Cement News tagged under: Zimbabwe

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Lafarge Zimbabwe appoints new Chief Executive

04 March 2020, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Zimbabwe (LafargeHolcim group) has appointed Precious Murena-Nyika as its new chief executive. Siame Kaulule, who previously held the position, left in January 2020 to take up a new position for the company in South Africa. "Precious Murena-Nyika was yesterday confirmed as the new Lafarge Zimbabwe CE. The announcement was done by Lafarge East and Southern Africa area manager Pierre Deleplanque, who is in the country. Her appointment came at a time there have been calls to have a loc...

Lafarge Zimbabwe sees cement demand drop 19%

29 November 2019, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Zimbabwe has seen a 19 per cent decline in cement consumption. Flora Chinhaire, Lafarge Zimbabwe Company Secrtary reported that hyper-inflation in the country had impacted demand. The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency's inflation rates for September 2019 saw a 350 per cent rise YoY. “The operating environment in the second half of the year continues to be challenging for the business as the effects of hyperinflation become more evident due to cost inflation caused by devaluation...

PPC's group revenue impacted by Zimbabwe

21 November 2019, Published under Cement News

PPC announced a group revenue of ZAR4.9bn (US$330.1m) and group EBITDA of ZAR868m for the six months ended 30 September 2019. Group revenue was down 12 per cent on results from the six-month period at ZAR5.6bn, which was attributed to a 17 per cent volume decline in group cement volumes. Group EBITDA was also affected by Zimbabwe's currency devaluation and hyperinflation as well as the trading environment in South Africa, plus a one-off restructuring costs of ZAR83m. When excluding PPC Zimb...

PPC

26 September 2019, Published under Cement News

Imports of cement into South Africa have risen once again, up by 293 per cent YoY in July, putting the increase for the first seven months of the year at 17.5 per cent, despite the severely depressed state of the country’s construction sector. Imports are predominantly arriving from Vietnam, according to local reports. Last month, PPC, along with a number of other major South African cement producers, applied to the country’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) for what t...

Livetouch International seeks production increase

21 June 2019, Published under Cement News

Zimbabwean cement producer Livetouch International, part of Diamond Cement, plans to increase its cement capacity utilisation rate from the current 45 per cent. The Redcliff-based company has a 0.5Mta plant but has been operating at low capacity rates due to a shortage of raw materials, according to The Herald. The company’s CEO, Don Wang, said the company had been relying on competitors such as PPC for the supply of limestone. “We have, however, put measures to make sure that we capacit...

PPC

22 May 2019, Published under Cement News

PPC Zimbabwe is planning to invest some of its dividends in government bonds to increase local procurement, according to the company. PPC currently runs three plants in the country with a total production capacity of 1.4Mta. Around 70 per cent of inputs for the plants are now sourced locally. Over the last five years, PPC Zimbabwe has spent more than US$140m refurbishing its plants and is about to launch a seventh product into the market. According to Nkosana Mapuma, sales and marketing m...

Lafarge Zimbabwe invests US$25m to improve utilisation

13 May 2019, Published under Cement News

LafargeHolcim group has unveiled a US$25m investment programme to increase utilisation at its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe. However, Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe said the holding group has called on the government to stabilise the availability of electricity and resolve foreign currency issues as these are key determinants to its expansion drive. Milajan Gutovic, LafargeHolcim regional head of the Middle East and Africa group executive committee, said during a meeting with President o...

Lafarge Zimbabwe obtains US$30m loan

09 May 2019, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has obtained a long-term US$30m facility from its parent company to enable settlement of outstanding obligations, according to The Zimbabwe Independent. The company has also acquired a US$4.4 short-term loan facility to cover working capital requirements.

Zimbabwe's construction contracts in 4Q18

12 April 2019, Published under Cement News

Zimbabwe's construction industry contracted by 6.3 percentage points last year. A Treasury report cited cement shortages and high prices of construction materials for the slowdown. The construction sector registered 7.7 per cent growth in 4Q18 having been revised down from a Treasury forecast of 14 per cent growth. "The construction industry boom that was being experienced in the economy during the1H18 suffered a huge setback following acute cement shortages and unsustainable prices of c...

PPC

01 April 2019, Published under Cement News

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded PPC to one notch above non-investment grade due to the poor performance of its South Africa business. Weaker-than-expected profitability in the South Africa market has led S&P to expect an increase in PPC’s debt to EBITDA in the face of tightening competition and falling demand. In the nine months ending December 2018, PPC’s South Africa business increased prices by two per cent, while cement volumes came in three per cent down. S&P also noted that the marke...