Displaying items by tag: Israel

Israel: Seebo has announced an extended Series B funding round for a total of US$24m. Vertex Ventures is leading the round, in which10D, The Phoenix and Leumi Partners participate. Seebo will use the funding for a further expansion to its global reach, as well as enhancement of its process-based artificial intelligence product.

The company says that its product enables cement producers to identify process-driven inefficiencies in their operations in order to predict and prevent production losses. It can target losses including those involving kiln throughputs, emissions, clinker quality and ammonia usage. General partner Yanai Oron claimed that Seebo is the only supplier providing a productised solution based on artificial intelligence across the full product line.

Last week’s financial results from Çimsa contained a glimmer of hope for the Turkish cement market. Its net sales grew by 27% year-on-year to Euro175m in the first nine months of 2020 and operating profit more than doubled. Crucially, the balance between domestic and export sales tilted back a little toward the local market at a 55/45 ratio rather than 40/60 for the same period in 2019. Oyak Cement, another of the larger local producers, reported a similar rise in sales also. Akçansa Çimento, the joint venture between Sabancı Holding and HeidelbergCement, saw its sales fall slightly so far in 2020 but its profit grew. These financial results are all surprising given the currency and debt crisis the country faced in 2018 and now coronavirus in 2020.

Graph 1: Domestic and export cement sales in Turkey, January – July 2017 – 2020. Source: Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TÇMB)

Graph 1 above shows the general picture of the Turkish cement industry for the first seven months of each year to put the data so far in 2020 into context. The general Turkish economy faced problems in the middle of the year when the value of the Turkish Lira dropped sharply in mid-2018 and interest rates rose sharply. Subsequently, annual cement sales fell by over 20% year-on-year to 56.5Mt in 2019. A couple of weeks ago the Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TÇMB) said that the sector started 2020 optimistically with a recovery in January 2020. Coronavirus then hit, causing a contraction in the domestic market for the next four months. However, the construction market picked up again in June 2020 and this is expected to have continued into August 2020.

The cement sector previously pivoted to exports strongly with nearly a 50% bump up in exports to 11Mt in 2019. 2020 has been similar so far for the export market with a 40% rise year-on-year from January to July 2020 to around 9Mt. Much of these exports have gone to the US with local media and the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reporting that the North American country took 18% of Turkey’s Euro840m cement exports from January to September 2020. Focusing on international trade has not come without a price though. In September 2020 the Ukrainian government started an investigation into alleged dumping of cement by Turkish producers. Following a complaint by local producers, the Interdepartmental Commission for International Trade (ICIT) determined that: “imports were made to an extent and under conditions such that they may cause material injury to the domestic producer.” The results of the investigation remain to be seen, but Ukraine had no qualms in 2019 about slapping tariffs onto cement imports from Russia, Belarus and Moldova.

All of this leaves the Turkish cement producers relying, much as previously, on the export market to hold up sales while the domestic market recovers to 2018 levels. This is becoming riskier, given the growing number of rivals exporting cement around the world, particularly from around the Mediterranean, and with more countries like Egypt hoping to do likewise. Yet as long as favourite destinations like the US and Israel keep buying, Turkey should be okay. At home, the question remains whether the growth seen post-coronavirus measures in the spring is a sign of economic recovery or merely pent up demand. The country’s initial coronavirus response was praised internationally but signs of a second wave are present. Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed in October 2020 its earlier forecast of a 5% drop in gross domestic product (GDP) for Turkey in 2020. Much of the rest of the world is facing similar contractions in output or worse in 2020 but starting the year from a poor economic position is not enviable.

