Displaying items by tag: market
Holcim acquires Teko Mining Serbia
12 July 2022Serbia: Holcim has acquired aggregates producer Teko Mining Serbia. Teko Mining Serbia’s aggregates sales were 2.4Mt in 2021. It employs 150 people across its quarries in Batocina, Ceramide, Ladne Vode and Ljubovija.
Holcim’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head Miljan Gutovic said “Teko complements our existing cement and concrete operations perfectly, allowing us to add aggregates and asphalt as part of our integrated offer in this highly dynamic market. I look forward to welcoming the employees of Teko Mining, whose expertise will be invaluable in accelerating our growth, especially in the highly dynamic Serbian market, and will enable us to develop circular solutions to recycle construction and demolition waste in the future.”
Burundi: The government of Burundi says that it is ready to sign a credit letter with Dangote Cement for the establishment of a cement plant in the country. In this way, the government hopes to provide a long-term solution to the on-going national cement shortage. In the meantime, the government urged Dangote Cement to devise ‘modalities for the supply of construction materials’ into the country.
Burundian delegates at a meeting with Dangote Cement on 8 July 2022 said that Northwest Burundi is endowed with abundant limestone reserves.
Palpa Cement Industries exports cement to India
11 July 2022Nepal: Palpa Cement Industries has exported cement produced at its 3000t/day Sunwal cement plant to India. Indo-Asian News Service has reported that the shipment consisted of 3000 bags of the company’s Tansen brand cement. The producer says that it will continue with daily despatches to India, subject to demand.
The Nepal government offers 8% subsidies to cement exporters which use Nepali raw materials.
Holcim Romania acquires General Beton Romania
11 July 2022Romania: Holcim Romania has announced its acquisition of independent ready-mix concrete market leader General Beton Romania. The latter operates eight batching plants with a total of 160 employees. Its markets include Arad, Bucharest, Constanta and Sibiu. Holcim Romania says that it plans to use the acquisition to grow its ECOPact green concrete’s footprint.
Europe, Middle East Africa regional head Miljan Gutovic said “General Beton provides an excellent addition to our strong and diversified ready-mix concrete operations. Over more than two decades, General Beton has been a long-standing Holcim partner as well as a growing and highly successful business. I am delighted to welcome them to the Holcim family.”
India: Dalmia Bharat Refractories and Japan-based Shinagawa Refractories have launched a refractories partnership to serve India and other markets.
Dalmia Bharat Refractories managing director Sameer Nagpal said "We have been strategically expanding our partnerships to bring best-in-the world products and solutions to our customers, and this relationship very well complements our objective. Dalmia Bharat Refractories is well positioned to meet the growing demand for refractories over the next few years, with five manufacturing units in India and two overseas, and a manufacturing capacity of 345,000t/yr."
Pakistan: All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) members despatched 52.9Mt of cement in the 2022 financial year, down by 7.9% year-on-year from 57.4Mt in the 2021 financial year. The News International newspaper has reported that exports fell by 44% year-on-year to 5.25Mt from 9.31Mt. In June 2022, despatches rose by 1% year-on-year to 5.26Mt from 5.21Mt. Exports declined by 48% to 284,000t from 543,000t. APCMA said that high costs caused the decline, which continues into the current 2023 financial year (which begun on 1 July 2022).
An association spokesperson said “The export of cement has declined massively during the ongoing financial year due to the high cost of production.”
COBOD to supply 3D printers in Australia and Canada
05 July 2022Australia/Canada: Fortex and Nidus3D have won contracts to become Denmark-based COBOD’s distribution partners for the Australian and Canadian markets respectively. Nidus3D previously printed a multi-unit residential building, the first of its kind in North America, using COBOD’s 3D printing equipment. Meanwhile, the supplier says that its first BOD2 3D printer available on the Australian market will arrive there in late 2022.
Regarding the Australian contract with Fortex, COBOD noted that it will make its equipment available on six different continents.
Mudajaya Group Berhad to acquire Real Jade Limited
04 July 2022China: Mudajaya Group Berhad has concluded a deal to acquire Real Jade Limited for US$51m. The deal marks the Malaysia-based conglomerate’s first expansion into the Chinese market. Real Jade Limited operates the 1Mt/yr Shandong integrated cement plant. It employs 50 people in Shandong Province.
Vietnam: Brokerage company Mirae Asset Securities Vietnam (MASVN) expects cement producers that specialise in exports to switch to the domestic market due to reduced demand in China. The export market to China has slowed down due its Zero-Covid policy and a reduced real estate market, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. Major local exporters include Vissai Ninh Binh, Hoang Mai and Thanh Thang. China accounted for 40% of Vietnam’s cement exports in 2021. If these companies switch to the local market then it is expected to create more competition for producers that are more domestically aligned, including Vicem Ha Tien, FICO and Holcim Vietnam
South Africa: PPC’s full-year consolidated sales were US$624m in the 2022 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2022, up by 11% year-on-year from US$561m in the 2021 financial year. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 6.9% to US$94.5m from US$101m. During the year, the group reduced its debt by 55% to US$63m from US$139m.
The group noted high cement demand across its markets in the 2022 financial year, including a sales volumes increase of 28% year-on-year in Zimbabwe. It also noted a 19% year-on-year increase in South African cement imports, mainly from Vietnam, which constituted 10% of sales in the 2022 financial year. PPC said that it will ‘immediately make additional capacity available’ to capture the increased demand through the rest of 2023 financial year.