Global Cement News

Tajikistan: New cement producer Suhgd Cement has opened a 100,000t/yr cement plant in northern Tajikistan. Tajik Energy and Industry Minister Gul Sherali attended the official opening ceremony on 20 October 2012.

The company intends its capacity to grow to 1Mt/yr, making it the biggest cement producer in the country. Equipment for the plant was sourced from Chinese suppliers at a cost of US$1.8m. More than 140 people work at the plant, which will rise to 300 when the capacity increases.

Tajikcement is currently the biggest cement producer in Tajikistan with a capacity of 1.1Mt/yr. However the country continues to import building materials to satisfy demand. In September 2011 the joint company Juaxin Gayur Cement JV, between Tajik Gayur and Chinese Juaxin Central Asia Investment, started construction of a 1Mt/yr plant in the Javan region costing US$100m. This plant is expected to be launched in autumn 2013.

Israel: The Israeli Interior Ministry has approved the construction of a waste recycling plant with a capacity of 1500t/day next to the former Hiriya rubbish dump, southeast of Tel Aviv.

The project is a joint venture between the regional Dan Municipal Sanitation Association and Nesher Cement. Nesher Cement plans to use refuse derived fuels at its Ramle plant, all other materials will be recycled. The Environment and Finance ministries have also announced tenders to build another similar facility in the area.

Australia: Holcim Australia, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based building materials company Holcim, plans to lay off 150 staff and mothball up to 30 facilities as part of a review of its Australian operations. The majority of the closures and lay offs will affect Holcim's Australia's concrete business.

The company expects to mothball or close about 10% of its sites when it completes an organisational review in the next week. Holcim Australia, previously know as Readymix, employs about 3200 staff and another 1800 contractors and casual workers.

"With softer activity and outlook in some of our key markets, we must also adjust our business to suit," said Holcim Australia chief executive Mark Campbell. He added that since the company had been exposed to both mining and non-mining sectors across Australia its had been able to ride the two-speed economy better than some of its competitors.

Holcim Australia's parent company launched a cost-cutting drive in May 2012 called the 'Holcim Leadership Journey' programme designed to save Euro1.25bn by 2014.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has declared a profit after tax of US$21.0m for the quarter ending 30 September 2012, 33.8% higher than the same quarter of 2011 when it made a net profit of US$15.7m.

Gross profit for Lucky Cement, which is Pakistan's largest cement manufacturer, increased by a similar margin. This rose by 32.9% year-on-year as its net sales revenue improved by 18.1% to US$92.4m. Higher sales volume in the domestic markets, in line with the company's strategy gave rise to the increased profit.

Lucky's local sales volume during the quarter grew by 5%, rising to 0.86Mt compared to 0.82Mt sold during the 2011 quarter. However, its export sales volume declined by 9% from 0.62Mt to 0.56Mt. This was mainly due to intentional focus on the domestic markets, which increased the overall profitability of the company. The company also managed to decrease its financing cost by 76% compared to 2011.

Lucky has also reported that it had successfully sourced uninterrupted electricity from Hesco since 1 July 2012, averaging a supply of over 20MW/hr during the quarter. It said that this new source of electricity had helped to reduce Pakistan's power generation problems.

The company also reported progress with respect to its joint venture investment in a new cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where plant and machinery has been negotiated and finalised with a renowned European supplier, and on its joint venture investment for a grinding facility in Iraq, where the teams for the project have been mobilised at the site.

Oman: Oman Cement is in the process of increasing its cement grinding capacity by installing an additional 15t/hr cement mill. The tender process has been initiated for building the plant, according to the company's chairman Dr Abdullah Abbas Ahmed.

Oman Cement is also planning to improve the pollution control equipment on its line 2 to control dust emission levels. It is in the process of identifying a consultant for this project.

Meanwhile, the company said that its net profit increased by 32.5% to US$30.4m for the first nine months of 2012, from US$25.2m for the same period of 2011. Its sales revenue also increased, to US$108.5m, compared to US$94.2m during the period.

The company has achieved sales of 1.69Mt for the first nine months of 2012 compared to 1.40Mt for the same period of 2011.