Cement News tagged: Corporate
German Federal Court confirms HeidelbergCement’s cartel fine
Germany’s Federal Court has confirmed the 2009 fine imposed on HeidelbergCement by the Higher Court of Düsseldorf at a reduced level of EUR161.4m, the German cement major said in a statement on Tuesday. “We have to accept the verdict of the Federal Court of Justice, and we state that the law suit has now been concluded after a long period of time,” says Dr Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the...
Camargo Correa plans to raise capacity by 2016
Camargo Correa plans to invest up to BRL3bn (US$1.51bn) in the Brazilian cement sector in the next few years. With the acquisition and control of Portuguese cement maker Cimpor last year, Camargo Corrêa, through its cement arm InterCement, became the second largest producer of cement in Brazil, with market share being propelled from 10 to 18 per cent. With market growth in Brazi expected t...
ACC plans capex of INR33bn in 2013
ACC Ltd, India's second-largest cement producer, has planned a capital expenditure of INR33bn (US$603.9m) in 2013, most of which will be used for the expansion of an existing unit at Jamul in Chhattisgarh. ACC has started work on the Jamul expansion project, which will add 5Mta of capacity, Chairman NS Sekhsaria said while addressing shareholders at the company's 77th annual general meeting...
Goldman Sachs upgrades Titan, Greece
Goldman Sachs has upgraded Titan Cement Co to neutral from sell, Dow Jones reports. While the investment bank remains cautious on Titan's end markets in the near term, it says consensus FY13/14 EBITDA expectations have decreased by 10 per cent year-to-date and there is no longer such a significant difference versus Goldman's estimates. Titan's turnover recovered by 3.6 per cent last year to...
UK construction declines for fifth straight month
UK construction sector shrank for the fifth consecutive month in March but expectations for the sector have improved. Markit’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for constructors came in at 47.2 last month – up from 46.8 in February, but still below the 50 mark that indicates no change. Eight of the last 10 months have seen activity of the construction industry decline, the data shows...
Greece opposition party meets with Heracles employees
The general secretary of Greece’s Opposition Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Aleka Papariga, has met with representatives of the Heracles Cement plant at the party's headquarters in Perissos and expressed solidarity with those being made redundant following news of the cement plant's permanent closure. The KKE stated that the sector's trade unions, as well as related sectors, should offer th...
Caribbean Cement workers protest over concerns on domestic declines
Union members of the Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCCL) have staged a demonstration amid concerns on continued declines in the domestic cement market. The one-hour protest took place outside the company’s plant in Rockfort, Jamaica. President of the National Workers Union (NWU), Vincent Morrison, told the Jamaica Observer that the demonstration was triggered by a number of issues, includin...
Vicem Hoang Mai Cement posts first-quarter loss
Vicem Hoang Mai Cement JSC (HOM) has posted a first quarter loss of VND10bn (US$476,100) attributed to increased costs. The company closed 2012 with a net profit of VND112.72bn (US$5.39m) on revenue of VND1.53trn last year, down 13 per cent and up 8.07 per cent YoY, respectively. HOM is seeking approval from its parent company, Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation o revise up its 2013 p...
Al Abbas Cement announces name change, Pakistan
Pakistan-based producer Al Abbas Cement has officially changed its name to Power Cement, the company informed the Karachi Stock Exchange yesterday. The company operates a cement plant in Nooriabad, Dadu, with a clinker and cement capacity of 0.9Mta and 0.95Mta, respectively. According to its half-yearly report (July-December 2012) it has reduced accumulated losses from PKR2.184m as at th...
Votorantim Cimentos sees gains in Brazil, USA
Votorantim Cimentos’ turnover was nine per cent higher at BRL9800m (US$4.85bn) in 2012 and the EBITDA improved by around 11 per cent to BRL3200m. In Brazil, both volumes and prices were up by four per cent, while in North America volumes improved by 17 per cent and prices by 12 per cent. "The combination of a favorable market alongside the opening of new factories and mills allowed a f...
Cemex UK wins Gold Status for fleet system
From over 1900 companies, Cemex UK is one of 10 companies to achieve Gold Status in the Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme (FORS) run by Transport for London (TFL). Cemex has been a member of the scheme since 2008 and has cement tankers, aggregate tippers and readymix concrete trucks delivering vital building materials to construction projects in London. FORS, a voluntary certification s...
Conch Group to issue short-term bills, China
The Anhui Conch Group said it plans to issue CNY1.5bn (US$241m) in unsecured bills with a maturity of 365 days on the inter-bank market next week. The company said in a statement that this batch of bills will be issued on the 10 April 2013 at face value and the coupon rate determined during the the process of bookbuilding, China Knowledge Press reports. Agricultural Bank of China has bee...
Seacem sells entire stake in Lafarge Republic, Philippines
Southeast Asia Cement Holdings Inc (Seacem) has sold its entire stake in listed affiliate Lafarge Republic Inc worth PHP11.32bn (US$227.9m). The stake has been sold as part of the company's bid to raise cash and improve the firm's financial position amid the likely entry of a new investor, Seacem said in a disclosure.
Dongwu Cement's net profit slumps, China
Dongwu Cement International Ltd saw its net profit slump 98.81 per cent YoY to CNY1.04m (US$ 167,722) . Operating revenue, meanwhile, dropped 30.8 per cent YoY to CNY321m in 2012, the company said in a statement. Dongwu Cement International Ltd is a cement and clinker producer in Wujiang City, Suzhou Prefecture, which is situated in south Jiangsu Province. It employs NSP technology in the pr...
Lafarge North America sells Wichita, Kansas, assets to Summit Materials
Lafarge North America is selling its Wichita aggregates, concrete and asphalt/paving operations to Summit Materials. The Lafarge-Summit agreement involves Lafarge’s three aggregate quarries, five ready-mix concrete sites and three asphalt operations in the Wichita area, according to Lafarge. The transaction is expected to close in early April. Layoffs are expected although how many employee...
Buzzi Unicem net profit down on declines in Central Europe, Italy
Buzzi Unicem said on Thursday it posted an attributable net loss of EUR28.5m in 2012 compared with a profit of EUR27m in 2011, due to declines in Central Europe and a major slowdown of building activity in its domestic market of Italy. Improvements were, however, seen in the United States, Russia and Mexico. On a turnover that edged ahead by 0.9 per cent to EUR2813.4m, Buzzi Unicem's EBITDA...