Displaying items by tag: Malaysia

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia subsidiary Semen Padang’s cement and clinker exports totalled 1.6Mt in 2020. Indonesia Government News has reported that the company said that it exported 0.2Mt of cement and 1.4Mt of clinker throughout the year. The main markets for its products were Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Australia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Semen Indonesia group senior export sales manager Fifit Abriyanto said, “There are two types of cement that we export, namely ordinary Portland cement (OPC) Type I grade 52.5N and OPC Type I grade 42.5N."

Malaysia: Belgium-based Etex has merged its cement boards subsidiary Kalsi Malaysia with fireproofing specialist Promat Malaysia under the new brand Etex Malaysia. The company says that the name change “reflects Etex's broader commitment to inspire ways of living through innovation.” PR Newswire Asia has reported that by combining its Malaysian subsidiaries under the Etex Malaysia brand the group aims to strengthen its offerings to local and export Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak recorded a profit of US$8.72m in the first half of 2020, down by 63% year-on-year from US$23.4m in the first half of 2019. Total sales declined by 40% to US$117m from US$196m. Cement sales also declined, by 31% to US$46.8m from US$68.1m. The company attributed this to the impacts of the coronavirus lockdown.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has reported a first quarter profit of US$4.04m, down by 64% year-on-year from US$11.4m in 2019. Sales fell by 32% to US$65.9m from US$97.6m. The company said, “Ordinarily, there is a lower level of activity in the first quarter;” however it predicted a 50% year-on-year profit drop for its cement division in the first half of 2020. It said that it expects its construction materials and trading division’s performance to “pick up and remain strong” in the second half of 2020.

Malaysia: Singapore-based Hong Leong Asia subsidiary HL Cement Malaysia has acquired an 88% stake in Tasek Corporation. Hong Leong Asia subsidiary Ridge Star has acquired the remaining 12% minority stake. MarketLine News has reported the total value of the deal as US$19.4m.

Philippines: LafargeHolcim’s sale of its 86% stake in Holcim Philippines to San Miguel Corporation for US$2.15bn has fallen through after the Philippines Competition Authority (PCC) failed to approve the deal within 12 months of its conclusion. Reuters News has reported that the agreement, dated 10 May 2020, covered the exchange of four integrated plants and one grinding plant. LafargeHolcim has been divesting assets to pay off debt. The sale of its Holcim Philippines stake would have completed its withdrawal from the South-East Asia market, where its operations across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines had been valued at US$4.90bn.

LafargeHolcim has said that three of its four integrated Philippines cement plants have been able to resume operations following the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. It says that it will ‘focus on strengthening operations in the Philippines.’

Malaysia: The Cement and Concrete Association of Malaysia (CCA) has praised the government’s decision to grant an exception to cement plants in order to allow production to resume in the third phase of the country’s lockdown, beginning on 28 April 2020. The Straits Times newspaper has reported that the current and previous stages of the lockdown have exacerbated the cement sector’s losses over the past two years.

The CCA said that the development ‘will have a multiplier effect on the economy.’ CCA chair Datuk Yeoh Soo Keng said that 100,000 jobs ‘depend either directly and indirectly on cement production,’ including many ‘in small and medium enterprises’ that will not survive the outbreak without it. “Cement is the fundamental building material of our country’s wealth,” he added. The CCA thanked the government for the ‘welcome reprieve’ and urged it to allow ‘related sectors to slowly and gradually resume operations, for the industry to effectively function.’

Germany: Gebr. Pfeiffer has appointed the current head of its Malaysia office Timothy Burden as president of its US subsidiary Gebr. Pfeiffer Inc., effective 1 January 2020. Burden brings 15 years’ materials handling and crushing engineering and sales experience to the role. He studied at Queen’s University Belfast and attained his Masters in engineering from the University of Southhampton in 2004.

Gebr. Pfeiffer will replace Burden in the Malaysian office with Vesa Peurakari, an experienced project and service manager and sales professional with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Gothenburg.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has responded positively to the government’s announcement that it will be subdividing its annual contracts for road maintenance between new concessionaries besides CMS’s 51% subsidiary PPES Works in 2020. “Competition in any market naturally breads competitive efficiency. This can only be good for the public and road users,” said CMS Group Managing Director Isaac Lugun. “We maintain the lion’s share,” he added.

Malaysia: Tasek Corp Bhd's net loss for the third quarter of 2019 narrowed to US$1.3m from US$1.45m a year earlier. It said that it was hampered by high production costs and increased price competition. Its revenue however, rose by 6.9% to US$38.7m compared with US$36.2m in the third quarter of 2018.

Over the first nine months, Tasek's net loss widened to US$5.6m, from a revenue of US$102.7m, up by 1.3% year-on-year. "The board views the outlook for the last quarter of the year to remain challenging if pricing pressure continues," reported Tasek, as cited by the Sun Daily.