Displaying items by tag: Pakistan
Bestway Cement Limited takes over Lafarge Pakistan
23 April 2015Pakistan: Bestway Cement, a subsidiary of Bestway Group, has announced assumption of management control of Lafarge Pakistan. This follows the company's successful bid for 75.86% of Lafarge Pakistan's shares for US$329m in July 2014. Bestway Cement also acquired another 12.07% shares of the target company through the public offer process taking its shareholding in Lafarge Pakistan to 87.93%.
Acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan's 2.5Mt/yr cement plant located in Chakwal, means that Bestway Cement has now become the largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan with a total capacity of more than 8Mt/yr representing 18% of the entire industry's capacity in the country. Bestway intends to invest nearly US$30m in the acquired company including, among other things, an environmentally friendly waste heat recovery power plant.
Misdeclaration on cement import from Iran continues
16 April 2015Pakistan/Iran: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has condemned the illegal import of cement from Iran and tax evasions at the import stage by misdeclaration, which is seriously affecting Pakistan's cement industry. The APCMA has urged the government to stop the trade immediately.
An APCMA spokesman said that the quantity of cement being imported from Iran has been found understated on the Customs Goods Declaration form, resulting in a substantial loss to the national exchequer. This is done via the collusion of dealers with Customs departments officials and transporters. Not all of the necessary tax is being paid on Iranian cement imports.
"At present, the country's surplus cement production capacity is more than 20Mt/yr and it is coming under further pressure because of the illegal imports of cement. It is not only damaging the local industry, but also through misdeclaration it is giving a substantial loss to the national exchequer," said the APCMA spokesman. He urged the government to include cement in a negative list of import items so that the country's surplus production capacity could be used to the maximum. "This would help to increase economic growth in the country and will also curb malpractices at different levels."
Attock Cement to set up Iraq unit
16 March 2015Iraq/Pakistan: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved Attock Cement Pakistan Limited's (ACPL) request to establish a cement production unit in Iraq.
The ECC meeting, chaired by finance minister Ishaq Dar, approved the proposal to allow Attock Cement Pakistan Limited (ACPL) to remit US$24m for the establishment of a grinding plant in Basra, starting from March 2015 onwards. The proposed investment venture is expected to bring foreign exchange through dividends repatriation and growth in clinker exports. As ACPL intends to hire 50% of its labour force from outside Iraq, the venture is expected to create employment opportunities for Pakistanis.
Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has reported a considerable rise in its net profit for the first six months of its 2015 financial year, which ended on 31 December 2014.
It net profit rose to US$54.9m, some 8.54% higher than in the same period of its 2014 financial year. Lucky Cement's gross profits increased by 9.03% during the period and its net sales revenue improved by 9.37% to US$210m, up from US$192m in its 2014 financial year.
Lucky Cement's local sales volume grew by 9.20% year-on-year to 2.02Mt, compared to 1.85Mt in the same period of its 2014 financial year. Its export sales volume grew by 2.24% to 1.23Mt compared to 1.21Mt in the same six months of its 2014 financial year. Lucky Cement maintained its market share at 19%. During the period, its combined sales revenue increased by 9.37%, which was mainly contributed to by increased sales volumes.
DG Khan plans US$300m cement plant amid strong financial results
23 February 2015Pakistan: Mian Mansha's DG Khan Cement Ltd plans to build a US$300m plant near Karachi as economic growth boosts demand. This marks its first plant build since 2007. The new plant near Hub, west of Karachi, will produce 2 - 2.5Mt/yr of cement. Construction is targeted for completion late in 2018. The plant will be financed 40% through internal cash and the rest through debt, said Niazi.
"There will be a shortage domestically in three years if there is 10%/yr growth in demand," said CFO Inayat Ullah Niazi. DG Khan's two cement plants have operated near full capacity for the past two years. Pakistan's output is projected to expand by 43% in the year that ends on 30 June 2015 and 47.5% in the following fiscal year.
