Cement News tagged under: Algeria

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Algeria: GICA to increase capacity to 18.5Mta by end-2017

05 May 2015, Published under Cement News

State-owned Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algérie (GICA) will invest DZD154bn (US$1.6bn) to increase its production by from 11.5Mta currently up to 18.5Mta by the end of 2017. The investment involves the expansion of two cement plants and construction of a further two cement facilities, the group's CEO Rabah Guessoum told Algerie Press Service (APS). Expansion work at Chlef and Ain Kebira (Setif) has already been launched, and will allow the group to reach a production capacity of 15.5Mt...

PPC

29 April 2015, Published under Cement News

PPC, which recently called off merger talks with AfriSam, is reported to be entering a joint venture with Hodna Algerian Cement Co (HACC) to build a new 2.2Mta cement plant in M’sila, Algeria. According to Algeria’s National Investment Development Agency, work on the project was due to start imminently with 80 per cent of the funding coming from Algerian banks. However, PPC was quick to issue an alert to its shareholders describing the press reports as “inaccurate” and confirming that whi...

PPC to ease expansion, focus on existing projects

23 April 2015, Published under Cement News

PPC said it will expand more slowly after spending on its 'Rest of Africa' projects has raised its debt load, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday. PPC is building plants in African countries as part of a wider plan to generate 40 per cent of its sales outside its home market by 2017. However, spending on these projects is pushing up its debt levels and CEO Darryll Castle said PPC's debt would likely hit as much as ZAR12bn (US$982m) in the next two years and possibly breach agree...

Algeria: construction on Hodna-PPC M’sila plant to start

03 April 2015, Published under Cement News

Construction on the 2.2Mta plant in M'sila, a joint venture between Hodna Algerian Cement Co (HACC) and PPC (South Africa), will start soon, according to Abdelkrim Mansouri, director general of the National Investment Development Agency. Nearly DZD28bn, or 80 per cent of the investment will be financed by Algerian banks, while the balance is funded by the two partners. Signed in February 2014, the agreement also entrusts PPC with the management of the works.

Algeria: cement imports up 21% in 2M15

10 March 2015, Published under Cement News

Cement imports into Algeria have jumped 21 per cent in 2M15 when compared to the first two months of 2014, according data by the Algerian customs. Despite the fact that there were no forced stoppages in cement plants and the construction was impacted by heavy rains, imports continued to reach the domestic market. It is estimated that Algeria has a cement deficit of around 3Mta. In 2014, the country imported 5.2Mt, valued at EUR450m, representing an increase of more than 30 per cent YoY.

Lafarge opens new building materials distribution centre, Algeria

09 February 2015, Published under Cement News

Lafarge opened a new building materials distribution centre at M’Sila on 3 February 2015. "This new distribution centre is part of Lafarge Algeria’s business strategy to get closer to the end user and make a full range of high-quality products available at stable prices," said the company in a press statement. Lafarge operates two cement plants in Algeria - one in M’Sila and a further one in Oggaz (Mascara) - representing a total production capacity in the country of around 8.6Mta. It al...

Algeria: Société Saoura Ciment to launch Ben-Zireg construction in 1Q15

21 November 2014, Published under Cement News

Construction on the Ben-Zireg cement works will be started in the first quarter of 2015, said Abdelkader Bouaichaoui, CEO of Société Saoura Ciment, a subsidiary of Algeria’s Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algerie (GICA). “We expect to sign the contracts required to realise this important industrial project before the end of December with a Chinese partner, so they can start work on the plant,” he said. The Ben-Zireg works will be situated on a 60ha site, some 40km north of Bechar and ...

PPC full-year cement sales rise 2%

20 November 2014, Published under Cement News

South Africa's largest cement producer, PPC, reported a two per cent rise in cement sales for the full year to the end of September 2014, as growth in some of its sub-Saharan markets was offset by challenging operating conditions at home. Group revenue increased by nine per cent to ZAR9.04bn (US$818m), mainly attributable to the consolidation of Safika Cement and Pronto Readymix as well as the full-year impact of Cimerwa. On a like-for-like basis, revenue would have been three per c...

Algeria: Jan-Aug cement import volumes up 28% YoY

03 October 2014, Published under Cement News

The value of cement imports to Algeria in the first eight months of 2014 soared 31 per cent with a bill of US$373.5m against US$285.3m in the same period of last year, the Customs' National Centre for Data Processing and Statistics told the Algerie Presse Service (Algiers). Cement import volumes increased by nearly 28 per cent from 3.2Mt to 4Mt, CNIS provisional data revealed. The overall bill for the import of building materials increased by seven per cent hitting US$2.25bn during the...

Algeria to become net exporter?

06 August 2014, Published under Cement News

Algeria's cement imports have increased by 30 per cent to US$283.9m in 1H14, according to the country's Customs Office. In terms of volumes, imports reached 3.086Mt in the six first months of 2014, up 26.6 per cent when compared with 2.438Mt in 1H13, said the National Information and Statistics Office. However, Algeria's current cement shortage could be reversed in the next few years as several new plants enter service. The most recent project, funded by the National Investment Coun...