Uzbekistan: The largest cement plant in Central Asia has been commissioned in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan. Construction of the Sherabad cement plant has been carried out by Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AMMC) JSC. The cost of the project was US$212.8m and its capacity is 1.5Mt/yr. The majority of the cement produced will be directed toward domestic demand. The Turkish DAL Teknik Makina Ticaret ve Sanayi AS company also participated in the construction of the plant.

The project was paid for by AMMC's own funds (US$24.4m), a loan issued by the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan (US$90m) and loans from commercial banks (US$110.6m).

There are currently five large cement plants in Uzbekistan: Kyzylkumcement, Akhangarancement, Kuvasaycement, Bekabadcement, Jizzakh cement plant, as well as a number of small enterprises. Their total capacity exceeds 8.5Mt/yr. Over the next five years, Uzbekistan plans to increase its national capacity to 17Mt/yr, double the current level.

Companies with projects under construction or in the planning process include Russia’s Eurocement Group, which is building a US$220m dry process plant with a capacity of 2.4Mt/yr. Two more cement plants will be built with funds from Chinese investors. The first is being built by the Xin Lei enterprise in the Akhangaran region. It will have an annual capacity of 1.0Mt/yr at cost of US$108m. The other will be established by Akhangaranshifer at a cost of US$100m, also with a capacity of 1.0Mt/yr.

Ireland: CRH’s financial results for the first half of 2018 have been negatively affected by poor weather in Europe and North America. Its sales revenue rose by 1% year-on-year to Euro11.9bn in the reporting period. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 1% to Euro1.13bn from Euro1.12bn.

“We have had a good first half, despite significant weather disruption in Europe and North America in the first quarter. Construction markets continued to recover and pricing gathered momentum in key European markets, while there was solid volume and price growth against a positive economic backdrop in the Americas,” said chief executive Albert Manifold. He added that the company was experiencing ‘challenging’ conditions in the Philippines.

India: Prism Johnson, formerly known as Prism Cement, has received a letter of intent from the state government of Madhya Pradesh allocating it a mining lease for limestone. The agreement lasts 50 years for a site at Bairiah and Chormari villages and it includes approximately 77Mt of reserves.

China: Dongwu Cement turnover has been boosted by rising cement prices in the first half of 2018. Its sales revenue rose by 60% year-on-year to US$31.9m in the first half of 2018 from US$19.9m in the same period in 2017. Its profit more than doubled to US$4.18m from US$1.47m. Its sales volumes of cement grew by 11% to 0.67Mt from 0.6Mt.

South Africa: Bearing International has supplied a large order of Köbo chains to cement producers in the North West and the Western Cape. This consisted of 80m of coal reclaimer chain, 93m of bucket elevator chain, 90m of elevator chain, and 120m of hot pan conveyor chain. The bucket elevator chain was supplied to cement producers in both the Western Cape and the North West, while the pan conveyor chain and reclaimer chain were supplied exclusively to its Western Cape client.

Bearing International has been the exclusive distributor of Köbo chains in Southern Africa since early 2017. Germany company Köbo produces chains to order and it has manufacturing plants in Germany, Poland, and China.

It’s been a tough week for ARM Cement with the announcement that PricewaterhouseCoopers placed the company into administration on 18 August 2018. Given the performance of the company of late, this is not a surprise. It reported a growing net loss of US$55m in 2017 due to poor demand in Kenya and Tanzania.

First, the company made a series of personnel changes to the board of the company at the start of last week, according to Business Daily and other local press. This was led by the announcement on 13 August 2018 that Pradeep Paunrana would step down as the chief executive officer (CEO). This is significant since Paunrana’s father Harjivandas set up the company, previously known as Athi River Mining (ARM), in 1974. Paunrana was reported as owning 9% share in the company in late 2017 with his family controlling a further 14%. He will remain as a board member. Paunrana’s departure was also joined by Wilfred Murungi who stepped down as chairman following 24 years as a director of the firm and Surendra Bhatia, who will retire as deputy managing director. Although ARM Cement is yet to announce who its new CEO will be it has said that Linus Gitahi will become the new chairman and he has also been appointed as a non-executive independent director. Former Lafarge executive Thierry Metro has also been appointed as a non-executive independent director.

Then, over the weekend PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) announced in the local press that it had placed the beleaguered company into administration. Muniu Thoiti and George Weru have been appointed as the lead administrators tasked with the job of either rescuing the company or preserving the best possible value for its creditors. On 20 August 2018 the local stock exchange, the Nairobi Securities Exchange, suspended trading of ARM Cement for seven days.

