Cement News tagged: International
ACC net profit down 7%, improving demand outlook
India’s second-largest cement producer, ACC, reported a seven per cent decline in profit for the second quarter of the year as operational costs continued to rise. However, improvements on the demand front were noted, a trend which the Holcim group company expects to continue. During the quarter ended June 2014, consolidated turnover was up 7.8 per cent to INR30bn (US$5bn). EBITDA, however f...
Sinai Cement awards FLSmidth contract to prepare for coal usage
Sinai Cement Co (SCC) has awarded FLSmidth, the contract to provide the equipment to facilitate the use of coal, Daily News Egypt has reported. The Egyptian-based cement producer also said it would partner with local contractors and suppliers to equip the plant to use coal as an alternative energy to natural gas and fuel oil.
Philippine cement sales growth continues
Cement sales in the Philippines rose 3.2 per cent in the second quarter of this year, underpinned by public works projects and private sector construction activity. Latest figures from the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) show that member-companies sold 5.52Mt in the three months to the end of June 2013 compared to 5.349Mt in the same period of last year. Firs...
Algeria: Cevital to build 8Mta cement plant
The Cevital group, owned by Issad Hebrab, plans to build a greenfield cement plant in Algeria. The country’s National Investment Council has validated the project and technical studies have started, according to Mr Hebrab in El Watan. Located in El Khroub, Wilaya, the cement works is expected to produce 8Mta in the long term. In 36 months, the first phase of construction will result in a pro...
Lafarge Surma signs grinding supply agreement with Metrocem, Bangladesh
Lafarge Surma Cement has signed a contract to supply Metrocem Cement Ltd with clinker from its integrated cement plant in Bangladesh. Under the agreement, Lafarge Surma Cement will provide high-quality clinker to Metrocem Cement, which will then produce a Portland Composite Cement brand for Lafarge Surma Cement. Tarek Elba, CEO of Lafarge Surma Cement, and Md Shahidullah, Managing Director o...
NORM inaugurates Qizildas works, Azerbaijan
NORM Sement has marked the official launch of its 2Mta greenfield Qizildas cement works with an inauguration ceremony attended by Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan. Cement production at Norm’s 2Mta plant, located about 2.6km north of the Sangachal Oil Terminal in Baku’s Garadagh district, began in September 2013 using imported clinker until full construction of the plant was complete. Du...
Carthage’s turnover increase fourfold in first six months
Turnover by Tunisia’s newest cement producer, Carthage Cement, amounted to TND101,836m (US$59m), up 419 per cent compared to the same period of last year. Clinker and cement sales totalled TND19.262 and TND64,060, respectively during the six months to the end of June 2014. Readymix concrete activities increased by 25 per cent YoY. Aggregate sales, however, fell 28 per cent due to the abse...
Qatar demand slows during Ramadan
Cement demand in Qatar has dropped by 40 per cent during Ramadan, prompting the country’s largest cement producer to undertake maintenance work during the slowdown. Speaking to The Peninsula, Mohamed Al Sulaiti, general manager of Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC), said the company is taking the opportunity to conduct equipment maintenance to enable it to better serve the market during t...
Rep Congo: Sonocc threatens to cease Brazzaville supply
Société Nouvelle des Ciments du Congo (Sonocc) has threatened to stop the flow of product to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, after the government proposed a decrease in the cement price following the increase of VAT and transportation costs. "All these charges considered, we operate at a loss if we continue to transport cement to Brazzaville because we also have to rent rail cars. We have d...
Venezuela signs cement plant agreement with China
Venezuela and China signed a framework agreement for the installation of a new cement plant in the state of Lara, Venezuela, which is expected the basis for the installation of a further works. This will increase cement production to 1.2Mta.
Lafarge acquires Kercim grinding plant, France
Lafarge has acquired Ciments Kercim's grinding plant, located in the bulk terminal port of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, western France. The 0.6Mta Kercim facility, launched in spring 2013, had been led by Jean-Marc Domange, ex-president of the Syndicat Français de l'Industrie Cimentière (SFIC) and former head of Ciments Calcia, who died months later in October 2013 following a long illness. Laf...
Tanga Cement and TANESCO sign power supply agreement
Tanga Cement Company and Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) have signed a power supply agreement that ensures the cement producer receives 40MVA through a substation in Pongwe, Tanga. Deklan Mhaiki, TANESCO deputy managing director (Investments) said the new agreement would help Tanga improve Tanga Cement’s output: "Tanga Cement is one of our long and high level customers and taking ...
Ashaka to fast-track Gombe plant expansion, Nigeria
The board of directors of Nigerian producer Ashaka Cement plc, with the support of parent company Lafarge, has agreed to fast-track the expansion of its US$617m cement plant in Gombe state. Guillaume Roux, CEO of Lafarge Nigeria and Benin Republic, had said that the investment of US$617m in Nigeria was a demonstration of its commitment to the economic growth of the country. Chairman of the ...
Semen Indonesia increases Vietnam spend
Semen Indonesia has increased the amount it plans to spend on its next Vietnamese acquisition as it sets its sights on a higher-capacity purchase. Speaking to the Jakarta Globe, president director Dwi Soetjipto said Semen Indonesia is looking to acquire a second Vietnamese producer with a production capacity of 2.5Mta involving an investment of IDR3trn (US$250m). Dwi added that this was an u...
Cemex heading towards strong earnings rebound
Cemex is expected to post a significant rebound in pretax earnings for the full year, driven primarily by the US recovery and an anticipated pick-up in Mexican volumes and pricing, according to JP Morgan forecasts. In a largely positive report on Latin American cement companies, JP Morgan notes: "We like the Cemex story on the back of strong growth in EBITDA…especially from the US and Mex...
Change of Country CEO at Lafarge South Africa
Lafarge South Africa has announced that Kenneth MacLean has been appointed Country CEO, replacing Thierry Legrand who has taken up a new position at the Lafarge’s headquarters in Paris. After being with Lafarge South Africa for five years. Mr Legrand’s is taking up the role of Senior Vice President (SVP) of Transformation and Acceleration. In his new position Mr Legrand, who has been with Laf...