Global Cement News

Vietnam: Hoang Mai Cement has announced that Dang Tang Cuong retired as deputy general director from 1 August 2013.

India: India Cements has reported that its net profit has fallen by 73% year-on-year to US$2.74m for the first quarter of the 2013 – 2014 fiscal year that ended on 30 June 2013. Its net profit for the same period in the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year was US$10.1m. The Indian cement producer attributed the weak performance to overcapacity in the south of the country, poor demand for cement and low prices, increasing energy costs and depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.

India Cements' sales remained stable at US$201m in the first quarter of the 2013- 2014 fiscal year compared to US$196m of the same quarter in the previous year. Clinker production rose by 18% year-on-year to 2.08Mt from 1.80Mt. The combined volume of cement and clinker production rose by 11% year-on-year to 2.65Mt from 2.38Mt. The company also reported that its captive power plant at its Vishnupuram cement plant had been commissioned in July 2013 and is expected to stabilise operations in the autumn of 2013.

India: Dalmia Cement has announced details about the 2.5Mt/yr cement plant it is currently building in Belgaum, Karnataka. Mumbai newspaper DNA has reported that the Indian cement producer predicts that the plant will create over 1000 jobs when it opens in March 2014. Dalmia has invested over US$210m on the project.

"Though we have had a good presence in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Karnataka has not been a great market for us so far. We have to address this state seriously by ramping up our presence here," said chief executive officer of Dalmia Cement, Vipin Agarwal. He added that the Indian cement producer intends to become one of the top three producers in the state. Currently, the top three cement producers in Karnataka are UltraTech, Zuari and ACC. The company's market share through sales is about 5% from Karnataka, compared to about 14% each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Dalmia has three other cement plants in southern India, including two in Tamil Nadu (Dalmiapuram and Ariyalur) and one in Andhra Pradesh in Kadapa.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has cancelled a US$4.8bn initial public offering (IPO) due to poor market conditions. According to Dow Jones, the leading Brazilian cement producer had initially delayed its IPO in July 2013 to September 2013.

"The IPO continues to be the company's plan and we will continue to monitor the evolution of the capital market conditions to be able to resume the offer," said chief financial officer Lorival Luz.

Egypt: Suez Cement Company has reported that its consolidated revenue rose by 7% year-on-year to US$368m in the first half of 2013 from US$343m in the same period in 2012. Despite continued energy-supply uncertainties and increased energy prices, the Italcementi subsidiary managed to increase its profits by controlling and improve costs and improving manufacturing efficiency.

Suez Cement's recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 15% year-on-year to US$93.3m from US$81.3m. Net profit rose by 46% to US$55.7m form US$38.0m.

For the second quarter of 2013 Suez Cement's revenue rose by 11% to US$186m from US$168m. EBITDA rose by 18% to US$45.1m from US$38.3m. Net profit rose by 19% to US$20.2m from US$24.0m.

In its outlook, Suez Cement issued caution over ongoing market uncertainty in the second half of 2013. If the country stabilises politically the cement producer expects cement demand to improve as public and private construction spending resumes. Given growing supply shortages for energy, Suez Cement will continue to focus on industrial and environmental efficiency and postpone any capacity expansion projects.