Displaying items by tag: Strategy
RHI Magnesita reports 'solid performance' in 2022
27 February 2023Austria: RHI Magnesita reported revenues of Euro3.3bn throughout 2022, up by 30% year-on-year from 2021 levels. The refractories supplier's raw materials and shipping costs rose, but it was able to offset the rise by increasing its prices. The company said that this generated Euro600m in additional revenues, enabling it to maintain profitability 'through a challenging economic cycle.' It noted global volatility and uncertainty, which it expects to continue into 2023, for which it forecast a full-year drop in global cement demand. It expects 'strong growth' in India to offset any resulting decline in its sales in other markets.
RHI Magnesita CEO Stefan Borgas said "I am pleased to report growing progress on our mergers and acquisitions strategy, with acquisitions in India, China, Türkiye and Europe agreed or completed during the year. Whilst the outlook for 2023 is more uncertain than prior years due to slowing demand for refractories and softer pricing in certain regions, RHI Magnesita is able to face these challenges in a much stronger condition as a result of the implementation of its strategic cost savings and sales strategies over the past four years."
Spain: Cemex España will install a carbon capture system at its Alicante cement plant in Valencia, as part of its efforts to make the unit a 'benchmark pioneer low-CO2' cement plant. The producer holds a contract with ET Fuels for the supply of 45,000t/yr of CO2 captured at the facility for methanol production.
Chief executive officer Fernando González said “Our goal of reaching net-zero CO2 emissions is achievable and will be driven by collaboration and innovation. Our decarbonisation roadmap includes reducing emissions to the lowest possible level through proven levers such as clinker substitution and alternative fuels. New levers, such as rapidly developing CCUS initiatives, must effectively tackle the remaining CO2 emissions to hit our ambitious 2050 objectives.”
Cemex's European CO2 emissions decline by 41% between 1990 and 2022
24 February 2023Europe: Cemex’s annual CO2 emissions from its European operations fell by 41% in 2022 compared to 1990. It added that it had cut its emissions in the region by 12% between 2020 and 2022. The group attributed the decline to the success of its climate action strategy to date, including a large investment in a new alternative fuels facility in the UK, investments in solar power plants in Germany and Poland and the roll-out of its Vertua reduced-CO2 products across the region.
Regional president Sergio Menendez said "As we begin to implement the next stages in our climate action strategy, we now expect to exceed our 2030 aspiration of hitting a 55% CO2 reduction in our European operations. While we are progressing important carbon capture projects and policy advocacy for our ultimate net zero target, these 2030 interim aspirations are not reliant on this technology.” he continued, “This is certainly a challenging target, but I am confident that with innovative thinking, close collaboration between our different business areas and further development of our regulatory framework, it is both feasible and profitable. This sustained effort is vital if we are to meet our global, primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO2 company by 2050. We will continue to provide regular updates on our progress.”
Colombia: Spain-based Cemex España is offering to acquire non-Cemex-owned shares in Cemex Latam Holdings. Sentido Común News has reported that the move prefigures Cemex Latam Holdings' planned delisting from the Colombian stock exchange to become an independent company. Mexico-based Cemex will consider its divestment under the group's asset optimisation strategy. The company said that the current offer gives investors the chance to exit. It expects to conclude all transactions by 1 May 2023.
Holcim to acquire Duro-Last
07 February 2023US: Holcim has signed an agreement with Duro-Last to acquire the roofing systems producer for US$1.29bn. Reuters has reported that the acquisition will be Holcim's largest for all of 2022 and 2023 so far. Once the parties complete the transaction, Duro-Last's business will join Holcim's products and systems division. Holcim expects the deal to yield synergies of US$60m/yr, primarily through a reduction in the cost of materials.
Holcim expects its products and systems division to contribute a majority of its profit in North America once increased investment under the US government's Inflation Reduction Act begins to take effect. In 2022, the division accounted for 40% of regional profit. The group is committed to a global target of 30% of sales being attributable to the products and systems division by 2025, compared to 19% of sales in 2022.
Update on construction and demolition waste, February 2023
01 February 2023Cemex launched a new waste management division called Regenera this week. Cemex describes Regenera as a “business that provides circularity solutions, including reception, management, recycling, and coprocessing of waste.” The Mexico-based company has a long and leading history with sourcing and using alternative fuels in the cement sector and the new organisation looks set to utilise this experience. What is notable though is how the business is targeting three waste streams: municipal and industrial; industrial by-products; and construction, demolition and excavation waste (CDEW). Bringing the three waste streams together in this way appears to be novel for the heavy building materials sector, particularly the inclusion of CDEW, which we will explore further here.
CDEW is split into fractions, just like the municipal and solid waste streams that end up as alternative fuels at cement plants, but the biggest fractions are generally concrete, followed by bricks. The recycled concrete is then typically used as an aggregate, either in new concrete production or in areas like road construction and earthworks. The use of recycled aggregates (RA) made from CDEW goes back to at least the 1930s in its current form although ‘reusing’ materials from structures such as castles and churches goes back far further. Recycling and reusing CDEW gained a boost in 2020 when the European Union (EU) set a 70% recovery target. However, within the EU the CDEW recycling rates vary considerably and that 2020 target includes the use of CDEW in backfill applications.
