Global Cement News

US: Texas Industries, Inc. (TXI), the leading cement producer in Texas and a major player in the Californian cement market, has reported financial results for the quarter and year ending on 31 May 2013. Net income for the quarter was US$44.1m. Net income including income net of tax from discontinued operations of US$28.5m. Net income for the quarter ending on 31 May 2012 was US$60.2m

Net income for the year ending on 31 May 2013 was US$24.6m and included a pre-tax gain on the disposition of discontinued operations of US$41.1m. Net income for the year ending on 31 May 2012 was US$7.5m.

"The fourth quarter certainly benefited from the continuing recovery of construction activity in our major markets," said Mel Brekhus, CEO of TXI. "Shipments of all products reflect double digit percentage increases compared to a year ago."

"We also achieved two strategic milestones during the quarter," continued Brekhus. "The commissioning of our 1.4Mt/yr cement kiln at our central Texas plant (Hunter) was finished late in the quarter and we completed the acquisition of 42 ready-mix plants in east Texas. Both events significantly improve our ability to take advantage of the strong recovery under way in Texas."

Egypt: At least three people have been killed and 17 wounded in a grenade attack upon a bus carrying cement plant workers in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. Security and medical sources reported that suspected militants used rocket-propelled grenades to attack the bus.

Uzbekistan: The Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (AMMP) plans to build a US$250m cement plant in the Surkhandarya region in southern Uzbekistan. The Government of Uzbekistan has instructed AMMP to start negotiations with Turkey's Dal Teknik Makina on the project's implementation. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr and should be completed by 2017.

The project will be financed by AMMP with loans from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan and Uzbek banks. Previously the plant was to be built by the national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz but it failed to attract foreign partners to the project.

AMMP and Dal Teknik Makina are also collaborating on a cement plant in the Jizakh region of Uzbekistan. The plant is due to be built by the end of 2014.

China: China's cement output has increased by 9.7% year-on-year to 1.1Bt for the first half of 2013, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In June 2013 cement output increased by 8.8% year-on-year to 228Mt.

Indonesia: Indonesian cement sales growth has fallen to 7.5% at 27.8Mt for the first six months of 2013 from 25.9Mt in the same period in 2012, according to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). Year-on-year sales grew by 15% for the January to June period between 2011 and 2012. The deceleration in cement sales is expected to continue in the second half of 2013 due to a reduction in infrastructure development.

Reasons for slower national growth in the first half of 2013 include fewer infrastructure projects, falling commodity prices that have affected development in resource-rich provinces and more frequent rain, according to ASI chairman Widodo Santoso. Sales in Java, the main driver of growth in the first months of 2013, rose by 9.2% to 15.5Mt. Meanwhile, sales outside Java rose by 5.38% to 12.4Mt.

State-owned cement producer PT Semen Indonesia said that the 7.5% growth in nationwide cement sales was still higher than sales growth before 2011. Figures from the ASI showed domestic cement sales rose 14.5% in 2012, 17.7% in 2011, 6% in 2010 and only 0.9% in 2009.