Displaying items by tag: United Cement

Uzbekistan: The state assets management agency UzAssets has agreed to sell the Uzbek government’s 87% stake in Qizilqumcement for US$174m, according to the UzDaily newspaper. Under the terms of the deal, United Cement Group will maintain the plant’s personnel and the level of their pay, implement the approved modernisation programme and continue to provide training, support social projects in Navoi region and organise events in the community.

No consolidation has happened yet in the Saudi Arabian cement industry but exports have started to be announced. Yanbu Cement signed an export deal in March 2018 to despatch 1Mt of clinker and 0.5Mt of cement from one year from 1 April 2018. Prior to that, Al Jouf Cement Company started a contract to export 72.000t/yr to Jordan from late February 2018. Earlier still, Bahrain was expected to benefit from a lifting of cement export tariffs at the end of January 2018.

Its early days yet but some of sort of action is starting to happen about the country’s falling cement sales. If export deals are in the early stages of being set following the lifting of the ban, then local movements of cement have intensified. As Al Rajhi Capital reports in its latest market update, that producers have been forced by low sales and high inventory levels to take action. It says that cement companies have started to sell products in different parts of the country than they do normally leading to a ‘price war’. The financial services and analytical company has pinpointed the central region as the key battleground as company market shares have fallen over the last six months as northern producers have moved in.

Graph 1: Cement sales (Mt) by quarter in Saudi Arabia, 2015 to March 2018. Source: Yamama Cement.

Cement sales fell by 15% year-on-year to 11.8Mt in the first quarter of 2018 from 13.7Mt in the same period in 2017. This is the first time in recent years that sales did not rise from the fourth quarter to the following first quarter. Not a good sign. Despite the bad news, a few producers did mange to increases their deliveries in the first quarter, including Saudi Cement, Hail Cement, Umm Al Qura Cement and United Cement.

Bizarrely, into this sales environment, plans for the long delayed Al Baha Cement cement plant project have re-emerged. The project previously has received coverage at various stages over the years. This time it has reportedly gained a licence to set up the company and it hopes to start tendering for the build in the second half of 2018. The investors may want to leave it a little longer given the current state of the Saudi cement industry.

Nepal: The Nepalese Ministry of Industry (MoI) has allocated US$3.3m towards providing electricity connections to nine cement factories under its infrastructural development programme for manufacturing industries.

According to the Kathmandu Post, the cement plants chosen for the grant are Shivan Cement, Dang Cement, Laxmi Cement, Rolpa Cement, Ghorahi Cement, United Cement, Maruti Cement, Sarbottam Cement and CG Cement.

"A total of 23 cement factories have been selected for the infrastructure development programme for the current fiscal year, out of which nine will receive funds for electricity connectivity while another 14, including the nine, also will get incentives to construct access roads," said Industry Secretary Krishna Gyanwali.

The allocation follows the announcement in July 2013 of government plans to spend US$4m on building access roads to 14 cement plants as part of a wider US$11.3m infrastructure development scheme for the local cement industry. Cement plants that produce clinker using local limestone are eligible for the scheme.

Nepal: The Nepalese government has released plans to spend US$4m on building access roads to 14 cement plants. According to the Katmandu Post it is part of a US$12.5m industrial promotion policy to build roads, electricity transmission lines and sub-stations for cement plants across the country.

"Only those cement factories that produce clinker by using local limestone will receive the facility," said Industry Secretary Krishna Gyanwali. The government plans to complete construction of access roads for five cement factories - Ghorahi Cement, Rolpa Cement, United Cement, Shivam Cement and Nigale Cement - within the current fiscal year.

Atmaram Murarka, president of the Cement Manufacturers' Association, commented that previous government infrastructure development upgrades had not occurred. The government originally announced the scheme in the 2008 – 09 fiscal year.