Cement News tagged: Corporate
Morocco’s cement demand falls 16.5% in first four months
During the first four months of the year, cement demand in Morocco fell by 16.5 per cent from 6Mt to just under 5Mt as the start of the year was affected by heavy rainfall, according to the country’s cement association. In addition, faltering demand from key consumers sent sales on a downward trend. A new tax regime relating to the income of sale of land further restrains the real estate ma...
Hail Cement increases quarterly net loss, Saudi Arabia
Saudi cement producer Hail Cement Co has reported a net loss of SAR13.9m (US$3.7m) for the first quarter of 2013, double the loss recorded in the same period a year ago of SAR6.3m. The company attributed the loss to higher expenses related to launching production, coupled with higher salary costs due to the growing number of employees. Newcomer to the Saudi cement industry, Hail Cement’s 1.6...
Reliance Infrastructure second plant set for September commissioning
Reliance Infrastructure is planning to commission its second cement plant by September this year. The new unit, which will have an annual capacity of 5Mt is being constructed in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh. Speaking on the company's new plant and future expansion plans, Lalit Jalan, chief executive officer of Reliance Infrastructure, said: We plan to take our overall capacity to 20Mta and com...
HeidelbergCement India sells grinding unit to JSW Group
HeidelbergCement India has sold its 0.6Mta grinding facility in Raigad, Maharashtra, to the JSW Group, the company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The acquisition is situated adjacent to the company’s steel plant and will allow JSW to use slag from its steel process in the grinding process. For HeidelbergCement, the disposal of cement facility is in line with company’s aim of divest...
India Cement's net profit hit by rising production and transportation costs
Rising production costs and subdued demand in the southern markets has resulted in India Cements reporting a 31 per cent decline in FY13 net profit. Net profits (consolidated) fell to INR178.62 crore for the fiscal, down from INR259.86 crore last year, while revenues rose nine per cent to INR5159.47 crore from INR4631.04 crore last year. According to N Srinivasan managing director of India...
Peruvian dispatches see double-digit gains
Total cement dispatches by members of Peruvian cement association Asocem reached 3,345,226t in the first four months of this year, rising 12.42 per cent YoY. Domestic dispatches during the period amounted to 3,276,329t , showing a rise of 13.25 per cent on the same period of last year. ??Cement exports, meanwhile, were 68,897t (+41.69 per cent YoY). Production over the four months was 3,344...
Eastern Province net profit rises 4.8% YoY
Eastern Province Cement Company (EPCC) posted a 4.8 per cent rise in net profit for the first quarter of 2013, which the company attributed the increase to a better performance at one of its affiliate companies. For the first three months to the end of March 2013, net profit rose to SAR109m (US$ 29.1m) compared to SAR104m in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at...
EU construction output falls in March
Construction output in the EU27 fell by 1.7 per cent in the euro area and 1.1 per cent in March 2013, compared with the previous month, according to first estimates released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Compared with March 2012, production decreased by 7.9 per cent in the euro area and by 7.2 per cent in the EU27 in March 2013. Among the Member States for whi...
HeidelbergCement to sell stake in Indian unity to private equity investors?
HeidelbergCement is reported to be in talks with private equity investors to sell a minority stake in its Indian arm, which could result in the second such deal in the domestic sector in recent weeks. Speculation is mounting that Bain Capital is conducting a due diligence to pick up around 10 per cent in Heidelberg India according to reports by The Telegraph. Other private equity investors s...
PPC to construct new plant in Democratic Republic of Congo
PPC has announced plans to construct a 1Mta cement factory in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of the company’s plans to increase revenue streams outside South Africa to 40 per cent by 2016. The company is expanding in Africa through acquisitions to offset tougher competition in its domestic market and plans an investment of plans an investment of US$200m in the central African cou...
Lafarge WAPCO's debt reduction plans
Lafarge WAPCO plans to pay off a NGN6bn (US$40m) in local debt this year, according to reports by Reuters. The company owes about NGN28.4bn (US$180.43m) in total loans, of which NGN6bn is from Nigerian banks, Fred Amobi, its chief financial officer told analysts at a conference call. He said Lafarge WAPCO had a three-year bond worth NGN11.6bn and a loan from a Nigerian development bank of NG...
Eagle Materials boosts cement and plasterboard volumes
Including its share of the jointly-owned Texas Lehigh Cement, the turnover of Eagle Materials for the financial year to the end of March rose by 27.1 per cent to US$738.9m, including the assets acquired from Lafarge from the end of November last year. Of the total turnover, plasterboard accounted for 41.5 per cent, cement 40.8 per cent, plasterboard liner 10.2 per cent and aggregates and concr...
Lafarge raises EUR200m to accelerate its development in India
Lafarge SA signed an agreement to raise €200m through capital increase subscribed by Baring Private Equity Asia, and representing a 14 per cent minority stake in its Indian subsidiary, Lafarge India Private Ltd. This transaction, which is subject to the approval of local regulatory authorities, will accelerate Lafarge's growth plans in India in all its product lines: Cement, Aggregates and ...
Titan recovers in the USA
Titan's first-quarter turnover showed a 7.8 per cent improvement to €243m while the EBITDA fell by 29.4 per cent, in line with the 29.3 per cent reduction seen this time last year, to €24.3m. The pre-tax loss rose by 33.5 per cent to €23.5m and the net attributable loss rose by 39.7 per cent to €27.1m. Net debt at the end of March, however, declined by 20.1 per cent to €630m, giving a g...
Oficemen names new president, Spain
Isidoro Miranda, CEO of Lafarge Spain, has been appointed president of Spanish cement association, Oficemen. Mr Miranda replaces José Luis Sáenz de Miera of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, who was appointed in late February following the departure of Juan Bejar, also of Portland Valderrivas. Speaking of the challenges the Spanish cement sector faces in light of the current economic climat...
Saudi Cement Co signs contract with Sinoma for kiln upgrades
Saudi Cement Co has announced that it has signed a contract with Sinoma Technology & Equipment Group Co to rehabilitate and restart kiln lines 4 and 5 at its Hofuf factory. Under the deal worth US$19.9m, the Saudi-Arabia based cement producer said it had signed the contract with Sinoma, adding that the work would be "fully financed through the company's own resources." The project is...