Global Cement News

Ireland: Irish Cement, a CRH subsidiary, intends to cut 50 jobs at its Castlemungret plant due to a decline in demand for cement. Management has opened talks with workers and unions on a restructuring programme. Irish Cement has been in production at the Limerick site since 1938.

"Management at Irish Cement has met with employees at the company's manufacturing facility at Castlemungret in County Limerick. The company advised workers and union representatives that the unprecedented deterioration in market conditions, combined with a sustained decline in the demand for cement products, have led to the need for a significant restructuring plan to be put in place at the Limerick facility," said a company spokesman.

According to the release the move follows almost five years of decline in the Irish construction industry, with activity now nearly 80% below peak levels in 2007. Currently there is little visible indication of any market improvement in the foreseeable future.

Denmark: FLSmidth has acquired Teutrine GmbH Industrie-Technik, a German company specialising in mobile solutions for repairs, refurbishments and installation services for the cement and minerals industries. The value of the takeover was not disclosed.

Teutrine mainly carries out maintenance and repair services at sites where it offers mobile solutions within repair (welding), refurbishment (machining, grinding, hard facing and overhauling), replacement (parts replacement, alignment, lifting) and upgrades (equipment replacement, alignment, lifting). The company's key markets are found in Europe and the Middle East.

"The acquisition of Teutrine is a significant addition to our service concept in relation to repair and refurbishment services as well as replacement and upgrade services for all the major equipment on a cement plant," said FLSmidth group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen.

Teutrine was founded in 1973 by Antonius and Annemarie Teutrine. In 2009 the ownership was transferred to Gabriele Teutrine, CEO and successor to the founders. The company has 45 employees. Teutrine will be integrated in FLSmidth as part of the Plant Operation & Equipment Services within the Customer Services division.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement Co (TCC) will invest US$300m annually in China over the next three years to achieve an annual production of 100Mt by 2016. Chairman Leslie Koo made the announcement, adding that TCC's investment in 2012 will focus on second-phase plant construction in Anshun, Guizhou Province in China. To maintain a regional lead in the market, TCC intends to steadily improve production capacity in China and strengthen market share through mergers and acquisitions.

In his announcement Koo pointed out that, due to the EU debt crisis and China's macroeconomic controls, the cement market sagged in the first five months of 2012. Due to the easing of the debt crisis since June 2012, faster approvals of infrastructural projects and restored high-speed railway construction in China, the cement industry will likely see operations rebound in the second half. In addition public construction projects in Taiwan are also pushing demand for cement.

Greece: Titan Cement has reported continuing falling profits in the first half of 2012, amid an ongoing slump in Greece and weakness in many of its other markets. However, second quarter turnover in 2012 has started to improve year-on-year.

Titan posted a turnover for the first half of 2012 of Euro548m, a 2% decline compared to the first half of 2011. Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 21% to Euro112m. Net profit reached Euro8m, a 65% decline compared to the same period in 2011. In addition, the weakening of the Euro versus local currencies had a limited Euro2m positive impact on operating results for the first half of 2012.

In the second quarter of 2012, Titan's turnover increased by 6% to Euro322m compared to the same period in 2011. The increase in turnover, the first in six consecutive quarters, is mainly due to what appears to be the beginning of the recovery in construction activity in the US, as well as increased exports from Greece. EBITDA declined by 17% to Euro78m while net profit reached Euro28m, the same as in 2011.

Titan estimate that demand for its products in Greece is continuing to decline at an annual rate of roughly 40%. Cement consumption for 2012 is expected to be approximately 75% lower than the levels recorded in 2007. The last time consumption stood at such levels was in the first half of the 1960s.

For the remainder of 2012 Titan does not expect private building activity or infrastructure projects to improve its outlook in Greece. In the US it expects the increase in cement consumption noticed in the first half of 2012 to continue. In Southeastern Europe the continued slowdown related to the Eurozone crisis is expected to hold back demand for building materials. In Egypt expectations about cement demand remain cautiously optimistic whilst in Turkey demand remains at high levels for the time being for both private and public works.

Texas Industries (TXI) made the surprising move this week of appealing to the US authorities to investigate 'unfair' imports from Greece and the Republic of Korea. Of note was the accusation that imports from these countries had risen by 40% from 2009 to 2011, with a further rise over the first six months of 2012.

Given the distances involved and the rising optimism shown for the North American market in the latest financial results for the cement industry, targeting imports might at first seem odd. However looking at US Geological Survey (USGS) data shows that for January to May 2012 the top cement importers to the US, after Canada, were the Republic of Korea and Greece. Mexico, the USA's other land neighbour, could only manage fourth.

According to USGS data Texas was the leading cement-producing state in the US in 2011. In 2011 total imports of hydraulic cement and clinker from South Korea rose by 64% to 1.40Mt from 0.86Mt in 2009.

By customs districts Texas imported 0.99Mt in 2011 or 15% of the US total. Alarmingly though, Texas has already imported 0.77Mt from January to May 2012. If this rate continues for the rest of 2012 Texas could be facing a total imported figure of 1.84Mt, a rise of 85%!

Given that the Global Cement Directory puts Texan capacity at just under 14Mt/yr this might explain why one of the state's biggest producers has decided to take action. The problem of 'cheap' Greek imports looks likely to get worse as the economic troubles of the Eurozone drag on, especially if Greece exits the zone. If that happens, any Greek producer that can still afford to make cement may well be able to undercut the domestic production of any country willing to import it. TXI's move might be seen as a pre-emptive strike 'shot across the bows' to discourage increasing US demand for sucking in more imports, in order to shore-up demand for domestic production (and to firm up domestic pricing).

However, one place Greece or South Korea will have difficulty exporting their cement to is the moon.

Serious thought on creating cementituous materials on the moon dates back decades but last week NASA awarded US$135,000 to UC San Diego structural engineer Yu Qiao for research on the subject using materials that are readily available on the moon. Given that it currently costs from at least US$4m/t to put mass into low earth orbit, the lunar cement industry can rest easy from the threat of cheap Greek imports for the time being.