Displaying items by tag: PPC
Rwanda: Upgrade work at Cimerwa’s plant at Bugarama has led to local cement prices rising by up to nearly 50%. The plant has been shut for nearly a month for improvements to its mill, heat exchanger bypass, clinker cooler plate, bag filter and limestone weigh feeder, according to the New Times newspaper. However, the work has been delayed by bad weather and delays waiting for imported parts to arrive.
The total cost of the upgrade project is US$3.3m. An unnamed German contractor has been involved with the work. The plant has a nominal production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr but it currently produces 0.5Mt/yr. Normal supply from the plant is expected to resume by the end of May 2018.
PPC and Sinoma fire up new Slurry kiln
18 April 2018South Africa: PPC and China’s Sinoma Construction have successfully ignited the kiln at the Slurry Kiln 9 project in North West province. The new clinker production line will now undergo a three-month test period, according to the China Economic Daily newspaper. Once testing is finished, the 3300t/day line will be transferred to PPC to start commissioning.
PPC in talks with Sinoma to sell majority stake in operations in Democratic Republic of Congo
09 April 2018Democratic Republic of Congo: South Africa’s PPC says it is talks with China National Materials (Sinoma) over selling a majority stake in its operations in the country. In an interview with Bloomberg chief executive officer Johann Claassen said that deal would depend on the price and implications on the on-going merger between Sinoma and China National Building Material (CNBM). He added that the PPC’s cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo had proven ‘challenging’ and that the company had arranged a ‘debt holiday’ with lenders after the market ‘didn’t pan out as envisaged.’
PPC announces US$176m black economic empowerment deal
16 March 2018South Africa: PPC has revealed details of a US$176m black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction. The transaction, together with the BEE shareholding from the two previous transactions, will result in an effective 30% BEE shareholding in PPC South Africa Holdings, making the company compliant with the Mining Charter, according to the Pretoria Times newspaper. Called PPC Phakama, meaning ‘rise up’ in Zulu, the transaction will result in PPC's equity shareholding in PPC South Africa being reduced from 100% to 74.6%.
Sibonginkosi Nyanga, an analyst at Momentum Securities, said that the cement producer was required by the Mining Charter to implement the transaction. It requires companies to have at least a 26% BEE shareholding. Non-compliance could have had the potential put PPC’s mining rights at risk.
Peter Nelson resigns as chairman of PPC
05 March 2018South Africa: Peter Nelson has resigned as the chairman of PPC. He has been replaced by Jabu Moleketi. The changeover follows the demand in late February 2018 by Prudential Investment Managers, a large shareholder of PPC, that Nelson leave the role. Sydney Mhlarhi and Dawn Earp have also resigned as non-executive directors of the cement producer.
Moleketi is the Non-Executive Chairman of Brait as well as the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Vodacom and Harith General Partners. He was the Deputy Minister of Finance (South Africa) from 2004 to 2008 and MEC of Financial and Economic Affairs in the Gauteng Provincial Government from 1994 to 2004. During his tenure as the Deputy Minister of Finance, he was the chairperson of the Public Investment Corporation. Moleketi holds a Masters in Financial Economics from the University of London and an Advanced Management Programme from Harvard.
Other personnel changes include the appointment of Noluvuyo Mkhondo and Antony Ball to the board as non-executive directors of PPC.
Mkhondo is an investment banking and corporate finance professional, having spent time at Goldman Sachs International and Anglo American in the UK where she was responsible for mergers and acquisition execution, investment evaluation and strategic long term financial planning. During her time at Goldman Sachs and Anglo American, she executed cross-border transactions in Consumer / Retail, Healthcare, Real Estate and Metals and Mining across the UK, Africa and the Americas. Mkhondo is a Chartered Accountant by profession, having begun her career in the Audit and Advisory Financial Institutions services Team at Deloitte in Johannesburg. In addition, she has an MBA from London Business School where she was a Mo Ibrahim Scholar.
Ball is the co-founder of Value Capital Partners (VCP). Prior to that, his notable business accomplishment was the founding in 1990 and building of Brait, a South African private equity business. Ball is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Cimerwa to upgrade Bugarama cement plant
28 February 2018Rwanda: Cimerwa plans to upgrade its Bugarama cement plant in Rusizi District of Western Province. The project is intended to increase the plant’s production capacity and to target demand locally and abroad, in particular infrastructure development, according to the New Times newspaper. However, the subsidiary of PPC has not disclosed how much it is spending on the project. Upgrade work will start in March 2018 and end in April 2018.
At present the 0.6Mt/yr plant has a 65% production utilisation rate. The company expects to reach full capacity in mid-2019, although it claimed in 2017 that it would be able to do this by mid-2018. In 2017 the company sold 0.38Mt of cement, with 10% exported to Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. The plant imports most of its coal from Malawi and Tanzania.
Leading PPC shareholder demands resignation of chairman Peter Nelson
23 February 2018South Africa: Prudential Investment Managers, one of the largest shareholders of PPC, has demanded the resignation of the chairman Peter Nelson. The shareholder sent a formal request to the cement producer because it wants the company to improve its operations, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. In response PPC issued a statement admitting that it was talking to major shareholders over board positions. However, it defended the record of Nelson, saying that he had, “successfully led the company through a period of significant headwinds.”
PPC added that it has received nominations for Jabu Moleketi as successor to the chairman, and Anthony Ball and Noluvuyo Mkhondo to non-executive directorships.
Nelson was appointed as chairman of PPC in October 2016, shortly before it revived merger talks with AfriSam. Later in 2017 Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings made a bid for PPC on condition that it merge with AfriSam. Negotiations with LafargeHolcim, CRH and Dangote Cement but these were all abandoned.
Johan Claassen becomes PPC's chief executive
21 February 2018South Africa: PPC has announced that its interim chief executive Johan Claassen as chief executive and executive director of the group, effective 15 February 2018. He had been appointed as interim chief executive in July 2017 following the sudden resignation of Darryl Castle.
PPC chairperson Peter Nelson said that, since his appointment as interim chief executive, Claassen had overseen a number of important milestones. He said Claassen had also demonstrated that he had the right skills to lead effectively. PPC also confirmed Njombo Lekula as managing director of the group’s South African cement activities and Mokate Ramafoko as managing director for the rest of Africa’s cement activities.
PPC says that South African cement demand fell by 4% in 2017
05 February 2018South Africa: PPC estimates that local cement demand fell by 3 – 4% in 2017 due to a lack of large infrastructure projects. In an operating update for the nine months to 31 December 2017 it reported that its cement sales volumes fell by 1 – 2% year-on-year, although it had increased its prices. It increased its exports by 23%. The cement producer also reported that its Slurry Kiln 9 project was 90% complete, with commissioning scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.
Elsewhere in Africa, PPC’s sales volumes rose by 20 – 30% in Rwanda due to a rise in bulk cement sales and higher exports. In Zimbabwe sales volumes grew by 30 – 40% supported by retail sales.
Democratic Republic of Congo: South Africa’s PPC has agreed with its lenders to reschedule debts from the construction of a cement plant in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The cement producer said that the total capital requirements for the DRC plant will now be limited to interest payments from January 2018 until January 2020, according to Reuters. The debt renegotiation has included an extension of the repayment period by an additional two years and a change to the interest rate.
PPC Barnet DRC is 69% owned by PPC, 21% owned by Barnet Group and the remaining 10% is owned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The plant is 60% debt funded by the IFC and Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank.