Displaying items by tag: Production

Nepal: Amid cement manufacturers' claims that Nepal has become self-reliant in terms of cement production, cement imports have actually risen by 15.5% in the first 10 months of the country's current fiscal year, which runs until 15 July 2013.

In the review period, Nepal imported cement worth US$34.6m, against the imports worth US$30.0m in the same period a year earlier, according to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre statistics. Over the period, the country also saw seven new cement factories commissioned or announced.

According to Aatma Ram Murarka, former president of the Nepal Cement Manufacturers Association (NCMA), the imports went up because of the ongoing development projects with foreign investment. "In case of projects with foreign investment, the government has provided customs, tax and VAT waivers on cement imports from India," said Murarka.

Murarka said that domestic manufacturers have repeatedly demanded that the government roll back the provision because they say that local production can meet the market demand. "The government hasn't reviewed it seriously," he said, adding that projects being undertaken by Nepali contractors were, however, using domestic products.

Vietnam: Vietnam exported nearly 5.2Mt of cement in the first half of 2013, a rise of 63% year-on-year compared to 3.2Mt in the same period in 2012 said the Ministry of Construction. Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia were the major destinations. The ministry also stated that cement sales have grown by 27.9% year-on-year, reaching 27.9Mt so far in 2013.

Due to reduced demand at home, many cement producers have focused on exports, said Tran Van Huynh, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Materials Association. The cement industry expects to export over 10Mt of cement in 2013, or 15% of the nation's total output. Huynh added that the Vietnamese export price was around 20% below the average global export price.

Exports have helped reduce the June 2013 inventory to around 2.6Mt, according to the construction ministry. The unsold volume of Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM) accounts for half of this amount.

There have been no changes in the price of cement in the Vietnam market since January 2013 despite higher coal, power and fuel prices that have pushed up production costs and caused difficulties for domestic producers. The Vietnamese cement industry has a production capacity of 66Mt/yr and consumption for 2013 is forecast to be in the region of 57Mt.

National: China saw cement output increase by 8.9% year-on-year to 866Mt for the first five months of 2013, according to the recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Cement output grew to 224Mt in May 2013, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%.

Regional: Shanghai saw cement output slide by 4.1% year-on-year to 0.77Mt in May 2013, according to the local statistics bureau. However, the municipality's cement output grew by 2.4% year-on-year to 3.05Mt for the first five months of 2013.

Hubei Province, in central China, saw cement output edge down by 0.6% year-on-year to 40.7Mt in the first five months of 2013, according to the Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

Corporate: Asia Cement (China) has said that it has agreed to provide US$68m in loans to Far Eastern New Century (China) Investment Limited from 17 June 2013 to 16 June 2014. The loans will be used for working capital by the borrower.

Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement posted a revenue of US$9.6m from product rebates, government grants and investment returns over the first five months of 2013, according to a company announcement. The company will count the revenue to its total profit for the first half of 2013.

Argentina: In 2013 Argentinian cement factories shipped 1.02Mt of cement including exports, representing a 14.3% increase compared to May 2012, according to the Asociación de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland.

Domestic consumption, including imports, reached 998,196t, leaving around 22,000t that was exported.

Egypt: Misr Cement Qena has announced that production has restarted at its plant after a period of disruption that was brought about by a shortage of mazot (a type of heavy fuel oil) at the plant.

The price of mazot has been increased by a factor of nearly 2.5 by the government since the start of 2013. Cement companies like Misr Cement Qena are increasingly looking to use other types of fuel, including alternative fuels.

Vietnam: Cement companies in Vietnam sold 19.15Mt of cement in the domestic market in the first five months of 2013, up by 9% from the same period of 2012, according to the Ministry of Construction. The country produced 23.8Mt of cement between January and May 2013, fulfilling 41% of Vietnam's whole-year target, including an on-year rise of 19% in May 2013.

Le Van Toi, director of the Building Material Department under the ministry said that the increase in cement sales in the first five months showed a recovery in the country's economy thanks to the government's stimulation packages to support the real estate market. It also signals an increase in demand for other building materials in the construction season, he added, noting that many cement grinding firms had had difficulty buying clinker in the first half of May 2013 as domestic demand surged.

Vietnam's cement output is expected to reach 79.45Mt in 2013, 81.56Mt in 2014 and 83.86Mt in 2015, according to the ministry.

National: China's cement output grew by 8.7% year-on-year in April 2013, rising from a 4% increase in the same month of last year, according to the latest statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). In the first four months of 2013, the country's total cement output reached 641Mt, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year from the same period in 2012. Profits for the cement industry fell by 29.4% for the first quarter of 2013 to US$606m.

Regional: In southwest China, Chongqing Municipality produced 17.7Mt of cement over the first four months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%, according to the local statistics bureau. Yunnan Province produced 28.4Mt of cement in the first four months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%.

The central Hubei Province saw cement output slide by 2.6% year-on-year to 31Mt for the first four months of 2013. Hunan Province saw its cement output rise by 8.3% year-on-year to 9.33Mt in April 2013.

Eastern China's Jiangsu Province saw cement output grow by 15.1% year-on-year to 55.5Mt for the first four months of 2013.

Government: China has confirmed that it intends to release a blueprint for urbanisation in 2013, the state-run Xinhua News Agency has reported, citing officials with China's top economic planner. Officials with the NDRC said the urbanisation development plan is 'very important' and that the NDRC was leading the drafting. Shares in cement suppliers and other construction-related companies have already benefited from expectations of more housing and infrastructure projects.

Corporate: Chinares Cement has announced it is in discussion with Fujian Cement about setting up a joint-venture to build cement grinding lines, and to coordinate marketing and sales. No agreement has been reached yet.

Poland: Cement production in Poland has fallen by 33.5% to 2.69Mt for the first four months of 2013, according to the Polish Cement Association. January to April 2013 sales fell by 31.1% to 2.82Mt. In April 2013, production dropped by 33.8% year-on-year to 1.04Mt and sales dropped by 24.1% to 1.19Mt.

Japan: Ube Industries Ltd has announced that it will develop a large limestone mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture in anticipation of a further recovery in domestic demand for cement in Japan. The company will likely invest US$84m in what would be its first mine development in 35 years. Production is slated to kick off around 2017. Ube plans to operate the mine, which has estimated reserves of some 300Mt, for about 40 years.

Of the company's three domestic cement plants, two mainstay facilities in Yamaguchi have been procuring limestone from a mine near the new site. This existing mine, which produces 8Mt/yr of limestone, has been dug as deep as 140m and has been in production since 1948. High costs from deep mining prompted the company to look for a new site.

After sinking at one point to as low as 40Mt/yr, half of 1990 levels, Japanese cement demand has recently rebounded due to the reconstruction of areas devastated by the March 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami disaster. This trend will likely continue for a while, as efforts to repair and update ageing infrastructure are expected to pick up while reconstruction projects go on.

The Japan Cement Association estimates domestic demand in the current year (to March 2014) will grow by 3.4% year-on-year to 46Mt. Taiheiyo Cement Corporation and other cement makers are also gearing up to boost domestic supplies by curbing exports and taking other measures.

Production: China saw cement output increase by 10.8% year-on-year to 237Mt in the first two months of 2013, according to recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

45 companies in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region produced a total 466,000t of cement and 2.67Mt of clinker in the first two months of 2013, a year- on-year decrease of 9.28% and 37.27% respectively, according to sources quoted by China Business Newswire.

Guangdong Province produced 118Mt of cement in 2012.

Company news: China Shanshui Cement has reported that its net profit fell by 31.8% to US$245m in 2012. Its revenue fell by 4.2% to US$2.6bn in 2012. Total sales volume of cement and clinker rose by 3.5% to 56.9Mt. It attributed the decrease in net profit to the fall of selling prices as a result of decline in demand.

West China Cement has reported that its net profit rose by 44.9% to US$57.9m in 2012. Operating revenue grow by 10.5% to US$566m. The company saw cement sales rise by 22.2% to 14.3Mt.

Fujian Cement has reported a slump in net profit of 76.9% to US$4.63bn in 2012. Operating revenue fell by 13.7% to US$261m. The company expects to earn US$359m in operating revenue in 2013.

Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group sold 15.3Mt of cement and cement clinker in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 29.2%. Currently the company has a cement production capacity of 21.3Mt/yr and it aims to reach a capacity of 45Mt/yr by the end of 2015. Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co has announced in its annual report for 2012 that the company saw its net profit drop by 47.8% year-on-year to US$28m in 2012. The company's operating revenue rose by 17.28% year-on-year to US$684m in 2012.

Xinjiang Tianshan Cement Co Ltd has reported that it saw net profit drop by 71.8% year-on-year to US$51.3m in 2012. The company attributed the net profit drop to overcapacity in the cement industry in 2012. Tianshan Cement's operating revenue for 2012 fell by 6.99% year-on-year to US$1.24bn.

Shenzhen-listed cement producer, Sichuan Shuangma Cement Co has announced that it earned a net profit of US$1.37m in 2012, a year-on-year decline of 90%. The company's operating revenue for 2012 decreased by 8.3% on-year to US$301m.