India: Prism Johnson, formerly known as Prism Cement, has received a letter of intent from the state government of Madhya Pradesh allocating it a mining lease for limestone. The agreement lasts 50 years for a site at Bairiah and Chormari villages and it includes approximately 77Mt of reserves.
Bearing International supplies chains for cement producers in South Africa
South Africa: Bearing International has supplied a large order of Köbo chains to cement producers in the North West and the Western Cape. This consisted of 80m of coal reclaimer chain, 93m of bucket elevator chain, 90m of elevator chain, and 120m of hot pan conveyor chain. The bucket elevator chain was supplied to cement producers in both the Western Cape and the North West, while the pan conveyor chain and reclaimer chain were supplied exclusively to its Western Cape client.
Bearing International has been the exclusive distributor of Köbo chains in Southern Africa since early 2017. Germany company Köbo produces chains to order and it has manufacturing plants in Germany, Poland, and China.
Dongwu Cement’s sales revenue boosted by rising prices
China: Dongwu Cement turnover has been boosted by rising cement prices in the first half of 2018. Its sales revenue rose by 60% year-on-year to US$31.9m in the first half of 2018 from US$19.9m in the same period in 2017. Its profit more than doubled to US$4.18m from US$1.47m. Its sales volumes of cement grew by 11% to 0.67Mt from 0.6Mt.
Adelaide Brighton’s cement sales volumes rise on infrastructure projects
Australia: Adelaide Brighton’s cement sales volumes rose in the first half of 2018 due to new infrastructure projects and ‘strong’ markets in Melbourne and Sydney. Its sales rose by 11.7% year-on-year to US$593m from US$531m in the same period in 2017. Its net profit after tax increased by 17.7% to US$62m from US$53m.
Chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director Martin Brydon said that the company had benefited from improved demand across residential, non-residential and infrastructure sector in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, with ‘stable’ demand in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The building material producer’s cement prices increased in most markets. However, it said that import costs were ‘adversely’ affected by higher shipping and material procurement costs, and negative currency effects. Demand for lime was stable with sales similar to the first half of 2017. Margins were hit by increased energy costs, although this is expected to be recovered through price increases.
