operation of its Rembang cement plant in the first half of 2017. Rizkan Chandra, the chief executive, of the state-owned cement producer revealed the company’s plans, despite protests on environmental grounds by local residents, after a meeting with presidential staff in Jakarta, according to the Antara news agency. However the plant is waiting for environmental clearance that is expected to be released in April 2017. Previously a government minister said that the President Joko Widodo was expected to inaugurate the plant in mid-2017. However, in October 2016 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the protesters and ordered Semen Indonesia to cease its activities.
Anhui Conch repairs balance sheet in 2016
24 March 2017China: Anhui Conch returned to rising sales revenue and profit in 2016 after a problematic year in 2015 beset by a poor market for cement. Its revenue rose by 9.7% year-on-year to US$8.12bn in 2016 from US$7.40bn in 2015. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker rose by 8% to 277Mt. Its net profit rose by 14% to US$1.24bn from US$1.09bn. The group says that its adoption of a flexible marketing strategy for different regions and plants and a focus on lowering production costs delivered sales growth and operating savings. However, its full year results are in contrast to its ones for the first nine months of 2016, in which it reported small declines in its revenue and net profit.
During the year the cement producer finished building six clinker production lines at Yingjiangyunhan Cement and Yiyang Conch Cement and it completed 18 cement grinding plants at Wenshan Conch Cement and Ganzhou Conch Cement. In addition to purchased the assets of Anhui Chaodong Cement. Outside of China the group completed lines in Indonesia and Myanmar, started buildings projects in Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos and started early work on new projects in Russia and Myanmar. At the end of 2016 the group says it has a clinker and cement production capacity of 244Mt/yr and 313Mt/yr respectively. It also reported that it had completed 15 waste treatment projects by the end of the year to feed cement plant kilns with domestic waste.
Indonesia: State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno says that President Joko Widodo is expected to inaugurate Semen Indonesia’s Rembang cement plant in April 2017. Soemarno made the comments following a visit to the plant, according to the Jakarta Post. The inauguration of the plant is dependent on environmental clearance, which should be completed in April 2017. However, the plant has been the focus of intense protests by local farmers and both the Supreme Court and a local government ruled to shut down the plant.