Displaying items by tag: Zambia
PPC Zimbabwe boss blasts cement imports from Zambia
20 March 2017Zimbabwe: PPC Zimbabwe’s managing director Kelibone Masiyane has said that duty on cement imports has done little to discourage the market. The government introduced a 25% duty on every 100t of imported cement in 2016, according to the NewsDay newspaper. He singled out imports from Zambia as well as those from South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana.
“In addition to liquidity challenges, we continued to face pressure from cheap imports. Government has tried to assist by introducing duty on imported cement, but the reality on the ground is that imports continue to pour in, particularly from Zambia,” said Masiyane. Despite this he added that PPC Zimbabwe was confident that the local economy would pick up in 2017 supported by infrastructure projects.
The Cement and Concrete Institute of Zimbabwe lobbied the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to ban imported cement in 2016. In a paper it suggested including a protection tariff to equate the landed price of imported cement to the cost of the local product, granting of import licences to local producers, cancelling or reviewing all issued permits that are circulating in the country and lowering duty on raw materials.
Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s pre-tax profit has fallen by 10.9% year-on-year to US$466m in the first nine months of 2016 from US$523m in the same period in 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) fell by 16.3% to US$559m from US$667m. However, sales revenue rose by 20.9% to US$1.38bn from US$1.14bn. It blamed the drop in profitability on falling prices in Nigeria, negative currency effects and on rising fuel and power costs.
“Nigeria has achieved record volume growth and our non-Nigerian operations are performing well across Africa. Our switch to coal in Nigeria will have an immediate impact on margins now that we have abandoned the use of low pour fuel oil (LPFO), improving fuel security and reducing the need for foreign currency. Furthermore, our new pricing will offset the impact on costs of the devalued Naira,” said the chief executive officer, Onne van der Weijde. He added his company’s strong performance in sales had been hit by poor economies in the countries it operates in and by heavy seasonal rains in West Africa.
The producer reported that its sales volumes of cement sold grew by 28.1% to 11.9Mt in Nigeria and by 72.9% to 6.5Mt elsewhere in Africa. Sales outside of Nigeria were bolstered by production ramp-up in Ethiopia and Zambia, new operations in Tanzania and improved sales in Ghana. Plants in the Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone are due to become operational in mid-November 2016.
Zambia: Lafarge Zambia and Zambia Railways have signed a transport agreement to improve the delivery of production inputs for cement production and to distribute clinker and cement products locally and to neighbouring countries. The deal is intended to complement other modes of transport, reduce reliance on roads and promote sustainability. The agreement will run for three years and is subject to renewal.
“We continue to have a high fleet of trucks on our roads responsible for both inbound and outbound logistics, in excess of 500 trucks. The pressure exerted on the roads continues to be high as a result of this activity. Therefore, this partnership will relieve some pressure off our roads as it complements other modes of transportation currently in use today and we also anticipate to reduce the safety risk on the road,” said Chrissie Moloseni, Chief Financial Officer of Lafarge Zambia at the signing ceremony on 8 July 2016.
Christopher Musonda, the Chief Executive Officer of Zambia Railways, added that the company has devised a new transport model to improve efficiency. The Wagon Monitoring and Control System (WAMCO) is designed in a way that will enable customers to have dedicated wagons for all movements, thereby improving efficiency levels.
Lafarge Zambia revenue falls by 6% to US$250,000 in 2015
09 March 2016Zambia: Lafarge Zambia’s revenue has fallen by 6% year-on-year to US$250m in 2015 from US$267m in 2014. Its profit fell by 24% to US$62m from US$82m. The subsidiary of LafareHolcim blamed the results on challenging markets, power costs increase and steep currency depreciation.
“Despite new competition and challenging markets, Lafarge Zambia maintained its market leadership in 2015 both in Zambia and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a marginal reduction versus our record 2014 volume numbers. The second half of 2015 saw a combination of negative factors both in terms of market and in terms of production costs,” said Lafarge Zambia CEO Emmanuel Rigaux.
