Displaying items by tag: Invasion

Russia: Holcim said that it has received interest from over 30 possible buyers for its Russian business. The group announced that it would sell the assets, including three cement plants, in March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch said that the sale would need to be handled ‘with very great diligence.’ He continued "We don't expect to write it off completely. I would hope this business has a value." Jenisch asked investors and commentators to ‘give us a couple of months’ to ‘get more clarity.’

France: Vicat recorded first-quarter sales of Euro789m in 2022, up by 12% year-on-year from Euro707m in the first quarter of 2021. The group reported ‘solid’ year-on-year consolidated sales growth across all of its regions, with price rises offsetting negative volume effects. Cement sales grew by 7.4% in France, 4.1% in the rest of Europe, 18% in the US, 26% in Brazil and 8.5% in Africa. The Russian invasion of Ukraine did not manifest in any impacts on group activity in the quarter. Vicat estimates that in order to offset higher power costs it will need to raise its cement prices by 15% year-on-year in 2022 as a whole.

Group chair and chief executive officer Guy Sidos said “Vicat’s first-quarter sales performance reflects the dynamism of its markets, despite a high basis of comparison.” He continued “In a global environment providing little visibility in the short term, especially as regards energy costs, we are executing our strategy to improve our production performance, make greater use of secondary fuels and implement a pricing policy tailored to this new environment in pursuit of our operational, environmental and societal targets."

Denmark: FLSmidth’s sales were US$670m in the first quarter of 2022, up by 27% year-on-year. Its earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITA) rose by 59% to US$43m. The supplier’s cement business recorded a sales increase of 10%. This contributed to a continuation in the ‘positive trend’ in earnings from the end of 2021, along with improvements from executed reshaping activities. The business made a property sale worth US$3.27m. In light of the results for the quarter, the company announced that it has maintained its guidance of US$2.49 – 2.71bn consolidated sales and US$783 – 855m in cement business sales in 2022.

Chief executive officer Mikko Keto said “The first quarter of 2022 saw a strong momentum in order intake driven by both mining and cement.” Keto expanded “Our cement business has continued its positive development on improving profitability.”

Regarding the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said “Our key priority in this challenging time of war has been on the safety and well-being of our employees. We closely follow this tragic situation to ensure we take the right responsible decisions from a humanitarian, legal, and financial point of view.”

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.

Russia: The government is ‘working to establish import flows’ of building materials from Uzbekistan. Russian media sources have reported that the construction industry is also hoping to expand import partnerships with China, India, Iran and Turkey. Russian cement production reportedly continues to adequately serve the national demand for cement.

Russia: Switzerland-based Holcim has announced its upcoming exit from the Russian cement market in line with its corporate value ‘to operate in the most responsible manner.’ The Global Cement Directory 2022 records a total of four Holcim cement plants in the country, commanding a capacity of 9.2Mt/yr.

Holcim’s board of directors thanked all employees currently mobilising to provide shelter, essential goods and medical supplies and other support to Ukrainians.

The group had previously suspended new capital investments into the market on 15 March 2022.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 1.8% year-on-year in 2021 to Euro795m. Despite this, its net profit for the year declined by 3.2% year-on-year to Euro542m.

In 2022, Buzzi Unicem forecasts a 10% full-year EBITDA decline due to the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement’s Málaga cement plant has temporarily ceased to produce clinker due to high electricity costs. The La Razón newspaper has reported that the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made clinker production economically unfeasible at the plant.