Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: Attock Cement expects that its cement despatches will decline by 10% year-on-year in the 2025 financial year. During a corporate briefing it revealed that local despatches of cement had fallen by 20% year-on-year to 7.91Mt in the first quarter to 30 September 2024 from 9.87Mt in the same period in 2023, according to the Pakistan Press International news agency. The decrease was more pronounced in the south of the country than the north. Despite this, exports grew by 22% to 2.14Mt. The company’s turnover and profit also fell during the reporting period.

The company is currently investing US$4.5m in a 4.8MW wind power unit. The project is intended to reduce the company’s reliance on the local electricity grid and reduce power costs generally. It is expected to become operational from January 2025. The cement producer is also planning to increase its usage of alternative fuels to further bring down production costs.

Pakistan: Kohat Cement Company has installed and commissioned a 5.34MW on-grid solar power plant, according to the Business Recorder. This new facility adds to the existing 10MW solar power plant at the same location.

Pakistan: Cherat Cement CEO Azam Farooq and fellow executives met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on 15 November 2024 to discuss the potential establishment of a new cement plant in Dera Ismail Khan. The Balochistan Times newspaper has reported that the Governor ‘assured full support’ for the proposed project.

Pakistan: Fecto Cement has reappointed Aamir Ghani and Mohammed Yasin Fecto as its chair and CEO respectively. The move followed a formal revaluation of the company leadership, according to Pakistan Press International. It said that the change aims to streamline operations and reinforce the strategic direction of the cement producer. The company operates an integrated plant at Sangjani near to Islamabad.

When we think about ‘up and coming’ regions for the global cement sector, Africa is high on many people’s lists. This is unsurprising given that Africa is the youngest continent on Earth, with a population set to boom to 2.5 billion by 2050 – or 1 in 4 of the global population for that year, according to the UN. This population, 1 billion higher than today, will drive rapid urbanisation. Cement capacities, currently around 350Mt/yr across the continent, will have to rise substantially to meet demand.

Filling part of this rise will be Amsons Group. This week it announced plans for a US$320m investment in a 1.6Mt/yr greenfield cement plant in Tanzania. It also promised a whopping US$400m to revamp Bamburi Cement in Kenya, should its existing US$180m bid for the Holcim subsidiary be accepted. Based on the numbers for Tanzania, this investment might be enough to take Bamburi Cement from 1.1Mt/yr to around 3Mt/yr, assuming similar project scope and equipment suppliers.

So, what is Amsons Group? Founded in 2000, Amsons is a Tanzania-based conglomerate with interests in construction, transport, flour, container depots, cement and concrete. It already operates Camel Cement, a grinding plant, in the Mbagala suburb of Dar es Salaam and it owns a 65% stake in the 1.1Mt/yr integrated Mbeya Cement plant, which it bought from Holcim in September 2023. The group’s website states that it emphasises local production of materials to reduce the nation’s reliance on imports. A greenfield cement plant fits right into that philosophy.

Looking at recent market trends, we see some positive news for Amsons. In Tanzania, cement production rose by 6.2% to 8Mt in 2023, according to the country’s Ministry of Industry. This followed a 9.7% rise in the prior year. Data is so far lacking for 2024. To the north, cement consumption ramped up strongly in Kenya in the second half of 2023, following a less than stellar start to the year. Thanks to a particularly strong June to September period, consumption finally ended 2023 around 0.8% higher than the previous year, at 9.6Mt. However, consumption tailed off in the final quarter. Worse, the first four months of 2024 - the most recent data available from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics - saw a 10% decline in cement consumption relative to the same period of 2023, falling to 2.6Mt/yr.

As Africa lacks cement capacity compared to other regions, it is important to highlight that Amsons’ new plants will have to take on not just existing capacity in East Africa, but countries that export to the continent too. Indeed, this week Pakistan, a long-time agitator of South African cement producers, reported a year-on-year rise in exports for October 2024. Exports rose to 4.36Mt, a 9% increase compared to 4Mt in October 2023. This news comes amid precipitously falling domestic demand within Pakistan, with September 2024 shipments down by 22% year-on-year. It is also worth noting that Tanzania itself exported around 1.1Mt of cement to Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, the DRC and Zambia in 2023. This figure will likely be higher in 2024, given the February 2024 launch of Huaxin Cement Tanzania Maweni Company’s 1.3Mt/yr plant in Mavini, which has a focus on exports.

This apparent abundance of existing capacity, plus exposure to imports, would appear to give an investor like Amsons Group pause for thought. However, it has committed to a total investment of US$900m. This is not small change. If we add in the money it paid for Mbeya Cement in September 2023 – the amount was not disclosed – Amsons will likely shell out more than US$1bn in just a few years. It is going ‘all in’ to become, in the words of its Managing Director Edha Nahdi, “one of the largest cement manufacturers in Kenya and Tanzania by 2030.” It will be very interesting to follow it on its journey.

Pakistan: Fecto Cement has announced the withdrawal of Rohail Ajmal as a Director of its Board. This decision was made by Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company, as per the rules outlined in Regulation 5.6.1 of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Rule Book. The Board of Directors of Fecto Cement will appoint a replacement for the vacant position in due course.

Pakistan: Despite low domestic cement demand, exports rose in October 2024, with total despatches reaching 4.36Mt, a 9% increase compared to 4Mt in October 2023. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association reported a 51% increase in export despatches, from 714,325t in October 2023 to 1.1Mt in October 2024. This increase offset the slow local market demand, which saw a minor decline of 0.5% in domestic despatches to 3.28Mt from 3.3Mt.

Over the first four months of the 2024 financial year (July – October 2024), total cement despatches (domestic and exports) fell by 8% to 14.6Mt from 16Mt in the previous year's corresponding period. Domestic despatches decreased by 15% to 11.4Mt, whereas exports grew by 31%, reaching 3.2Mt from 2.5Mt.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has commissioned a 28.8MW captive wind power project at its Karachi plant, which started operations on 22 October 2024. This reportedly makes Lucky Cement the first company in Pakistan to launch a renewable energy project of this scale, according to The News International. Lucky Cement now generates 55% of its total power consumption from renewable sources.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement recorded a 22% year-on-year rise in earnings in the first quarter of the 2025 financial year, to US$2.88m. This came despite a 7% drop in sales, to US$54.9m, and a 12% drop in cement sales volumes, to 1.18Mt.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has announced its reappointment of Muhammad Sohail Tabba to the role of chair of its board. The appointment will be effective through to 2027. Tabba has served in the role since 1993. He currently holds other executive positions in the textiles and energy sectors, at Gadoon Textile Mills, Lucky Textile Mills and Yunus Energy.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali Tabba will also continue to occupy the position of CEO through to 2027. He was first appointed to the role in 2005.