DG Khan Cement announced a net income of US$33.3m for the first six months of its financial year, which ended on 31 December 2014, up by 27% compared to US$26.2m in the same period of 2013. The company's earnings surged by 93% quarter-on-quarter to US$22m during the second quarter of its financial year. With stable off-take and prices, revenue increased by 2% year-on-year to US$124m during the first half of the fiscal year because of an improved sales mix. Revenues jumped by 18% quarter-on-quarter to US$66.8m during the second quarter.
"The earnings were significantly above our estimates due to higher-than-estimated other income and lower-than-expected taxation charges," said DG Khan.
Cement dispatches increase by 6% in six months
20 January 2015Pakistan: Cement dispatches during the six months that ended on 31 December 2014 increased by 6% to 17.1Mt, compared with dispatches of 16.1Mt during the corresponding period of 2013, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).
"The most pleasant aspect of this growth is that it is led by domestic consumption, which increased by 9.10% during July - December 2014," said the APCMA.
Analysis of the dispatches revealed that the plants located in north of the country showed robust growth in domestic consumption, selling 10.9Mt in the domestic markets from July - December 2014 against 9.9Mt during same period of 2013, a 10.5% increase. The southern plants witnessed 2.4% growth in domestic dispatches, supplying 2.10Mt of cement to local markets from July - December 2014, compared to 2.05Mt during the same period of 2013.
Kohat Cement plant allegedly causing pollution
13 January 2015Pakistan: People living in the vicinity of Kohat Cement Factory have complained that dust and fumes emitted from the plant's two kilns are causing serious diseases. A group of local elders said that continuous blasts in the mountains near the factory had also caused cracks in the houses of local people, but that the factory administration was not ready to listen to their complaints or provide assistance to repair them.
The elders said that the plant administration was bound under an agreement to pay surface rent to the people on whose collective land the plant had been built, but no dues had been paid to the people since 1992. The agreement also included providing 80% of the jobs in the plant to local people, which the elders said was also being violated.
Attock Cement and K-Electric sign MoU for coal-fired plant
05 January 2015Pakistan: Attock Cement Limited and K-Electric have agreed to set up 40MW coal-fired plant, enough to power its cement plant. Surplus electricity will be sold back to the grid.
"Attock Cement has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with K-Electric for the installation of 40MW coal-fired plant at its Hub plant for its own utilisation and sell surplus power to K-Electric," said Attock Cement.
Fed up with constant electricity cuts and soaring energy prices, Pakistani businesses are exploring options to generate electricity from coal-fired plants. Attock Cement has already discussed various aspects of its planned coal-fired project with suppliers of plants and machinery.
APCMA: Sales up, exports down
10 December 2014Pakistan: Cement sales grew by 8.9% to 8.2Mt during the first four months of the current Pakistani fiscal year, according to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). In July to October 2014, exports of cement decreased by 4.4% to 2.8Mt.
Cement factories in the north of Pakistan despatched 6.9Mt to the domestic market during the four month period, 10.4% more than the same period of last fiscal. Exports from the north dropped by 12.3% to 1.7Mt. Cement factories in the south sold 1.3Mt, 1.4% more than in the same period of 2013. Exports from this region, however, rose by 12.5% to 1.0Mt.
Pakistan: Cement producers in Pakistan are considering sourcing their coal from Indonesia instead of South Africa. The move is in response to an on-going investigation initiated by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) on alleged dumping of Portland Cement from Pakistan.
The ITAC intends to finish its investigation by the end of January 2015 with the introduction of a preliminary antidumping duty on import of Pakistan cement in South Africa, according to Pakistan local media. Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce has also raised the matter with its South African counterpart in the meeting of Joint Trade Commission (JTC) of the two countries in South Africa in November 2014 but so far no consensus has been reached between the two countries.
Industry sources have said that five to six Pakistan-based exporters of cement constitute the biggest buyers of South African coal. Pakistan is the third largest buyer of coal from South Africa after China and India. Local cement makers collectively import 3Mt/yr of coal worth US$240m from South Africa and export around 1.3Mt/yr of cement worth US$120m.