Cement News tagged under: South Africa

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AfriSam awaits government infrastructure spending

06 March 2023, Published under Cement News

The outlook for South Africa’s struggling construction industry remains uncertain, hovering between the massive infrastructure expenditure figures being publicly mooted and the state’s seeming inability to implement its economic recovery plans.   Richard Tomes, sales and marketing executive at AfriSam , said: “Although the operating environment remains challenging, one of the positive elements AfriSam has noted is the increase in the infrastructure spend budget allocation, and we rema...

PPC in talks to sell Zimbabwe business

07 February 2023, Published under Cement News

PPC Ltd is reportedly in talks to sell its Zimbabwe business. According to Bloomberg, discussions are at an early stage and no potential buyers have been named as yet. PPC is believed to be selling the Zimbabwe company for around US$200m.  PPC Zimbabwe  currently runs a 0.76Mta grinding plant in Bulawayo , a 0.825Mta clinker plant in Colleen Bawn , and a 0.7Mta grinding works in Harare .   

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe appoints new Acting CEO

13 December 2022, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe Ltd has appointed Innocent Zulu Chikwata as Acting Chief Executive, effective from 1 December 2022. Mr Chikwata has 16 years experience in the fast-moving consumer goods and construction materials industries and has worked for Colcom, Innscor Africa Group and LafargeHolcim. He has held various positions in sales, marketing and operations with PProfit & Loss oversight and has worked with start-ups and global branding organisations. Having joined Lafarge in Novemb...

PPC posts 23% drop in EBITDA

17 November 2022, Published under Cement News

PPC Ltd , which is currently finalising its results for the six months ended 30 September 2022, has posted a 23 per cent YoY drop in EBITDA to ZAR728m (US$42.1m) in the six months ended 30 September 2022. Excluding PPC Zimbabwe, EBITDA fell 12 per cent YoY. Net debt continued to improve, coming in at ZAR677m on 30 September 2022, compared to ZAR1009m in March of this year. According to the company, shareholders should expect earnings per share (EPS) for the 2022 six-month period to “diff...

Sephaku Holdings posts net profit after tax of ZAR26.7m

15 November 2022, Published under Cement News

Sephaku Holdings (Dangote Group) has posted net profit after tax of ZAR26.7m (US$1.54m) for the six months ended 30 September, building on the net profit after tax of ZAR17.8m it posted in the prior comparable six months. CEO Neil Crafford-Lazarus said SepCem has been suffering from decreased demand for building materials and especially bagged cement for close to a year. The subsidiary’s sales revenue declined to ZAR1.16bn, compared with ZAR1.19bn in the prior comparable period. The ...

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe expects to double cement production volumes in 2023

01 November 2022, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe is planning to double its cement production volumes in 2023 following the expected 4Q22 startup of its new vertical roller mill. “The commissioning process of the VCM [vertical cement mill] started in the 2Q22. The company will essentially double its cement production capacity and improve raw material availability to the new dry mortar plant,” said Chairman Kumbirai Katsande. “The new VCM is anticipated to be fully operational by the 4Q22,” added Mr Katsande. ...

PPC Group revenues rise 9%

16 September 2022, Published under Cement News

PPC's group revenues, excluding Zimbabwe, for the five months ended August 2022, increased by nine per cent, driven by robust demand in Rwanda but impacted by hyperinflation accounting. Group cement sales volumes (including Zimbabwe) for the period were in line with the previous comparable period as subdued demand in South Africa and the impact of a maintenance-related kiln shutdown in Zimbabwe were offset by robust demand growth in Rwanda. In addition, cash generation remains positive and...

Lafarge Zimbabwe Cement's new mill awaits hand-over

14 September 2022, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Zimbabwe has completed the construction of a new mill that will double its cement manufacturing capacity at its Manresa plant , but it cannot use the new grinding system because it owes the supplier US$5.2m, according to the online news service the Insider.  The new vertical cement mill is part of a US$25m investment in expansion by Lafarge and will increase capacity from 450,000tpa of cement to 1Mta. But the company that built the US$15m plant, CBMI of China, will only fully h...

Cheetah Cement Botswana to reduce country's cement imports

19 August 2022, Published under Cement News

Cheetah Cement Botswana (Pty) Ltd, which includes investment from Chinese backers, has promised to play a crucial role in helping Botswana cut its cement imports to zero.  Botswana needs 620,000tpa of cement and the southern African country has been heavily relying on imported cement before the Chinese company was set up, Hui Ming, said the company's general manager. "We are earmarking an annual output of 900,000t of cement as of next June," said Hui Ming. Hui said the company is looki...

Dangote Cement's regional volumes fall by 11% in 1H22

03 August 2022, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement 's pan-African volumes reduced by 11 per cent to 4.9Mt from 5.5Mt in the 1H22 due to increased supply chain challenges and maintenance activities.  The best-performing markets for the group were Ethiopia, Senegal and Tanzania. Ethiopia is one of the largest markets for Dangote Cement outside of Nigeria. The market remains short of supply as most plants are operating at very low capacity. Ethiopia's total market for cement was appproximately 2.7Mt in the first six mon...