Displaying items by tag: Iraq

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 21.6% year-on-year to US$114m in the nine month of its financial year to the end of March 2018 from US$145m in the same period in 2016. It noted that its cost of sales rose by 16.9% due to rising coal and other fuel prices. Its gross revenue rose by 7.1% to US$439m from US$410m. Cement production rose by 11.1% to 5.79Mt from 5.2Mt.

The cement producer added that it is expanding production at its Pezu plant by 2.6Mt/yr due to delays with its expansion plans elsewhere in the north of the country. Approvals from the government have been secured. The US$152m upgrade project is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2019. It is also building a US$109m integrated cement plant at Samawah in Iraq. The joint-venture project with a local partner will have a cement production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr when operational. Commercial production is currently scheduled for end of 2019.

Iran: Cement production remained stagnant at 54.5Mt during the Iranian financial year that ended on 20 March 2018. Clinker production was reported as 57.9Mt, according to ISNA. The country produced 54.1Mt of cement in the preceding financial year. The lack of growth has been blamed on a recession in the construction sector, poor supply of gas to industrial users and declines in the export market.

Exports fell by 9% year-on-year to 5.8Mt in the 2018 period, according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, the secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association, with particular declines noted in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq temporarily banned imports from Iran in 2015 due to low quality but volumes fell following the resumption of trade. Cement shipments to Russia have also reportedly been returned due to quality issues. An arrangement with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines to implement a 30% discount for cement cargos to Persian Gulf states has been agreed but it is yet to be implemented.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s profit after tax fell by 2% year-on-year to US$77.6m in the half year to 31 December 2017 from US$79m in the same period in 2016. The cement producer said that its cost of sales had increased by 21% due to rising coal and other fuels prices. Its sales revenue grew by 5.2% to US$297m from US$283m. Its cement production rose by 5.4% to 3.68Mt from 3.49Mt.

The company completed a new 1.25Mt/yr production line at its Karachi cement plant in December 2017. It is currently seeking government approval to build a new 2.3Mt/yr plant in Punjab Province. However due to the delay it is considering expanding its Pezu plant by 2.3Mt/yr instead. The cement producer also expanded its grinding plant in Iraq by 0.87Mt/yr to 1.74Mt/yr.

Iran/Iraq: Iraq has imposed a 45% tariff on cement import from Iran, according to the head of non-metal mine products and the Department of Ministry of Industries and Business in Iran. Seifollah Amiri of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce said, “Currently, only exporting clinker to Iraq is possible.”

Iran exported 12Mt of cement worth US$695m in the Iranian fiscal year that ran to 19 March 2017. Iraq took US$441m worth of material. Assuming that all exports are the same price per tonne, this equates to around 7.6Mt of cement.

Middle East/Africa: LafargeHolcim is expanding its specialised Binastore retail network for construction materials in Middle East and Africa. The construction materials producer already operates 500 stores in the region that serves end-consumers, self-builders, masons and smaller contractors. The newly-branded network will sell a broad range of LafargeHolcim’s own products and solutions as well as a variety of other construction materials from partner suppliers.

The first stores operating under the Binastore brand have begun to serve customers in Algeria, Cameroon, Iraq and Lebanon. The format of the stores will vary with sizes from 50m² to 2000m² and it will also include mobile stores in some rural locations. Existing stores in the region will gradually be rebranded as Binastore, while new stores will also open under this brand.

“Our vision is to build the largest retail network for construction materials in the Middle East Africa region so the Binastore brand becomes a household name for small and medium-size builders. Building on our success in Algeria, our goal is to deliver a range of building products, including our own, through multiple channels to meet the needs and lifestyle of our customers who are becoming more and more sophisticated,” said Saâd Sebbar, Region Head Middle East Africa.

The Binastore network is part of LafargeHolcim’s long-term strategy of expanding its retail business in emerging markets. In April 2017, the group announced the rollout of Disensa, a similar concept, in Latin America, where the goal is to have a network of around 1000 stores operating by the end of 2017.

Iraq: China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) has signed a US$445m deal with Jabal Bazian Co for General Trading to build a cement plant. The contract includes the plant's production line design, purchasing, construction management, operational work as well as assorted administration buildings, dormitories, dining halls and other facilities, according to the Global Times newspaper. The plant is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2019.

Iraq: Germany’s Man Diesel & Turbo has delivered six Man 18V32/40 engines, including gensets and mechanical equipment to CGGC-UN Power Co (Gezhouba Group) in Samawah. CGGC is acting as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in a project building a 50MW captive power plant for a cement plant to be operated by Kairat Al Abar Iraqi (KAAI). The engines will run on heavy fuel oil (HFO) in base load mode. The cement plant is being built by China’s Sinoma.

Iraq: Islamic State militants have set the Badoosh cement plant in western Mosul on fire. Major Ali Mohsen, an officer of the Counter-Terrorism Service, said that the plant had been looted and then set on fire, according to the Iraq News newspaper. He added that security forces had killed 15 militants and wounded three others in local fighting. The clashes are part of the Islamic State group’s action against attempts by Iraqi government forces to retake the region.

Iran: The Ministry of Roads & Urban Development Iran has agreed to purchase 2Mt of cement from local producers. Iran's Bank Maskan, also known as the Housing Bank, will finance the road building plan and the cement producers will receive the money in cash, according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. He added, in comments to the Tasnim news agency, that he hoped the money will ease stagnation in the Iranian cement industry. Sheikhan also commented on plans to export cement to Syria and talks to remove a ban of imports of Iranian cement in Iraq.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales have risen by 13% year-on-year to US$514m for the six months to 31 December 2016 from US$454m in the same period in 2015. Its profit after tax rose by 14% to US$83m from US$73m. It attributed the increase in revenue on rising sales volumes and its cost of sales fell due to lower fuel costs.

Its cement sales volumes rose by 5.4% to 3.5Mt from 3.3Mt, although exports fell by 16.3% to 0.75Mt from 0.9Mt. Overall the cement producer reported that its market share in Pakistan grew slightly to 18.8% due to an increase in its share of domestic sales.

The cement producer reported that construction at its Punjab cement plant project is awaiting governmental approvals and that it is expected to start in June 2017. A waste heat recovery unit at its Pezu plant is planned to finish commissioning and start operation by the end of January 2017. A joint-venture 1.18Mt/yr plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo started commercial operation in December 2016 and a 0.87Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Iraq is expected to come online in August 2017.