Global Cement News

Production: China saw cement output increase by 10.8% year-on-year to 237Mt in the first two months of 2013, according to recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

45 companies in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region produced a total 466,000t of cement and 2.67Mt of clinker in the first two months of 2013, a year- on-year decrease of 9.28% and 37.27% respectively, according to sources quoted by China Business Newswire.

Guangdong Province produced 118Mt of cement in 2012.

Company news: China Shanshui Cement has reported that its net profit fell by 31.8% to US$245m in 2012. Its revenue fell by 4.2% to US$2.6bn in 2012. Total sales volume of cement and clinker rose by 3.5% to 56.9Mt. It attributed the decrease in net profit to the fall of selling prices as a result of decline in demand.

West China Cement has reported that its net profit rose by 44.9% to US$57.9m in 2012. Operating revenue grow by 10.5% to US$566m. The company saw cement sales rise by 22.2% to 14.3Mt.

Fujian Cement has reported a slump in net profit of 76.9% to US$4.63bn in 2012. Operating revenue fell by 13.7% to US$261m. The company expects to earn US$359m in operating revenue in 2013.

Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group sold 15.3Mt of cement and cement clinker in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 29.2%. Currently the company has a cement production capacity of 21.3Mt/yr and it aims to reach a capacity of 45Mt/yr by the end of 2015. Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co has announced in its annual report for 2012 that the company saw its net profit drop by 47.8% year-on-year to US$28m in 2012. The company's operating revenue rose by 17.28% year-on-year to US$684m in 2012.

Xinjiang Tianshan Cement Co Ltd has reported that it saw net profit drop by 71.8% year-on-year to US$51.3m in 2012. The company attributed the net profit drop to overcapacity in the cement industry in 2012. Tianshan Cement's operating revenue for 2012 fell by 6.99% year-on-year to US$1.24bn.

Shenzhen-listed cement producer, Sichuan Shuangma Cement Co has announced that it earned a net profit of US$1.37m in 2012, a year-on-year decline of 90%. The company's operating revenue for 2012 decreased by 8.3% on-year to US$301m.

China: China is expected to introduce rules to boost the use of waste treatment as an alternative fuel in cement kilns, a China Securities Journal report has said.

Xu Yongmo, vice chairman of the China Building Materials Federation, said at a forum that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), together with other six ministries, were mulling over policies to boost co-processing in cement industry. The waste used in the cement kilns covers municipal sludge, household garbage and industrial solid waste.

India: A 4% rise in the entry tax on clinker in the Indian state of Assam has riled local cement producers. In the state budget, chief minister Tarun Gogoi had proposed to raise the entry tax on clinker from 2% to 6%, applicable only to small and medium units.

Industry sources quoted by the Telegraph of India said the proposal to raise the entry tax would adversely affect small grinding units in the state. "Given the budget proposal, there is an apprehension that the small units might not be able to bear the additional cost burden and become unviable," said a source.

The total procurement of clinker from outside Assam is estimated at 1.8Mt/yr, of which 24 small units procure 475,000/t. The source added that these units had invested US$74m in the state, employing over 3000 people directly or indirectly.

However, two large cement manufacturers - Cement Manufacturing Company Ltd (Star Cement, CMAL) and Meghalaya Cement Ltd (Topcem, MCL) - have been exempted from the tax. CMCL and MCL have units at Sonapur and Amingaon in Assam respectively. The source added that these large units had invested up to US$92m in the state, creating jobs for about 600 people.

"The government has accorded mega project status to large cement manufacturers, exempting them from entry tax, but imposed the same on small units. This is contrary to its vision of development," said Dilip Goenka, director of KD Cement.

Germany: Dyckerhoff Group has reported that its net profit in 2012 has decreased as expected. Net profit fell by 59% to Euro26.9m in 2012 from Euro65.9m in 2011. The German cement producer explained in a press release that cement volumes fell by 2.5% in Europe and that this couldn't be counterbalanced by volume increases in Russia and the US.

Sales remained stable overall at Euro1.6bn in 2012. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell by 3.1% to Euro284m from Euro293m. Average cement prices decreased in Luxembourg and in Poland. In the Czech Republic cement prices remained almost stable, while they increased in Germany, Ukraine, Russia and the US. About 48% of total Group sales can be ascribed to the division Germany/Western Europe, 39% to Eastern Europe and 13% to the USA.

The group's complete consolidated financial statements will be published on 26 March 2013.

Egypt: The Shura Council's housing committee, in Egypt's upper house of parliament, has suggested imposing mandatory pricing for the country's cement firms. The move follows recent rises in cement price of up to 25%.

"The Egyptian Competition Authority will be tasked with setting the price if the government approves the Shura Council's recommendation," said Atef Yacub, the head of Egypt's Consumer Protection Agency, to Al Ahramonline. He explained that the 'unjustified increase in cement prices' is the main reason behind the suggestion of the mandatory pricing. Yacub dismissed suggestions that energy price rises were solely responsible for the rises in overall cement prices.

In February 2013 the Egyptian government said that the price of fuel oil, which is widely used in energy-intensive local industries such as cement, would be increased by 50% to US$220/t.