Cement News tagged under: Pricing

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Ethiopia: talks on 10-year industry development strategy

23 December 2014, Published under Cement News

Discussions are being held by stakeholders on a draft 10-year cement development strategy for the development of Ethiopia’s cement industry. State Minister of Industry Mebrat Meles said the strategy will be aimed at boosting plant productivity and ensuring the availability of cement at affordable prices for low income earners. Representatives from domestic cement plants share this same view and vowed to realise the strategy, according to local press reports. Problems of limited capacity...

Dangote reverses price cut

18 December 2014, Published under Cement News

Just over a month after initiating a dramatic price cut, Dangote Cement has raised prices again in Nigeria. The price of 42.5 grade cement has reportedly increased from NGN1150 (US$6.10) to NGN1567 (US$8.37, excluding VAT). This translates to a 35 per cent rise and taking the price higher than the level before the November cut. Analysts at Morgan Stanley comment that the original decision to drop prices appears to have been prompted by a build-up of stocks that Dangote was unable to se...

Pakistan producers bring prices down

18 December 2014, Published under Cement News

Pakistan cement producers have reduced prices by PKR5-23/bag, passing on the cut in the prices of petroleum products and coal, according to a recent market survey. Bestway Cement reduced the price to PKR492 from PKR502/bag (US$5), Dewan Cement to PKR490 from PKR510/bag, Cherat Cement to PKR495 and Lucky Cement slashed the price to PKR497 from PKR520/bag, according to a report by local press. The wholesale price of a cement bag has declined to PKR472 and PKR480 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ...

Dominican Republic full-year sales seen rising 18% YoY

16 December 2014, Published under Cement News

Cement sales in the Dominican Republic are forecast to see a double digit rise in 2014 to 3.6Mt, local association ADOCEM said on Friday.  "Compared with the 3Mt consumed in 2013, this represents an increase of around 18 per cent this year," said ADOCEM president Carlos E Gonzalez told Dominican Today. He said the positive results reflect the sector’s response to the Dominican Government’s efforts, especially through the school construction program nationwide and other ongoing infrastru...

Africa's grey gold

24 November 2014, Published under Cement News

As investors’ appetite for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is whetted and confidence grows, the region offers a positive scenario in terms of future cement demand. While some international majors appear on the back foot, new entrants are keen to gain a foothold in the market and expand their operations in this increasingly-competitive market. By T Hadley, Baobab Advisory sarl, France. Figure 1: per capita cement consumption vs per capita GDP, 1995-2014 Africa’s cement consumption has d...

Tasek Corp suffers 3Q decline

05 November 2014, Published under Cement News

Malaysian cement producer Tasek Corp reported a 7.1 per cent drop in earnings to MYR21.5m (US$6.4m) in the third quarter of 2014 amid stiff competition, according to the company. Earnings declined despite a 3.3 per cent rise in revenue to MYR148.7m during the three month period. Tasek said it suffered lower margins from the cement segment due to intense price competition on the market. Lower sales were also reported in the concrete segment. For the nine months to the end of September 2014...

East Africa rises

05 November 2014, Published under Cement News

East Africa’s cement demand continues to rise as infrastructure and housing needs provide the basis for future consumption. While cement capacity investments continue, a shift in the make-up of ownership is being seen as local companies take up a more prominent position. By Francis Mwangi, Standard Investment Bank Ltd, Kenya. The emerging East African market is characterised by new capacities, growing exports and growing consumption trends Over the past decade, the east African ...

Dangote Cement nine-month pretax profit up 1.5%

04 November 2014, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement said on Monday its pretax profit for the nine months to September rose 1.5 per cent to NGN154.05bn (US$930.7m), compared with NGN151.72bn in the same period of last year. Revenue for the nine month period was NGN310.21bn versus NGN288.98bn in 9M13, the company said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Price cuts The company has recently slashed prices in the country, reportedly to its lowest level since 2005. The company's  32.5 cement grade now selling at NGN1000...

Moody's says WCC's profit warning is credit negative

03 November 2014, Published under Cement News

Moody's Investors Service says West China Cement Ltd's (WCC) profit warning for 2014 is credit negative. On 29 October 2014, WCC announced that its consolidated net profit for 2014 will fall substantially from 2013, based on preliminary results for the first nine months ended 30 September 2014. "Moody's expects WCC to demonstrate a lower EBITDA margin which will in turn increase its debt/EBITDA ratio, and will therefore continue to position the company weakly within the B1 rating level,...

Ghana: Dangote sets retail price reduction deadline

21 October 2014, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement says it expects all retailers of its cement to reduce the price by GHS2.70 by Friday, 24 October following concerns that retailers have failed to cut prices after a reduction announced by the cement producer. Dangote reduced its price on 9 October, the day after Diamond Cement and Ghacem cut their prices by GHS2 following the gradual appreciation of the credit agains the US dollar. Speaking to Citi Business News, Dangote’s sales and marketing manager, Joeseph Kobina Abu...