Global Cement News

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos, Brazil's largest cement producer, and its shareholders have cancelled a US$4.8bn initial public offering (IPO) that had been scheduled, according to a report from Reuters. Controlling shareholder Votorantim Participações was unwilling to sell its stock of Votorantim Cimentos below the suggested price range of US$7.34-8.71, according to a source reported by Reuters.

The news-wire service also reported that a second source had said that potential investors would take part in the IPO provided that shares offered a 'large discount' when viewed against the US$7.31/share price at the bottom of the potential price range. Any such discount would value Votorantim significantly below its rivals in the Brazilian cement market. Votorantim Cimentos has not confirmed the suspension of the IPO plan.

Austria: Price pressure is becoming an ever-greater problem for the cement industry in Austria, according to the head of an industry group.

"In 2012 the volume of sales remained the same, but revenues dropped substantially", the chairman of the management of the Association of Austrian Cement Industry (VÖZ), Rudolf Zrost, said on Tuesday.

Cement sales in 2012 remained almost unchanged at 4.46Mt, compared to 4.43Mt in 2011. However, revenues slumped by 4.7% to Euro375m.

National: China saw cement output increase by 8.9% year-on-year to 866Mt for the first five months of 2013, according to the recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Cement output grew to 224Mt in May 2013, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%.

Regional: Shanghai saw cement output slide by 4.1% year-on-year to 0.77Mt in May 2013, according to the local statistics bureau. However, the municipality's cement output grew by 2.4% year-on-year to 3.05Mt for the first five months of 2013.

Hubei Province, in central China, saw cement output edge down by 0.6% year-on-year to 40.7Mt in the first five months of 2013, according to the Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

Corporate: Asia Cement (China) has said that it has agreed to provide US$68m in loans to Far Eastern New Century (China) Investment Limited from 17 June 2013 to 16 June 2014. The loans will be used for working capital by the borrower.

Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement posted a revenue of US$9.6m from product rebates, government grants and investment returns over the first five months of 2013, according to a company announcement. The company will count the revenue to its total profit for the first half of 2013.

India: HeidelbergCement India sold a grinding plant in Raigad, Maharashtra to JSW Ispat Steel for an undisclosed sum. The announcement was made at the Indian cement producer's annual general meeting on 16 May 2013.

HeidelbergCement India also announced that its shareholders have given it approval for raising funds of up to US$340m through borrowings.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement, which operates in the east of Saudi Arabia, announced on 17 June 2013 that it has been forced to stop cement production until 30 June 2013 for unscheduled maintenance work to be carried out. Al Jouf said that the maintenance would cost around US$1.6m and would be reflected in its second quarter results for 2013.