Displaying items by tag: Rwanda

Kenya: Bamburi Cement’s first half profits have declined year-on year by 96% to US$0.22 from US$6.99m. Its Building for Growth strategy has seen the topline hold steady amidst setbacks to demand, including higher operating costs and reduced uptake from the Standard Gauge Railway, one of numerous infrastructure projects impacted negatively by rising tensions between Rwanda and Uganda.

Rwanda: The Rwandan government has extended the sale of its stake in Cimerwa to 19 July 2019 to give potential investors more time. The initial deadline was 5 July 2019, according to the New Times newspaper. The government and its related shareholders own a 49% stake in the cement producer. The controlling share in the company is owned by South Africa’s PPC.

South Africa: PPC says it plans to shut the kiln at its Port Elizabeth cement plant ahead of stricter requirements to the country’s emission standards. It is shutting down the kiln to meet new standards for NO₂ and dust emissions on 1 April 2020, according to Reuters. Around 30 jobs are expected to be affected by the shutdown.

The cement producer’s revenue rose slightly year-on-year to US$736m in its financial year to 31 March 2019. Its profit nearly quadrupled to US$10.2m. Its cement sales volumes also rose slightly to 5.9Mt. Sales and earnings fell in South Africa due to a poor market but they grew elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, notably in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda: South Africa’s PPC is considering buying the government’s stake in Cimerwa. Cimerwa chief executive Bheki Mthembu said that PPC Group is performing a share valuation excersise, according to the East African newspaper.
Soraya Hakuziyaremye, the Minister of Trade and Industry, announced the sale in mid-June 2019, after the divestment was first proposed in March 2019.

PPC already owns a 51% stake in the cement producer. The government owns a 16.5% stake and other shareholders include the Rwanda Social Security Board with 20.2%, Rwanda Investment Group with 11.5% and Sonarwa Group 0.8%. The entire 49% stake is currently for sale. Potential buyers have until 5 July 2019 to register their interest.

Rwanda: The Rwandan government has started to sell its stake in Cimerwa. It holds a 16.5% stake in the cement producer via the Agaciro Development Fund, Rwanda's Sovereign Wealth Fund, according to the New Times newspaper. Other shareholders, including SORAS Group, Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), and Rwanda Investment Group (RIG), have also expressed interest in selling their shares, making a total of 49% of shares available. The government originally intended to start the sale in March 2019. Potential buyers have until 5 July 2019 to register their interest.

Cimerwa produced 0.36Mt of cement in 2018, a figure well below its production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr. However, the country imported 0.32Mt of cement in 2018 to meet local demand. The company has also made a loss in recent years. The integrated plant is run by South Africa’s PPC, which has a majority stake in the firm.

Rwanda: Raymond Murenzi, the director general of the Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS), says that cement imported from Uganda in March 2019 was blocked because it did not meet minimum quality requirements. The imported product was found to be below the designated weight of 50kg, according to the New Times newspaper. Three trucks with 30t loads of cement from Hima Cement were prevented from crossing the border.

Previously, similar issues have occurred dating back to 2015 and the RBS has notified the supplier on each occasion. The company is then given 14 days to re-export the goods.

Rwanda: The government plans to sell its 49% stake in Cimerwa in March 2019. The 0.6Mt/yr integrated plant is run with South Africa’s PPC, which has a majority stake in the firm, according to Reuters. Prime minister Edouard Ngirente said that it would run an auction by the end of the month. He added that PPC had not yet said if it was interested in buying the remaining stake in the business.

South Africa: PPC’s sales volume of cement fell by 2 – 3% year-on-year in the nine months to December 2018. The cement producer said that, although prices had risen, the market had shrunk by up to 5%. Imports grew by 80% year-on-year for the January to November 2018 period. It added that its Sure Range product line had continued to gain market share against Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and blended products. Outside of South Africa the company said that growth had been low in Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo due to local market conditions. Better performance was noted in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Rwanda: Uganda’s Hima Cement is considering building a new cement plant. It has been conducting discussions with local agencies about the project, according to KT Press. The cement producer operates offices at Nyacyonga in Gasabo district. It also runs a warehouse and a ready-mix concrete batching plant.

South Africa: PPC reports that its strategy to expand into the rest of Africa has started to bear fruit, despite continuing challenges in many markets. Johan Claassen, the chief executive of PPC said that the group's diversified portfolio had enabled the company to offset the weaker South African performance with robust growth in its rest of Africa segment.

"We are very pleased with our rest of Africa operations, which grew volumes by more than 34%, increased revenues by 36% to US$120m and improved earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 18% to US$36.7m. "This performance was supported by robust volume growth in Zimbabwe and a positive contribution from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” said Claasen.

Claassen added that the first phase of PPC's Cimerwa plant upgrade in Rwanda, which involved de-bottlenecking the plant to increase production capacity, was successfully completed in the six months to September 2018 and that PPC began to realise the benefits towards the end of the reporting period when record volumes were achieved.

However, the revenue achieved by the Cimerwa plant declined to US$29.1m from US$31.9m in the prior period because of a 7% reduction in volumes. PPC’s Rwandan EBITDA slumped to US$6.7m from US$12.2m, because of unexpected maintenance associated with clinker imports costs. Claassen added that its operations in the DRC continued to encounter challenging market conditions, which were characterised by overcapacity and muted cement demand due to political uncertainty.