Global Cement News

Bolivia: Weimar Pereira, vice-minister for Medium and Large Scale Industrial Production, says that the government is close to signing new rules for cement industries that will prioritise domestic products over imported asphalt on roads and for public works. He made the statement in talks with local producers Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (FANCESA) and Cooperativa Boliviana de Cemento, Industrias y Servicios (COBOCE) as well as union representatives, according to the Correo del Sur newspaper. The new rules are expected to be implemented by August 2019.

Poland: Germany’s Bilfinger is installing refractory linings at Cemex Polska’s Rudniki cement plant. It is also carrying out assembly work at various parts of the unit. The industrial services company is installing the refractory linings for parts of the plant, which entails using around 2000t of refractory material within a five-month period. It is part of the installation of a new cement clinker production line at the site.

The contract comes under Bilfinger’s Engineering & Maintenance Continental Europe division. Companies for which Bilfinger has worked on past contracts in Poland include cement producers CRH and Dyckerhoff.

UK: Aggregate Industries, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, has achieved recommendation for ISO 44001 certification for Collaborative Business Relationship Management Systems, awarded by the British Standards Institute. The certification was awarded company-wide to Aggregate Industries for demonstrating relationship management across a variety of projects, which include a multitude of internal business areas and external partners.

“I am incredibly proud of achieving this certification. ISO 44001 is quickly becoming a prerequisite for highways, infrastructure and major projects which specify requirements for the effective identification, development and management of collaborative business relationships,” said Paddy Murphy, Managing Director of Contracting at Aggregate Industries.

Spain: Turkey’s Çimsa Çimento has purchased Cemex’s white cement business in Spain, including its Buñol plant, for around US$180m. Cemex expects to sign the final agreement in April 2019 and close this divestment during the second half of 2019. The proposed divestment does not include Cemex’s white cement business in Mexico, nor its interest in Lehigh Cement in the US.

“With the purchase of the Buñol white cement plant in Spain, we are upgrading our game in the white cement sector, the highest value-added business in the global cement market. With the integration of the Buñol white cement plant to our production and distribution networks, we will increase our white cement production capacity by 40%, translating into Çimsa becoming the world's largest white cement company,” said Tamer Saka, the president of Sabancı Holding Cement Group and chairman of Çimsa. He added that Çimsa is among Turkey’s leading exporters. In 2018 it generated over 50% of its operational profit from overseas operations.

Once a final agreement is reached the transaction is subject to standard regulatory approval.

Greece: Titan Group’s profit growth in 2018 due to by its US operations. However, negative currency exchange rate effects have dragged on its financial results. Overall, its turnover fell by 1% year-on-year to Euro1.49bn in 2018 from Euro1.51bn. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 5% to Euro260m from Euro273m. However, its net profit rose by 26% to Euro53.8m from Euro42.7m.

By region, the US region reported rising turnover and stable EBITDA in US Dollar terms. An improvement in results was recorded in Florida, counterbalanced the lower profitability of the mid-Atlantic region, which was affected by protracted inclement weather and an increase in competition in the broader New York area. The market remained poor in Greece with falling turnover and earnings. Markets in south-eastern Europe recorded increases, although rising energy costs wee a concern. Continued problems were reported in Egypt and Turkey due to additional input costs and market conditions respectively.