In 2016 the cement producer expects the market to be challenging for both price and volume. It intends to focus on exports markets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. A partnership with the rail authorities including Zambia Railways Limited is also expected to further aid exports.
Zambia: Lafarge Zambia has successfully commissioned a Cemengal Plug & Grind cement grinding plant in Ndola which will produce 100,000t/yr of cement and take the plant's total capacity to 500,000t/yr. It has been constructed on available land within the Ndola plant.
"This project has utilised very minimal amount of land. It is fitted with state-of-the art technology and has bag filters to aid environmental management," said Lafarge Zambia CEO, Emmanuel Rigaux. He added that the plant will produce Supaset Cement. This will be exported to the Democratic Republic of Congo and other neighbouring countries.
Also present at the event was the LafargeHolcim Group Area Manager for East Africa and Indian Ocean, Dominique Drouet who was on a three day visit to Zambia.
Lafarge partners with ZRL to increase cement exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo
17 December 2015Democratic Republic of Congo/Zambia: Lafarge Zambia and Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) have collaborated to increase cement exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A policy directive is being followed by the government in order to increase exports and help stabilise the local currency. Lafarge will begin to export 400t/week of cement to the DRC in 2016 and will multiply its exports to Malawi and the DRC by a factor of four. Lafarge has become the biggest user of rail in the country and the first cement producer to be fully-associated.
Dangote to launch Tanzanian cement plant in October 2015
30 September 2015Tanzania: Nigeria's Dangote Cement is set to commission its new 3.0Mt/yr cement plant in Mtwara District on 10 October 2015. The company will also hold the ground-breaking ceremony for 25 hectares of jetty land at Mgao village in Mtwara District on the same day.
The commissioning of the new cement plant, which is part of the company's Africa expansion strategy, will be the fourth in the series after Ethiopia, Zambia and Cameroon. Cement plants due for commissioning this year are located in Senegal and South Africa, while construction works are ongoing in several other African countries.
Zambezi Portland Cement on the backfoot following Dangote launch
16 September 2015Zambia: Zambezi Portland Cement (ZPC) says it has been losing US$2.5/bag (50kg) of cement it has sold since Dangote Cement entered the market. Operations director Daniele Ventriglia said that, despite maintaining its market share, the competition in the cement business was stiff.
Ventriglia said that ZPC would invest US$4m in new state-of-the-art block-making machinery, which will provide a higher proportion of value-added products. "The machines are expected to arrive from Italy in the next three months, before the year ends. Production of blocks will increase by 20%. An additional 25 people will be employed," he said. Ventriglia added that ZPC had remained competitive in block production because its product was of high quality and at an affordable price.
Lafarge Zambia records 4% profit growth
15 September 2015Zambia: Lafarge Zambia's post-tax profit grew by 4% year-on-year to US$36,017 in the first half of 2015 despite economic challenges in Zambia and political uncertainties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which constitutes the company's major export market. Lafarge Zambia recently merged with Holcim Construction Group, which reported a 14% increase in turnover to US$134,577 in the first half of 2015.
Lafarge Zambia said that electricity supply disruptions adversely impacted cement production in 2015. Company chief executive officer Emmanuel Rigaux said that domestic demand in the second half of 2015 is expected to continue to slow down until Eurobond proceeds are directed towards infrastructure and construction activity.
"Strong focus in the second half of 2015 will be placed on adjusting our cost base wherever necessary. Market activity was subdued in the first half of the year in the Zambian market and was negatively impacted by political uncertainties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which constitutes our major export market. The successful issuance of the US$1.25bn by the Zambian government is expected to generate increased construction activity," said Rigaux.
Dangote to open 1.5Mt/yr plant in Cameroon
27 August 2015Cameroon: Dangote Cement will open its new 1.5Mt/yr Sinoma-built cement plant in Douala, Cameroon today. "Africa's future growth is intrinsically linked to cement," said Aliko Dangote earlier in August 2015, as he opened another new factory on the outskirts of Ndola, Zambia. Both plants are part of Dangote Cement's US$4.3bn expansion across Africa and Asia, which we reported on earlier.