Cement News tagged: Corporate
Saudi Engineering Dimensions interested in Bangladesh cement sector
Saudi company Engineering Dimensions has expressed an interest to set up a modern cement factory in the Chhatak upazila of Sunamganj district, Bangladesh, according to New Nation. During a meeting with Secretary-in-Charge of the Industries Ministry, M Abdul Halim, Engineering Dimensions President, Mohammed N Hijji, said Bangladesh’s huge population, domestic demand and skilled workforce have ...
PPC CEO Claassen to retire
South-Africa-based PPC has initiated a process to find a new CEO after the incumbent, Johan Claassen, expressed an interest to take early retirement. Mr Claassen was appointed permanent CEO in February this year after serving as interim CEO for six months following the departure of Darryll Castle.
Ecocem pretax profit declines 38%
Slag cement producer Ecocem Materials Ltd reported a rise in turnover of 9.4 per cent in 2017 to EUR79.4m (US$90.5m) from EUR72.6m in the previous year. Pretax profit decreased by 37.5 per cent to EUR2.5m last year from EUR4m in 2016. Costs increased by nearly 12 per cent YoY to EUR76.5m from EUR68.6m while the company paid EUR335,000 in interest, a sharp rise when compared with EUR147,821m ...
Cemex Philippines shuts down kiln and Davao terminal
APO Cement (Cemex group) in the Philippines has closed its Davao cement terminal and suspended one kiln line at its Cebu plant following the suspension of mining operations at Apo Land & Quarry. The closure means the lay off of 30 staff and cessation of work for 40 per cent of its contractors. These cost cutting measures are in addition to temporary suspensions affecting 30 per cent of its wo...
Lafarge Malaysia records 3Q18 net loss of MYR109m
Lafarge Malaysia recorded a net loss in 3Q18 of MYR109.28m (US$26m) down 160 per cent from MYR42.01m in 3Q17. Revenue fell by 14 per cent YoY to MYR495.1m in 3Q18. The decline in earnings was down to lower cement sale and higher operating expenditure. Higher energy prices, as well as the lower production output and timing of the scheduled plant maintenance put pressure on costs. "The decre...
EAPCC receives backing to sell land assets
Kenya’s East African Portland Cement Co (EAPCC) has received Trade Ministry backing to sell off idle land, which will help the company recoup some of the KES15bn (U$146.3m) it says it needs to avoid a complete shutdown of operations. Betty Maina of the Trade Ministry has said that a Cabinet memorandum is ready for submission to grant the company approval to sell off its assets. Ms Maina also...
Austria's Leube acquires stake in Asamer
Austria-based Leube cement plant has acquired a stake in Asamer, a building materials company based in the same country. The company has acquired a 24.99 per cent stake after the exit of Kurt Asamer from the business, which left the remaining partners with a combined share of 75.01 per cent.
Fletcher building hit by Golden Bay shutdown and Australian residential market
Fletcher Building Ltd's performance has been impacted by trading conditions and a four-week shutdown of subsidiary Golden Bay Cement which cost in the range of NZD8-11m (US$5.4-7.5m). The company has downgraded its full-year EBIT by 10 per cent to NZD20m. "The 10 per cent lower ebit was a reflection of Australian trading conditions, the Golden Bay Cement issue and timing of sales in its New...
Gansu Hengya Cement is the investor behind Samarkand plant
Gansu Hengya Cement Company of China is entering the Uzbekistan cement market. It plans to build a 2.4Mta cement plant in Samarkand, Kattakurgan district. The plant will cost US$420m and the project will be implemented in two stages. The first 1.2Mta kiln line will be erected between 2018-20 at a cost of a US$220m. The second 1.2Mta line will be cosntructed between 2020-23. The works wi...
CRH launches phase three of share buy-back
On 25 April 2018 CRH plc announced its intention to buy back ordinary shares of up to EUR1bn in the following 12 months. Having completed buy back phases one and two, returning EUR700m to shareholders the third buy back phase is now in operation to repurchase ordinary shares for a maximum consideration of EUR100m. The Phase 3 Programme will commence today, 20 November 2018, and will end no la...
LKAB Minerals is set to acquire Francis Flower
LKAB Minerals of Sweden is working on a deal to complete the acquisition of Francis Flower by 3 December 2018. The Austrian Competition Authority gave clearance for the acquisition on 10 October. Francis Flower operates a 0.55Mta grinding unit for ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) cement in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, UK. The company also has five main storage locations and a network o...
Mario Gross steps down as CEO of Lafarge Malaysia
Mario Gross of Lafarge Malaysia stepped down from his role as president and CEO of the company on Friday, after seven months in the position. Mr Gross has been assigned to a new role in the LafargeHolcim group but will also continue as a non-independent non-executive director from 16 November to 31 December this year to facilitate the transition. "During his tenure here, Gross laid the grou...
Cementos Melon completes plant expansion
Chile-based Cementos Melon has completed the expansion of its Puerto Montt cement plant following an investment of US$25m. The project doubles the facility’s cement capacity to 0.6Mta and will enable the company to better serve the local markets. The Puerto Montt facility supplies the markets between Araucania and Magallanes, south of Santiago and will support infrastructure development in s...
Apo Cement announces PHP10 price hike
Philippines-based Apo Cement has announced a PHP10 (US$0.19) price hike on its cement products in some regions of the country, following the suspension of its main raw material supplier, APO Land & Quarry Corp. "APO Cement continues to adopt measures to cope with the challenges of not having equitable sources of raw materials to produce cement," stated the company. "APO is announcing a P...
Anjani Portland records 15% net sales increase
India’s Anjani Portland Cement has reported a 15 per cent increase in net sales to INR1.05bn during the 2QFY18-19 ended 30 September, rising from INR912.9m of the year-ago period. However, net profit has fallen 51.6 per cent YoY to INR32.3m from INR66.8m. In the first six months of the fiscal year, net sales advanced 12.2 per cent to INR2.07bn. Whereas net profit declined 33.6 per cent to fi...
Cementos Argos reports 13% rise in 3Q net income
Cementos Argos revenues edged up 1.1 per cent to COP2218bn (US$692.6m) in the third quarter of 2018 from COP2194bn in the 3Q17. In terms of sales volumes, the company increased its cement sales by 2.2 per cent to 4.242Mt and ready-mix concrete (RMC) volumes by 1.3 per cent to 2.699Mm 3 in the quarter, reflecting improved dynamics in all regions. The company's EBITDA increased 4.3 per cent Y...