Cement News tagged: International
Cementos Argos may refinance short-term debt in 2015, Fitch
The majority of Cementos Argos’ short-term debts due in 2015 are expected to be refinanced, according to an analysis of Colombian cement firm by Fitch Ratings. This move is anticipated due to the pressure on free cash flow during 2014 that was caused by the firm's aggressive acquisition programme, while the ratings agency believes that the business's liquidity is adequate and its funds from ...
Iranian exports exceed 14.5Mt in first nine months
Iran’s cement and clinker exports have surpassed 14.5Mt in the first nine months of the Iranian calendar year (starting 21 March 2014). Of the total, 68.7 per cent were cement and the remainder clinker, news agency IRNA reported citing Iran’s Ministry of Industries and Mines. Among the country’s export destinations are Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwa...
Philippine full-year cement sales up 9.6%
Philippine cement sales increased by 9.6 per cent YoY in 2014, Ernesto M Ordonez, president of the Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philippines (CeMAP), confirms. Sales by producers in the local market by end-2104 reached 21.3Mt compared to 19.44Mt in the previous year. The Southeast Asian country also saw a jump in 4Q14 sales which increased by 15.7 per cent to 5.21Mt. The incre...
Indocement expects 5-6% sales rise
PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa Tbk, part of the HeidelbergCement Group, said sales would rise 5-6 per cent this year on hopes of strong demand from the infrastructure sector, Kontan reported, quoting the company's corporate secretary, Sahat Siahaan. The country's second-largest cemen producer expects to boost production capacity to 24.9Mta by the end of this year, from last year's 20.5Mta as ...
Molina: Venezuela to take cement output to 9Mt in 2015
As part of the Venezuelan government’s investment in the country’s cement sector, the new Cerro Azul plant in Monagas state, is expected to add 1Mta of cement to national output and hence bring the forecast output for 2015 to 9Mt, according to the Minister for Ecosocialism, Habitat and Housing, Ricardo Molina. He added that the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela and Barrio Tricolor housing prog...
Norm Sement works reaches design capacity, Azerbaijan
Norm Sement has reached design capacity of its 2Mta Qizildas cement plant in Azerbaijan, and is confident on the outlook for the year ahead as it looks to increase market share and begin production of oil well cement, CEO Hasan Yalcinkaya told local news. Involving an inestment of US$350m, the integrated cement facility represents one of Azerbijan's largest non-oil related investments to date...
S&P Puts Holcim (Canada) On WatchDev
Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services are placing its long-term corporate credit rating on Holcim subsidiary Holcim (Canada) Inc on CreditWatch with developing implications on the parent company’s plan to divest of its Canadian operations within the next few months. "This CreditWatch placement follows our expectation that Holcim Canada's parent, Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd, will divest of...
Dangote Cement appoints new CEO
Dangote Cement Plc has appointed Onne van der Weijde as chief executive officer, effective 1 February 2015. Mr Van der Weijde, ex-Holcim India head, will take the helm from Dangote Cement's outgoing CEO Devakumar Edwin. Mr Edwin told Reuters in an interview that the transition comes at a time when some of the large capital expenditure projects of Dangote Industries Ltd, which he handles, hav...
Semen Indonesia targets seven per cent sales growth
Semen Indonesia is targeting sales growth of around seven per cent this year, despite a cut in the price of the construction material for state-run enterprises initiated by the government last week. Semen Indonesia’s new president, Suparni, said the company is targeting production of 30Mt and hopes for an increase over 2014, when volume rose three YoY to 28.5Mt. That figure included 2.3Mt pr...
Spanish watchdog carries out preliminary inspection on price fixing allegations
Spanish competition regulator, CNMC, has carried out preliminary inspections over 20-21 January 2015 at the headquarters of various local concrete and cement producers on allegations of potential price fixing. According to the article published in Expansion, if found guilty of colluding to fix prices, the companies could face a fine accounting for up to 10 per cent of annual turnover.
CRH confirms discussions over Lafarge and Holcim assets
CRH has confirmed that it is in discussions with Lafarge and Holcim regarding the potential acquisition of certain assets being disposed of by the two companies in advance of their proposed merger. “While there can be no certainty that these discussions will result in a transaction, if an acquisition was to proceed, it is likely that it would be funded through a combination of existing cash...
Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia remain Vietnamese top importers
Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia were the top importers of Vietnamese clinker and cement exports last year, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade said on its website. Bangladesh took the lead after importing 8.39Mt of cement worth US$323m from Vietnam last year, while Indonesia came second with 2.65Mt worth US$123m and Malaysia ranked third with 1.28Mt worth US$62m. Following on...
US recovery on a roll
Continued, steady improvements are anticipated for US cement volumes and pricing through 2015. A widespread increase in construction activity is anticipated, but falling energy prices could present headwinds in certain areas. The US is expected to be the main source of global economic strength in 2015 by most forecasters with indicators trending upwards. The economy has been growing faster ...
SCG positive on Thai demand outlook
Thai cement demand is expected to increase by six per cent in 2015 after remaining flat last year, and prices are expected to hold relatively steady despite new capacity on the way, the country’s leading cement producer has said. Speaking during the SCG Dinner 2015 hosted last week, CEO Kan Trakulhoon pointed out that demand resumed YoY growth in December and this year demand will be driv...
Argos recognised for sustainability efforts
Argos has been awarded a Silver Class distinction in Robeco SAM’s 2015 Sustainability Yearbook for the second consecutive year. The company was included in the Yearbook once again for having one of the best sustainability performances due to the results it obtained in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index survey. Private entity RobecoSAM independently assesses the sustainability performances of...
India: production begins at JK Lakshmi's Durg plant
JK Lakshmi Cement has started production of its 2.7Mta cement works in Durg, Chattisgarh state, central India. The greenfield works, which will manufacture various types of cement including OPC, PPC and slag cement, began production earlier this week, according to a company statement. The new plant boosts JK Lakshmi’s total installed capacity to 9.3Mta. The start-up of the Durg plant is in...