ARM Cement blamed its woes in 2017 on elections in Kenya causing reduced cement demand, a coal import ban in Tanzania causing production issues at its Tanga cement plant and increased competition in both countries. Those last two reasons carried resonance this week with the news that the Petroleum Development Corporation and Dangote Industries Tanzania had signed a long-term gas deal. Dangote Cement has also had energy supply problems in the country, being forced to resort to diesel generators at its Mtwara plant. Due to this its 3Mt/yr cement plant only sold 0.2Mt of cement in the first half of 2018, a decrease of 48% year-on-year from the same period in 2017. The forced reliance on diesel also caused earning losses that negatively affected its wider Pan-African area margins.

The general consensus in the local press is that the CDC Group forced the latest changes in management. The UK government-backed investment company owns a 41% stake in ARM Cement. In June 2018 it replaced two of ARM’s board members and appointed a new executive director and a new company secretary following resignations. CDC Group injected US$140m into the firm in mid-2016 in return for a 40% stake in the business. When the Nairobi Securities Exchange suspended trading, ARM Cement shares were a tenth of the value CDC Group paid for its stake. Given that the share value of ARM has steadily fallen since 2016, the question that occurs is: why did CDC Group take so long before taking action?

Two thoughts occur at this point. One: whatever else emerges in the coming weeks and months about how ARM Cement has ended up in administration, it is unfortunate that a burgeoning multinational producer took a hit in more than one country at the same time in an area with such growth potential for construction. As has been proved, market potential and performance are not the same thing. Two: if this is any indication of how the UK government will act in the post-Brexit world generally, then investing in pound sterling assets before the end of March 2019 may be unwise.

India: ACC has appointed Ashish Prasad as its Chief Marketing Officer and Head of New Products & Services. Based in Mumbai, he will also be a member of the company's executive committee. Prasad will lead the brand building and marketing efforts for ACC's cement and concrete businesses. He will be responsible for growing the portfolio through the introduction of new products and solutions, as well as the design and implementation of new services to strengthen ACC's presence as a complete solution provider in the building materials space.

Prasad holds over 20 years of experience in brand management, sales, strategy and business development at companies including Pidilite Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Asian Paints and the Coca-Cola Company. In his last role as the chief operating officer (COO) of the construction chemicals business at Pidilite Industries, he was responsible for developing and growth of Dr Fixit and Roff brands.

He is a science graduate from Delhi University and holds a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.

US: Mississippi Lime Company has appointed Kenny Adams as the Plant Superintendent of the Vicksburg lime plant in Mississippi. He holds over 20 years of experience in plant production. He joined the company’s Verona plant in 2010 as a Lead Kiln Operator. In 2014, he was promoted to Supervisor. In his new role, he will oversee Vicksburg’s production and support operations.

US: Tim Breen, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Motion Industries, has died suddenly. The 58-year old began his career with Berry Bearing Company in 1982 and worked as a Sales Representative, Branch Manager, Regional Manager, and Corporate Accounts Manager, according to the Birmingham Business Journal.

His responsibilities continued to grow after Berry Bearing and Motion Industries joined forces in 1993. He worked as a Division Officer and Group Officer and took responsibility of all the US locations in 2011 as Executive Vice President and chief operating officer (COO). Breen was promoted to Motion Industries President and COO in 2013, before his promotion in November 2014 to President and CEO.

"Motion Industries has lost a great leader and the world has lost an amazing human being," said Motion Industries. "Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Tim have lost a dear friend and an inspiration. Tim leaves behind a great company, a great culture and a great team that he affectionately referred to as 'The Motion Family.' His spirit will forever live on at Motion."

Motion Industries is an industrial parts distributor of bearings, mechanical power transmission, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic components, industrial products, safety products, and material handling.

Australia: Adelaide Brighton’s cement sales volumes rose in the first half of 2018 due to new infrastructure projects and ‘strong’ markets in Melbourne and Sydney. Its sales rose by 11.7% year-on-year to US$593m from US$531m in the same period in 2017. Its net profit after tax increased by 17.7% to US$62m from US$53m.

Chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director Martin Brydon said that the company had benefited from improved demand across residential, non-residential and infrastructure sector in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, with ‘stable’ demand in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

The building material producer’s cement prices increased in most markets. However, it said that import costs were ‘adversely’ affected by higher shipping and material procurement costs, and negative currency effects. Demand for lime was stable with sales similar to the first half of 2017. Margins were hit by increased energy costs, although this is expected to be recovered through price increases.