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Cement demand drops by 40% in Qatar during Ramadan 21 July 2014
Qatar: Domestic cement demand has plunged 40% during Ramadan, which has prompted cement companies to start maintenance work.
Mohamed Al Sulaiti, general manager of Qatar National Cement Company, said that the company has utilised this as an opportunity to conduct maintenance of equipment in its plant. Maintenance work will enable it to meet the busy season starting from mid-August, when demand will increase.
Qatar National Cement Company is setting up a new plant in Umm Bab, Jariyan al Batnah Municipality, which is expected to start production in 2016. The new plant, which is its fifth, is being set up to help the company meet demand of the construction sector. Al Sulaiti said that the capacity would be 5000t/day of clinker and 5500t/day of cement. FCB has been given the contract for setting up the plant.
Kenya: Strong sales of cement and fertiliser have boosted Kenya's ARM Cement's pre-tax profit by 20% to US$13.68m in the first half of 2014. Total revenue jumped by 16% to US$86.6m, after cement sales rose by 10% in Kenya and by more than 33% in Tanzania. The improved sales were attributed to an improved distribution network.
"The east African regional economies are growing briskly and demand for cement, as well as the other products, are expected to grow further," said ARM. The company expects earnings to grow further in the second half of 2014, mainly due to improving margins driven by investments in its plants in Tanzania and Kenya.
ARM has invested a total of US$171m in a clinker plant in Tanga, Tanzania and a cement plant in Dar es Salaam, also in Tanzania. The plants have a combined capacity of 1.8Mt/yr. The investments have helped the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to hold steady at 24% in the first half of 2014, defying pressure from higher input costs, such as energy.
Algeria: Germany's Gebr. Pfeiffer SE has won a contract through the Chinese General Contractor CBMI to supply a MVR 6700 C-6 type cement mill and a MVR 6000 R-6 raw mill, both of which will be installed at the Lafarge cement works situated near the Algerian town of Biskra. The cement mill is the second-largest in the world after a mill supplied by Gebr. Pfeiifer to Holcim's Barosso plant in Brazil.
The cement mill, featuring Gebr. Pfeiffer's MultiDrive® concept with an installed total drive power of 9125kW, will produce 231-342t/hr of OPC ground to a product fineness of 3700-4800cm²/g according to Blaine.
The raw mill, which will come equipped with a conventional drive with an installed power of 6120kW, is designed to grind 680t/hr of cement raw material to a finished product fineness of ≤12% R 90 µm and 460t/hr of limestone to a product fineness of ≤1% R 150µm.
The delivery of the mills is expected in the summer of 2015.
Mexico: Cemex has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2014, which show that consolidated net sales reached US$4.2bn during the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 4% compared to the comparable period in 2013. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 1% during the quarter to US$737m compared to the same period in 2013. On a like-for-like basis and adjusting for business days in its operations during the quarter, consolidated net sales increased by 5% and operating EBITDA increased by 3% versus the second quarter of 2013.
Cemex said that the increase in consolidated net sales was due to higher prices of its products in local currency terms in most of its operations, as well as higher volumes in the US and the Mediterranean, South & Central America and the Caribbean and Asia regions.
Fernando A González, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased with the year-to-date trends we have seen in volumes for our three core products and the continued success of our value-before-volume strategy. We expect improved performance from our Mexican operations during the second half of the year which should lead to stronger overall EBITDA generation for the full year 2014."
Breakdown by geographical area
Net sales in Cemex's operations in Mexico decreased by 4% in the second quarter of 2014 to US$816m, compared with US$847m in the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA decreased by 1% to US$247m versus the same period of 2013.
Operations in the United States reported net sales of US$957m in the second quarter of 2014, up by 10% compared to the same period in 2013. Operating EBITDA increased to US$119m for the quarter, compared to US$80m in the same quarter of 2013.
In northern Europe, net sales for the second quarter of 2014 reached US$1.1bn, a 5% increase compared with the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA was US$121m for the quarter, 12% higher than a year earlier.
Second-quarter net sales in the Mediterranean region were US$449m, 12% higher than sales of US$400m during the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA increased by 6% to US$100m for the quarter versus the comparable period in 2013.
Cemex's operations in South & Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales of US$562m during the second quarter of 2014, remaining flat compared to the same period of 2013. Operating EBITDA was down by 16% to US$178m in the second quarter of 2014, from US$211m in the second quarter of 2013.
Operations in Asia reported a 2% decrease in net sales for the second quarter of 2014 to US$160m, versus the second quarter of 2013. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was US$34m, down by 11% compared to the same period of 2013.
Venezuela: Cemento Andino's Trujillo plant in Venezuela is set to undergo a US$240m capacity expansion. The plant currently produces around 600,000t/yr of cement. The construction of a new production line is expected to triple Cemento Andino's capacity. The project will take around two years to complete, generating around 500 direct and 1000 indirect jobs.