Displaying items by tag: concrete

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos’ revenue rose by 3.8% year-on-year to US$1.44bn in the first half of 2019 from US$1.39bn in the same period in 2018. Sales growth was driven by ready-mixed concrete and the company’s other businesses as cement sales fell slightly. It reported a profit of US$29.4m compared to a loss of US$72m previously. Its cement sales volumes fell by 6% to 13.8Mt from 14.7Mt.

"In the first half of the year, we achieved net revenue growth and stability in our leverage, even though the Brazilian economy has not yet achieved the anticipated recovery and despite the impact of an atypical seasonality in North America. In this second quarter, we followed our investment plan and inaugurated a new production line of mortar, in Cuiabá, and one of agricultural solutions, in Nobres, both in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso," said Osvaldo Ayres Filho, Global chief financial officer (CFO) of Votorantim Cimentos. The company added that higher prices in Brazil, growing sales in North America and positive currency effects successfully offset poor results in Turkey.

One of the summer news stories in the UK has been the drama surrounding the near-failure of dam near Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire. Concrete slabs on an overflow spillway fell away after a period of heavy rain leading to fears that the dam could fail inundating the area. Around 1500 local residents were evacuated for about a week as a precaution until the reservoir’s water level could be pumped down low enough for inspection.

No one was hurt in the incident but it has raised questions about the maintenance and renewal of infrastructure and how this fits with changing weather patterns caused by anthropogenic climate change. A sadder example of this is the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy in August 2018 that killed 43 people. This was later blamed on decaying steel rods in the structure. There have been similar debates in the US with President Donald Trump’s on-going attempts to push through a US$2tn infrastructure bill to repair the country’s structures. Although, predictably, it is floundering on the question of who is actually going to pay for it all.

In the UK, for example, cement production hit a high of over 15Mt in the late 1980s before declining to a low of 7.6Mt in 2009 and eventually climbing to above 9Mt/yr since 2015. A big cause of that decline was the 2008 financial crash and the subsequent government austerity policies. Yet, even with this taken into account, production was at around 11Mt/yr in the 2000s. How much, if any, of this production capacity gap of at least 4Mt between the late 1980s and the 2000s might be needed to maintain the country’s infrastructure? Southern Mediterranean countries like Spain and Italy offer even starker examples. Italy’s cement production fell to 19.3Mt in 2017 from nearly 40Mt in 2001. Spain’s production hit a high of around 50Mt/yr in 2007 with apparent production (local consumption and exports) falling to around 20Mt in 2018. Much of these declines are due to loss of export markets but the same basic questions remain about how much capacity will be required in the future to maintain and repair existing structures in developed nations. This could be imported but the usual constraints about moving heavy building materials around inland mean than at least some of this cement will need to manufactured locally.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated in 2010 that the world would need 50Bnt of cement between 2015 and 2030. The global cement industry was already producing around 3.5Bnt/yr in 2015 according to the Global Cement Directory 2015 giving it overcapacity even then towards the estimated target. Global production capacity is just under 4Bnt/yr today. Estimates for the cost of global infrastructure requirements in this period range from US$1Tnr/yr to US$6Tnr/yr. The majority of this will go towards new infrastructure in developing countries but a minority portion will be required for maintenance. One study by the Brookings Institution and the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate estimated that developed countries would need around US$2Tn/yr for their infrastructure bills.

A study by management consultants McKinsey & Company in late 2017 reckoned that there was a worldwide US$55Tn spending gap between then and 2035 for infrastructure spending. It estimated that countries like the UK, Germany and the US needed to increase their annual spending on infrastructure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.5%. Although Italy only needed to improve by 0.2%. Looking at the change in infrastructure investment rates suggests that the European Union (EU) actually started to improve its investment from 2013 to 2015 by 0.2% but that the US did not.

All of this goes to show that the show is definitely not over for building materials producers in developed countries. These industries may be mature but they should not be complacent. Roads need patching up, bridges need replacing and all sorts of other infrastructure projects are required even in places that have them already.

UK: Chris Leese has decided to leave Cemex UK after 30 years with the company. His varied career at Cemex has seen him taking responsibility for a broad range of activities, notably as Vice President of Readymix VP and more latterly as Vice President of Aggregates.

Leese has been a long-standing champion of health and safety improvements, taking a lead role at Cemex and the broader industry. He was the chair of the MPA Health and Safety committee for over nine years.

UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Max Colligan as the managing director of its Ready Mix Concrete business and as a member of its executive committee. He holds over 30 years of experience in the construction industry. He holds a degree in civil engineering and has post-graduate qualifications in quarrying.

Colombia: Cementos Argos Colombia supplied around 220,000m³ of concrete and over 8000t of cement for the constriction of the Oriente Tunnel. The road infrastructure project near Medellín in Antioquia is scheduled to be commissioned in mid-August 2019. Work on the project started in 2015. The tunnel had an investment of around US$300m and it will be the longest operational road tunnel in South America when it opens.

Mexico: Cemex Mexico has launched a new website to sell concrete. It is intended to serve builders, contractors, small business owners, architects, construction entrepreneurs and the general public for any size of project from 1m³ upwards.

The site includes an online calculator to help customers work out the amount of concrete required for a project and technical support to aid the transaction. It also supports scheduling delivery at a specific time and date, as well as having visibility and tracking of the order in real time. The company says it is the first conle concrete sales channel in the country with ‘express’ service and full coverage.

US: Nine of Cemex USA’s ready-mixed concrete (RMX) plants in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California have earned ISO 14001:2015 certification for their environmental management systems (EMS). The company says these are the first RMX operations in the country to achieve the designation.

The nine plants located in Berkeley, Concord, Oakland, Pleasanton, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, Union City and Santa Clara, California each received certification after Lloyd’s Register, an accredited third-party organisation, audited Cemex USA’s West Region management system at corporate and site level, verifying that it conforms to the standard. In addition to the plants, Cemex USA’s Livermore office also earned the certification.

“Effective environmental management systems are critical in helping our operations meet and exceed our environmental and sustainability goals. By following well-established standards of ISO 14001:2015, our operations can continue to build on their successes while serving as inspiring examples for others to follow across the US,” said Cemex USA president Ignacio Madridejos.

Earlier in 2010 Cemex’s Clinchfield cement plant in Georgia became the first Cemex operation in the US to achieve ISO 14001:2015 certification. The company is currently in the process of achieving the certification at several other of its operations in cement, ready-mix and aggregates across the country.

UK: Cemex has invested around Euro1m on relocating and upgrading its Eversley ready-mixed concrete plant. The new plant will be located at the Bramshill Quarry in Hampshire reducing the need for truck journeys to the fomer site nearby. The unit is being replaced with a Liebherr 2.25 mobile mix plant. The plant will have a storage capacity of 300t of cement, and 240t of aggregates. It will increase production from 80m³/hr to 24m³/hr. The inclusion of a central mixer will also enable special products such as traditional sand cement screed and flowing screeds like Supaflo to be produced, increasing the product range available.

Mexico: Cemex’s sales have fallen in all regions except for Europe. Its net sales fell by 4% year-on-year to US$6.72bn in the first half of 2019 from US$7bn in the same period in 2018. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 11% to US$1.21bn from US$1.36bn. Cement sales volumes decreased by 9% to 31.3Mt and ready-mixed concrete volumes by 3% to 24.9Mm³.

“The second quarter was impacted by the challenging global economic environment. Weaker-than-expected industrial activity and continued trade conflicts have resulted in lower investment in several of our markets. Mexico in particular has been affected by these factors, which led to lower-than-expected volumes. Adverse weather in the US also translated into muted activity during the quarter. In contrast, we are very pleased with the favourable performance of our Europe region,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Fernando A Gonzalez. He added that earnings were expected to pick up in the second half of the year due to improved government spending in Mexico, higher prices and sales volumes of cement in the US and Europe, stabilising energy prices and the group’s ‘Stronger Cemex plan’.

UK: Breedon Group’s revenue grew by 18% year-on-year to Euro502m in the first half of 2019 from Euro424m in the same period in 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 22.3% to Euro90.9m from Euro74.0m. Cement sales volumes increased by 11% to 1Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales fell by 6% to 1.5Mm³.

"The period began well, with benign weather in the first quarter and generally healthy demand for our products, particularly in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, somewhat offset by fewer large projects in Scotland. Our performance in the second quarter was adversely impacted by lower volumes in Great Britain due to a flat construction market, ongoing project delays and competitive trading conditions. However demand in Ireland remained robust,” said group chief executive Pat Ward. He added that July 2019 had started well and that the group expected a ‘strong’ second half of the year.