Cement News tagged under: cement prices

RSS feed

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Company calls for end to price controls

15 July 2016, Published under Cement News

Tokyo Cement, the largest cement producer in Sri Lanka, has called on the government to end controls and allow the market to set prices, Colombo’s Daily Mirror reports. In 2015 the government introduced a price ceiling of LKR870 (US$6.00) for a 50kg bag of cement, at a time when local prices were LKR930-940. Since last year the Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated in value, raising the cost of clinker imports and raising costs further down the supply chain. Managing director of Tokyo Ce...

India: Kerala businesses protest high cement prices

15 July 2016, Published under Cement News

The Government Contractors Association (GCA) in Kerala has hit out at the state government’s failure to control cement prices, which have reached INR430 (US$6.40) for a 50kg bag, the Deccan Chronicle reports. The head of the GCA in Kerala, Varghese Kannampally, noted that production costs for a bag of cement are about INR70 (US$1.04). Mr Kannampally observed that in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the state government had reached an agreement with producers to supply agreed quantities of cement ...

Nigeria: cement prices increase

12 July 2016, Published under Cement News

According to The Guardian Nigeria market research, there has been a fluctuating increase in cement prices since May 2016. Previously prices had been reduced by Dangote Cement Plc, the leading producer of cement in the country, with prices dropping from approximately NGN2000 (US$7.08) to NGN1000-1400 (US$3.54-4.96) per 50kg bag. However, bags of cement sell now at up to NGN2000 across all brands. This return to high prices has slowed housing construction, real estate activities and has inc...

India: Delhi real estate developers to boycott Shree Cement

08 July 2016, Published under Cement News

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India’s (CREDAI’s) regional representatives in Delhi have announced that they will boycott Shree Cement, according to reports in the Times of India. CREDAI accuses the cement producer of pushing up prices and creating artificial scarcity. It intends to file a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). A CREDAI spokesperson said: "Shree Cement is arbitrarily increasing prices and stopping supply in between, dema...

Nigeria: producers hit by falling prices now face naira devaluation

09 June 2016, Published under Cement News

The devaluation of the naira – agreed in principle by the Central Bank of Nigeria in May – will hit Nigerian producers’ revenues, Bernstein warns. The decision to revalue marks a reversal of course by the government, which had for some time faced calls to allow the currency to depreciate. Bernstein’s analysis focusses mainly on the implications for LafargeHolcim as the only major with a significant presence in Nigeria. It concludes that the company – already facing pressure from a 20 per ...

Cameroon: Government hopes Mintom quarry will bring down cement prices

08 June 2016, Published under Cement News

The government of Cameroon has called on investors to help develop the Mintom limestone deposit, located in the country’s southeast, in the hope that this would lead to lower cement prices. According to Business in Cameroon, the Director of the Institute of Geological and Mining Research told business leaders last week that a quarrying operation in Mintom would lead to a fall in cement prices on the order of 50 per cent. Before 2015 Cameroon had only one cement producer, Cimenteries du...

India: JK Cement annual profits down 35.3%

31 May 2016, Published under Cement News

The Times of India reports that JK Cement’s standalone net profit for 2015-16 was down 35.3 per cent on the previous year to INR1.015bn (US$15.1m). Quarterly profits for the period ending 31 March 2016 were up slightly YoY at INR705.6m (US$10.5m). Like most Indian producers, JK Cement’s performance appears to have suffered from negative pricing pressures. Revenues were up for both the year and the final quarter, implying higher volumes than for 2014-15, but despite this profits suffered. ...

Pakistan: construction sector demands reduction in cement prices

26 May 2016, Published under Cement News

The Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) has called on the government to reduce the price of cement in country or to allow the importation of supplies from alternative sources. In their appeal, ABAD accused the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) of not passing on energy cost reductions, despite promises to that effect made to the government. Coal and oil prices have fallen by more than 50 per cent, while the gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC...

India: UltraTech’s profits rise to US$109m for 1Q16

29 April 2016, Published under Cement News

UltraTech Cement’s quarterly earnings statement for 1Q2016 show consolidated net profit growth of 10 per cent reaching INR7.23bn (US$109m) for the year to March, according to a report in Mint. Capacity utilisation was also higher in 1Q2016, rising by five per cent to 84 per cent. Volume sales rose by 15 per cent YoY, but revenues increased more slowly – by five per cent – due to declining prices. UltraTech’s EBITDA grew by just three per cent YoY despite improvements in cost efficiencies....

Lafarge Africa posts US$9.5m quarterly loss as price squeeze bites

29 April 2016, Published under Cement News

Nigerian-based Lafarge Africa has seen revenues fall by 29 per cent to NGN52.4bn (US$263m) in the first quarter of 2016, leading the company to record an after-tax loss of NGN1.9bn (US$9.5m). According to Bloomberg, Lafarge – which did not comment on the results – had said late last year that pressure on prices and a market slowdown were presenting challenging trading conditions in Nigeria and other African countries. Lanre Buluro, an equity broker and analyst with Primera Africa Secur...