In its launch statement for Regenera, Cemex noted that it operates a dock in Paris, where it receives a variety of materials, including construction debris, excavated material and inert soil. These materials are sorted, processed and then transformed into recycled aggregates or organic material used to restore quarries. Cemex then promptly followed up the official launch of Regenera on 30 January 2023 with the acquisition of a majority stake in Shtang Recycle, an Israel-based CDEW recycling company. It added that Shtang Recycle is preparing to build a recycling plant with a production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr of CDEW waste materials. The output from the plant will be used as raw materials for aggregate production.
The focus on CDEW recycling was flagged up at Cemex’s investor event in November 2022. It said that it was targeting a recycling rate of 14Mt/yr of construction and demolition waste by 2030. Other managed waste stream goals included doubling the amount of municipal and industrial waste it manages, to achieve a 50% to fossil fuel substitution rate, and increasing its usage of alternative raw materials and by-products by 30%, thereby eliminating 13Mt/yr of extracted materials.
Cemex is not alone in targeting the CDEW waste sector. Holcim’s recent work in the area goes back to at least 2016 when a recycling unit near its Retznei cement plant in Austria started processing 130,000t/yr of CDEW. It announced in December 2022 that it was setting up a similar recycling centre, also in Austria, at its Mannersdorf cement plant. In October 2022 Holcim acquired Wiltshire Heavy Building Materials in the UK. This company recycles 150,000t/yr of construction and demolition waste into aggregates and concrete. Holcim linked the acquisition to its Strategy 25 target of recycling 10Mt/yr of construction and demolition waste by 2025.
Activity by other cement companies includes the commissioning of a construction waste recycling plant at Gennevilliers in France by CRH-subsidiary Eqiom in April 2022. It was aiming for a target of 50,000t in 2022. In November 2022 Heidelberg Materials agreed to acquire RWG Holding based in Berlin, Germany. Then, in December 2022, it announced a deal to buy Mick George Group in the UK. Both proposed acquisitions are subject to competition authority approval. Heidelberg Materials’ current target is to offer circular alternatives for half of its concrete products by 2030.
The moves by the bigger cement companies into the CDEW sector follow sustainable thinking and the waste hierarchy. Yet the big prize here is to gain a route to dispose of some of their CO2 emissions through recarbonation and this has been flagged up in several net-zero roadmaps for the cement sector such as those by Cembureau and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA). Holcim has been involved in the FastCarb project in France, running a pilot at its Val d’Azergues cement plant in 2021. Heidelberg Materials has been testing its own process with so-called recycled concrete paste. The development now appears to be that utilising CDEW has entered the sustainability strategies for some of the big cement-concrete-aggregate producers, targets have been set and acquisitions are happening.
For more information on Heidelberg Materials research into concrete recycling read the January 2023 issue of Global Cement Magazine
Republic Cement and Ecoloop seek new waste management partners
30 January 2023Philippines: CRH subsidiary Republic Cement and its waste management subsidiary Ecoloop are seeking to establish partnerships with 'sustainability-minded' organisations. BusinessWorld News has reported that Republic Cement and Ecoloop process waste for 12 private companies and 30 local government units. Philippines law will require that large organisations recover 80% of their plastic packaging waste by 2030. For 2023, the minimum is 2023.
Ecoloop managing director Angela Edralin-Valencia said “Our goal is to make our cement a greener and more environmentally friendly product. Our ambition is to replace 50% of our fuel consumption with alternative fuel (AF)." She added "A lot of investments have to be put in place from our end to get to that number, but we are still reviewing our options.”
Philippines: Cemex has launched an offer to acquire 12% of outstanding shares in Cemex Philippines, giving it a 90% stake in the company, for US$38m. Axis Negocios News has reported that the group is seeking to increase and consolidate its interests in Cemex Philippines in order to assess a potential divestment from its position.
In December 2020, Cemex increased its stake in its subsidiary Cemex Latam Holdings by 20% to 93%. It subsequently divested part of that business in 2022.
Siam Cement Group forecasts 10% sales growth in 2023
27 January 2023Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) has forecast 10% year-on-year growth in its consolidated sales to US$19.1bn in 2023, from US$17.4bn in 2022. The Bangkok Post newspaper has reported that the group expects sales to rise due to the reopening of the Chinese market and an anticipated growth in Thai domestic tourism.
High value-added goods and services constituted 34% of SCG’s total sales in 2022. The group increased its installed renewable power capacity by 78% to 234MW throughout the year. SCG has planned capital expenditure investments of US$1.22 - 1.53bn in 2023.
SCG president and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash said "The economic outlook for 2023 seems to be better than last year, but we will continue to monitor risk factors that may affect our businesses.”
Siam Cement Group increases sales as profit drops
26 January 2023Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) recorded consolidated sales of US$17.4bn in 2022, up by 7% year-on-year from 2021 levels. Its net profit was US$652m.
During 2023, SCG plans to invest US$1.22 - 1.53bn in capital expenditure.