Israel: The Environmental Protection Ministry (EPM) has granted Nesher-Israel Cement Enterprises a licence to substitute more refuse-derived fuels (RDF) for petcoke than was previously permitted at its 5Mt/yr integrated Ramle, Central District cement plant. The Times of Israel newspaper has reported that the licence also allows for greater metal emissions. The company said, “As is customary in the global cement industry, the Nesher plant in Ramle uses raw materials and alternative fuels, thus achieving a number of environmental goals, including reducing landfill, minimising the use of natural resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Mexico: Cemex has added responsibility for the Philippines, Israel, Egypt and the UAE to Sergio Mauricio Menendez Medina with his appointment as the president of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA). He will continue to remain the president for Cemex in Europe

Jesus Vicente Gonzalez Herrera, current president for Cemex in South, Central America and the Caribbean (SCAC), will also oversee Cemex’s Global Trading activities, in addition to his current responsibilities.

Turkey: Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TÇMB) chairman Nihat Özdemir says that the local industry needs to focus on exports rather than for local consumption. He made the comments at a meeting between the TÇMB and the Cement Industry Employers' Association (ÇEİS) hosted by Deloitte, according to the Dünya newspaper. Exports grew by 46% year-on-year in the first half of 2019 to a value of US$444m driven by deliveries to the US, Ghana and Israel. ÇEİS chairman Suat Çalbıyık called on the Turkish State Railway company to abolish its fixed tariff for goods moved up to 150km to further support the industry.
TÇMB data shows that local consumption fell by 24% year-on-year to 5.12Mt in the first quarter of 2019 from 6.74Mt in 2018. Domestic sales fell by 34% to 3.98Mt from 5.99Mt. Exports rose by 37% to 0.94Mt from 0.68Mt. Local decline in the market has been blamed on a weak housing market and a slowdown in the Turkish economy.

Israel: Nesher Israel Cement has dismissed 20 workers at its Haifa plant. The redundancies took place in October 2018 due to a fall in production, according to the Globes newspaper. The company is also considering making staff change at its Ramla plant. Previously, Israeli cement producers have blamed Turkey and Greece for declining business and have lobbied for anti-dumping tariffs.

Israel: Danny Tal, the commissioner for trade levies at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, will recommend duties on cement imports from Greece and Turkey. Nine different manufacturers will be affected by anti-dumping duties of 7-20%.

Tal drew up the duties following a complaint by cement maker Har-Tuv, which said continued cheap imports would lead to its closure. The complaint was also supported by Nesher Cement, Israel’s only clinker producer.

Tal concluded that the Greek and Turkish companies had violated fair trade rules, with the Greek companies generally ‘dumping’ at lower prices than the Turkish ones.

"We welcome the decision to protect the local industry from illegal imports and to maintain the industry and fair competition over time, and we hope that the recommendation will be adopted and implemented by all relevant levels as soon as possible," said Har-Tuv.

Turkey: İsmail Bulut, the head of the Turkish Cement Manufacturers Association (TÇMB), says that the local industry exported US$124m of cement in 2017. He told the Daily Sabah newspaper that the sector has a production capacity of 81Mt/yr. TÇMB data shows that it exported 7.98Mt of cement in 2017 to nearly 100 countries. The top destinations for Turkish cement included Syria, the US, Israel and Ghana. It also exported 4.93Mt of clinker led by Ghana, Colombia, Ivory Coast and Guinea. Despite the high levels of exports, the country also imported relatively small amounts of clinker for Greece and Bulgaria in 2017.

Israel: A US$34bn lawsuit by Palestinian activists against a group of businesses including CRH has been dismissed by a court in Washington DC. The activists had tried to sue various groups with connections to Israel for allegedly ‘profiteering’ from the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, according to the Irish Independent newspaper. CRH was targeted due to its former co-ownership of Nesher, which produced cement used by the Israeli government in the West Bank. Before it sold its 25% stake in the Israeli cement producer in late 2015 CRH had received protests at its annual general meeting.

Israel: Vortex Global has appointed Pladot as its new sales agent in Israel. Pladot builds mechanical and hydraulic systems for a variety of industries including packaging, process plants, food and beverage producers and more.