Cement News tagged under: europe
Euro area construction output rises in August28 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsEU construction output increased in August 2013, latest data from Eurostat shows. Seasonally-adjusted production in the construction sector was 0.4 per cent higher in August than in July. Output has been steadily rising since March but remains at historically low levels. Production in August 2013 was 2.5 per cent lower than that in the same month a year earlier. Portugal led the recovery with a 10.8 per cent hike in output from July, followed by Sweden (+4.8 per cent), Hungary (+4.0 per cen... |
Global demand growth outlook downgraded28 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsA recent report by Morgan Stanley has lowered the growth outlook for global cement demand for 2013 to adjust for a changing economic landscape in emerging regions. Following economic updates by its analysts, which cut GDP forecasts for most emerging countries, cement volume expectations have been significantly trimmed in half of the world’s regions. The research house now expects two per cent growth in global cement demand in 2013 (excl. China) followed by 3.5 per in 2014 – marking the slo... |
Holcim Croatia to boost profitability25 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsHolcim Croatia said it is implementing a new strategy to help drive the company back to profitability by 2015. The new operational plan cover all of Holcim's divisions and business segments in Croatia with measures including increasing prices and finding new markets as well as niche ones, SeeNews reports. As a result of a difficult construction market, cement consumption has fallen from 2.39Mt in 2009 to around 1.7Mt in 2012. This is well below total domestic capacity of 3.7Mta and industr... |
Holcim, Cemex Europe deal to be examined21 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsEU antitrust regulators will assess a bid by Cemex to acquire Holcim's cement operations in Spain following a request from Spanish authorities, the European Commission said. Cemex and Holcim announced plans back in August this year to exchange some assets and combine others in Germany, Czech Republic and Spain to boost profit amid tough conditions in the European construction sector. The Spanish part of the deal involved Cemex and Holcim combining all their cement, ready-mix and aggregate... |
Cimpor to refocus Portuguese operations towards exports16 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsWith Portuguese cement demand remaining subdued, Cimpor is trying to reorientate cement output from its domestic operations towards export markets, CEO, Ricardo Lima, has said. Speaking to economic daily Diario Economico, Mr Lima said that the company is trying to transform Portugal to an export platform. The company currently has an installed cement capacity of some 9Mt in the country while domestic demand stands at just 1.5Mta. Exports volumes have doubled in the past two years with mar... |
S&P confirms Buzzi, Dyckerhoff rating; negative outlook09 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsBuzzi Unicem said today that Standard & Poor’s confirmed the long-term corporate rating (BB+) on Buzzi Unicem and its German subsidiary Dyckerhoff AG and the short-term rating (B) on both groups, thus removing them from the credit watch with negative implications announced on 8 August 2013. The outlook was revised from stable to negative. |
European cement sector: towards greater efficiency30 September 2013, Published under Cement NewsCemtech Europe 2013 has opened its doors to 200 cement industry specialists, gathered together in the magnificent city of Prague, Czech Republic, for three days of intense discussion on achieving the most efficient and competitive operations possible in today’s challenging environment. Jan Gemrich, executive director of the Czech cement association, provides an overview of the current status of the domestic market and advances by the local producers While the eurozone has re... |
Poland sees double-digit declines, Jan-Aug10 September 2013, Published under Cement NewsCement production and sales in Poland have seen a double-digit drop in the first eight months of the year, latest data from the country’s cement association, SPC, shows. Between January-August 2013, cement output declined by 15.2 per cent to 9.092Mt while sales were down by 14.8 per cent to 9.295Mt. In August alone, production in Poland fell by 1.9 per cent YoY in August 2013 to 1.576Mt. Sales for the month declined by 3.9 per cent to 1.616Mt. |
Holcim and Cemex to swap, combine assets in Europe28 August 2013, Published under Cement NewsHolcim and Cemex have reached an agreement to conduct a series of transactions to exchange and combine assets in parts of Europe with the aim of improving synergies and boosting operating profit. Cemex increase its presence in Central Europe through the acquisition of Holcim Cesko in the Czech Republic. The deal includes one cement plant (cement and clinker capacities of 1.1Mta and 0.9Mta, respectively), four aggregate quarries and 17 ready-mix plants. Holcim said it will continue to serve... |
Cemex opens new marine terminal in Norway16 August 2013, Published under Cement NewsThe southern Norwegian port of Kristiansand is now home to Cemex’s fifth marine terminal. “With this strategically-located terminal in Kristiansand we close the gap between the west and east coast of Norway, because we could not reach this geographic region by truck,” explained Andreas Rotermund, Cemex Deutschland’s commercial and logistics vice president. The first cement cargo to be unloaded at the terminal was shipped from Cemex OstZement’s Rüdersdorf works in Germany. Following the... |