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Germany: Dyckerhoff Group's sales fell by 11% year-on-year to Euro256m in the first quarter of 2013, from Euro289m in the same period in 2012. The group attributed the fall to harsh weather conditions. Exceptions to the decline were reported in Russia and the US where sales rose and remained stable respectively.
Group loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased to Euro9m in the first quarter of 2013 from Euro0m in the same quarter in 2012.
"For 2013 as a whole, we continue expecting group sales and EBITDA at a similar level to 2012", commented Wolfgang Bauer, CEO of Dyckerhoff AG. He based his prediction on the assumption that the weather-related volume decreases of the first quarter could be caught up.
Dangote net profit soars by 80% to US$340m in Q1 08 May 2013
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has reported a rise in net profit of 80.7% to US$340m in the first quarter of 2013 from US$188m in the same period in 2012. The Nigerian cement producer attributed the gain to an increased market demand of 15.7% (estimated 5.4Mt), improved gas supply and falling imports of cement into the Nigerian market.
Dangote's revenue rose by 39.5% to US$604m from US$433m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 67.3% to US$398m from US$238m.
"Our 38% increase in volumes far outpaced the Nigerian market's strong growth of 16%," commented Devakumar Edwin, group managing director and chief executive of Dangote Cement. "Our gas supply has been better this year and that has driven margins upwards from the first quarter of 2012, when our new capacity at Ibese and Obajana was just coming on stream.
In its outlook Dangote reported that the strong demand had continued in April 2013. It noted that gas supply problems, which hindered its Obajan cement plant in particular, might continue in 2013. Cement exports are expected to make a modest contribution to 2013 sales.
Canada: Lafarge Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy and Carbon Management Canada have announced that they are investing more than US$8m to develop the use of alternative fuels at Lafarge Canada's cement plant in Bath, Ontario. This multi-partner initiative intends to produce low-emission, low-carbon fuels from local supplies such as construction and demolition site debris (wood based), railway ties, and other energy containing materials that aren't presently recycled.
"We are delighted to bring this world-class demonstration initiative to the Canadian cement industry. We believe that this project is exactly in line with our mission of building better cities by lowering our carbon footprint, making use of local fuel supplies and creating local sustainable jobs," said Bob Cartmel, President and Chief Executive Officer in Eastern Canada for Lafarge Canada Inc.
According to figures released by Lafarge, the Canadian cement industry currently emits about 3.8% of the country's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and about 30 - 40% of those emissions are due to fossil fuel use.
Carbon Management Canada (CMC), a network of Centres of Excellence that supports research to reduce CO2 emissions, is providing a US$400,000 grant over three years to a research team working on the project. Natural Resources Canada is awarding US$2.68m to Lafarge Canada to construct a full-scale demonstration plant. Other project partners include Pollution Probe, WWF Canada, Queen's University, the Cement Association of Canada, Mesa Bioenergy, Scott Environmental and Rail Link, a Metis company.
India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating a complaint against a Chinese company offering waste heat recovery (WHR) solutions for the cement industry. This case is believed to be the first instance where a Chinese company has been affected by Indian competition law.
According to sources quoted by the Financial Express, Transparent Energy Systems (TESPL) filed a complaint against the Indian operations of Nanjing Triumph Kaineng (NTK). The complainant alleged the Chinese firm is severely impacting its business by quoting prices for tenders much below the market rates.
NTK specialises in WHR and accounts for a 30% market share of WHR power generation in the Chinese cement industry. It entered the Indian market in 2011 through a joint-venture with Tecpro Systems.
Yemen: Tribal gunmen have kidnapped two Egyptian cement plant workers. A Yemeni security official, quoted by the Associated Press, said that the tribesmen abducted the pair on 6 May 2013 in Abyan province and took them to an unknown destination at gunpoint.
The authorities are trying to find out the identity of the kidnappers and if there were any demands. Kidnapping of foreigners by tribesmen is frequent in Yemen, where hostages are used as bargaining chips to secure the release of Yemeni prisoners or to get cash.