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Italy: Italian cement producer Italcementi plans to stop production at three of its Italian cement plants, bringing the total of its dormant plants in the country to nine. Italcementi director general Giovanni Battista Ferrario made the announcement at a shareholders' meeting, blaming the move on overcapacity in the face of a huge slump in domestic demand
The company expects to save Euro110m through the closures as part of an efficiency drive. It posted losses of Euro362m in 2012, most of it due to poor Italian demand. Lay-offs for over a quarter of Italian staff were announced in December 2012. It said the Italian market "continues to be marked by productive over-capacity compared to a demand that has dropped to the levels last seen at the end of the 1970s."
Italcementi had 17 operational plants in 2012. It has since then sold one and halted production at five others. However, CEO Carlo Pesenti told the meeting that the company plans to invest up to Euro150m on upgrades at its Rezzato plant and has plans to develop its Calusco plant.
The Kingdom needs cement
Written by Global Cement staff
17 April 2013
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has issued an urgent edict ordering the import of 10Mt of cement. As one of Global Cement's many followers on Twitter playfully reacted, "that's a bloody big patio."
Humour aside, the Kingdom desperately needs cement for several infrastructure projects. It committed US$373bn for development and infrastructure projects from 2010 to 2014 in its Ninth Development Plan, including building six 'economic cities.' Following this investment, an export ban on cement was introduced in February 2012 and then an import ban was repealed in March 2012. The three Saudi cement firms on whose first quarter financial results we report upon in this week's Global Cement Weekly - Yamama Cement, Arabian Cement Company and Yanbu Cement - all logged increased profits attributed to increased demand and sales.
Back in February 2013, Arab News reported that an estimated 500 trucks had been queuing outside the Yanbu plant near Jeddah. Some of whom said they had been waiting for up to five days in an attempt to receive deliveries! Abdullah Radwan, chairman of the contractors' committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was quoted at the time as saying that the high price of cement in the country was due to a lack of cement plants in the country. The following month in March 2013 the Northern Region Cement Company was forced to halt production due to a road closure.
At the close of 2012, Saudi Arabia's cement product capacity was just over 50Mt/yr. Analysts predict that by the close of 2017 the country's demand will be over 80Mt/yr, with only 25Mt/yr of additional capacity commissioned by the same date. What happens to all that production capacity once the building is done may be giving producers across the Gulf region sleepless nights. On a separate note, Iran also reported this week that it hopes to increase its cement exports by 6Mt in the 2013 – 2014 year. The timing may be right - if regional rivalries can be put aside.
Jean Paul Méric appointed chairman of Ciments Français
Written by Global Cement staff
17 April 2013
France: Ciments Français, a subsidiary of Italcementi Group, has appointed Jean Paul Méric chairman of the board and Fabrizio Donegà as chief operating officer. Outgoing chairman Yves René Nanot, who has reached the statutory age limit, has been nominated honorary chairman of the company and will continue as a director.
Méric, aged 69, studied at the École Polytechnique and the École Supérieure d'Electricité. He began his career with EDF before moving into the cement industry, first with CERILH (Centre d'Études et de Recherches de l'Industrie des Liants Hydrauliques) then Ciments Français in 1985. He became the executive vice-president for Ciments Français in 1991 and was appointed chief operating officer in 2010.
Donegà, aged 49, is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Genoa University and a postgraduate in Corporate Finance from Bocconi University (Milan) and Management Development from Harvard Business School (USA). He started his career with Italcementi, first as Technical Assistance Manager in 1990 then as Plant Manager. In 1999 he was appointed manager in charge of Greece and Bulgaria. Since 2007 he has been the executive vice-president of Ciments Français.
New appointments at A TEC GRECO 17 April 2013
Austria: Pyroprocessing specialist A TEC GRECO has announced two appointments. Peter Schwei will join the company as Sales and Technical Managing Director from 3 June 2013. Christoph Voutsinas joined the company on 2 April 2013 as Global Sales Manager. Both roles will be based in Austria.
Schwei, aged 50, previously worked as the technical managing director for a cement producer in Austria. He holds a mining degree from Montan University in Leoben.
Voutsinas, aged 34, previously worked in account and sales management in the refractory industry. He holds a physics degree from the Technical University Vienna.
Taiwan: Taiwan Cement has said that leading Taiwanese cement makers will benefit from industry consolidation in China because it will boost prices. Due to the mergers, Taiwan Cement's clients in China are no longer demanding the price reductions they did in 2012 said Robert Chen, deputy spokesman of Taiwan Cement, to the Taipei Times.
Average cement prices in eastern and south-western China have risen recently, while prices have stopped declining in the south, said Chen. In addition, cement demand in China's rural areas has increased after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Asia Cement Corp said the problem of oversupply is easing after the Chinese government asked companies to close down inefficient kilns. The cement market in China was severely hit when the Chinese government decided to curb rising house prices, according to an official at Asia Cement. However, the official said that cement prices in China only recovered to the levels of 2011, when the Chinese government decided to open up the cement market and increase the number of suppliers.