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Cameroon exports nearly triple 24 May 2018
Cameroon: Cement exports from Cameroon came to 57,459t in 2017, a 191% rise year-on-year compared to 19,700t in 2016, according to figures released by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Spatial Planning (MINEPAT). Most of these exports to the countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
Imports pale in comparison to exports at just 1282t in 2017, mainly coming from China and Turkey. They were, however, up on the 900t imported in 2017.
This increase in exports is explained by the increase in local cement production. Cameroon now has a cement production capacity of 3.7Mt/yr.
Vietnam: At a recent working session with the authorities of Vietnam’s northern province of Ha Nam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the region not to grant an investment license for any new cement plants. He also urged the provincial authorities to take a closer look at environmental protection.
At present, Ha Nam province has 11 rotary kilns making cement that share a combined capacity of 21Mt/yr, including the Xuan Thanh 2, the Vissai Ha Nam, and the Thanh Thang cement plants. The province has the largest production capacity in the country, according to data from the Ministry of Construction.
Vicem sells 9.2Mt in first four months of 2018 24 May 2018
Vietnam: State-owned Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem), the country’s leading cement producer, sold 9.2Mt of cement and clinker in the first four months of 2018, a 6.7% year-on-year rise from the same period in 2017. The corporation’s clinker and cement output also increased by 5% and 1.5% to 6.49Mt and 7.24Mt, respectively. Vicem aims to produce 1.8Mt of clinker and 2.5Mt of cement in May 2018. Its cement and clinker sales are expected to reach 2.7Mt in May 2018.
Vicem sold about 26.6Mt of cement and clinker in 2017, a rise of 3% year-on-year. 23.6Mt was sold locally, a 4% rise, and 3Mt was exported, a fall of 3%.
UltraTech Cement aims for world’s third producer spot
Written by David Perilli, Global Cement
23 May 2018
UltraTech Cement’s deal to buy the cement business of Century Textiles & Industries could see it become the world’s third largest cement producer by production capacity outside of China.
It announced this week that it had entered into an acquisition agreement to buy the cement subsidiary of BK Birla Group for US$1.26bn. If the deal completes then it will gain three integrated plants in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra respectively with a combined production capacity of 11.4Mt/yr and a 1Mt/yr grinding plant in West Bengal. At this point UltraTech Cement will increase its production capacity to 106Mt/yr seeing it become the third largest cement producer in the world in Global Cement’s Top 100 Report.
This latest deal is subject to the usual regulatory approval from competition bodies and the like. Bustling past this step seems far from clear at this stage given that UltraTech Cement owns cement plants already in each of the four states the proposed purchases are in. It has described the purchase as giving it, …”the opportunity for further strengthening its presence in the highly fragmented, competitive and fast growing East and Central markets and extending its footprint in the Western and Southern markets.” Synergy savings from procurement and logistics are expected to follow with further benefits to be gained from the company’s distribution network. Local and national competitors may not see it the same way and the fallout from a price war could be damaging for smaller producers.
As covered previously, UltraTech Cement seems hell bent on winning its on-going fight against Dalmia Bharat to buy Binani Cement. Rightly or wrongly UltraTech Cement tried to muscle its way into buying Binani by making a bid directly to its owners after it lost an auction for it. Legal wrangling has followed as the insolvency process for Binani Cement has clashed against the auction process of the administrator. At the time of writing it is still far from clear which company will win.
Comparing the prices of the two latest acquisition targets by UltraTech Cement may offer some insight of its motivations. The Binani Cement assets roll in at just over US$125/t of production capacity. Although, as noted below, some of this is located outside of India. The Century Textiles & Industries assets are being purchased for a little over US$100/t. This is interesting as it is lower that the Binani cost, although the close links between BK Birla Group and UltraTech Cement’s owner Aditya Birla may help to explain this.
UltraTech Cement’s milestone as it surpasses the 100Mt/yr capacity level will mark a continuing change in the world’s cement industry as it moves away from Europe and North America to developing economies. As ever the classification is a bit of a fudge given that Global Cement’s top producers list excludes Chinese producers. Partly this arises from the difficulty obtaining reliable data on the Chinese industry. Partly this comes from top producer’s list looking at multinational companies over (extremely) large national ones. Due to this UltraTech Cement remains a regional player. Or it will at least until it (or if it) manages to buy Binani Cement. Some of the assets included in that sale include plants in both the UAE and China. At this point UltraTech Cement’s claim to be the third biggest cement producer in the world will be secure.
Martin Brydon to retire from Adelaide Brighton
Written by Global Cement staff
23 May 2018
Australia: Martin Brydon plans to retire from Adelaide Brighton. No time scale has been specified but he intends to remain with the business while its finds a successor for him.
Brydon, aged 62 years, has been in post since 2014. He holds over 30 years of experience in the construction materials industry ranging from electrical engineering, operational and general management, sales and marketing and strategy and business development.
Others executive changes at the building materials producer include the appointment of Zlatko Todorcevski as chairman of the board. He succeeds Leslie Hosking, who has decided to retire. Todorcevski, aged 50 years, has been a non-executive director since March 2017 and he was named chairman elect in February 2018. A training accountant he holds 30 years experience in the oil and gas, logistics and manufacturing sectors gained in Australia and overseas with a background in finance, strategy and planning.
Graeme Pettigrew has also retired as a non-executive director of Adelaide Brighton after 14 years of service at the company. He had been a non-executive director since 2004. The former chief executive officer of CSR Building Products held experience in the building materials industry in South East Asia and the UK through former roles as the managing director of Chubb Australia and Wormald Security Australia.