Cement News tagged: Corporate
Lafarge Zimbabwe finds cash shortages restrictive
Lafarge Zimbabwe's cement sales for the interim period "were subdued due to increased competitive activity in the total market following the influx of cement imports into the country as well as the entrance of a major competitor" in the Harare market. Cash shortages in Zimbabwe have caused delays in disbursing remittances to foreign creditors, the chairman of Swiss-based LafargeHolcim’s ...
West China Cement's merger with Anhui Conch collapses
Shares in struggling West China Cement plunged by as much as 34 per cent after a much-needed merger deal with the country''s largest cement maker collapses. Hong Kong-listed shares of West China Cement dropped as much as 34 per cent to HK$0.71 when it resumed trading Monday morning, compared to the previous close at HK$1.07. It was trading at HK$0.81 at 11:00 am (0300 GMT). Major rival Anhui...
Pakistan: Dewan Cement earns profits of US$14.25m
Dewan Cement Ltd informed Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that it earned a profit after tax of PKR1.49bn (US$14.25m) in FY16 ending on 30 June 2016 compared to PKR709.66m in corresponding period last year. It translates a hefty growth of 110 per cent in profit on YoY basis. A notice duly signed by Muhammad Hanif German, company secretary and Haroon Iqbal, director, has stated that company sa...
Zimbabwe: PPC threaten shutdown over cheap cement imports
Darryl Castle, PPC chief executive, has told the Zimbabwean government to curb imports of cement, or his company will close its mining operations in the country and import finished cement from South Africa. According to Bulawayo 24 News, cement producers in Zimbabwe are pushing the government to lower duty on raw material imports and to cancel – or at least review – all current import permi...
Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement delays opening of second clinker line
Tabuk Cement's second clinker production line will not now begin commercial operations until the second quarter of 2017, the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock market. The company attributed the delay to irregularities concerning capacity and specification of the line, adding that it would incur no additional cost or financial impacts due to the delay.
Lafarge Zimbabwe losses increase to US$2.2m
Lafarge Zimbabwe has announced a 1H16 loss of US$2.2m, an increase from the 1H15 US$1.3m loss, the Insider reports. Competition from cheap imported cement and rising output from other domestic producers had had an impact on profits, as had softening demand caused by Zimbabwe’s economic difficulties, said the company. Despite this, sales revenues for the first six months of the year were ...
Pakistan: Fecto Cement profit jumps 31.8% in FY15-16
Fecto Cement Ltd its financial results for the full-year period ended 30 June 2016. It reported profit after tax of PKR813.82m (US$7.78m) compared to PKR17.47m earned in corresponding period last year. This translates a growth of 31.8 per cent on YoY basis. The company declared a cash dividend of 20 per cent. The company has stated that its sales rose to PKR5.03bn from PKR4.77bn in last f...
United States: St Mary's Cement secures funding to expand North Michigan plant
St Mary's Cement, a subsidiary of Brazil's Votorantim Cimentos, has had its application for funding to expand its Charlevoix plant in north Michigan approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), according to local news reports. The approval means that the company can access US$150m from the MSF to finance the project to increase capacity at the plant from 1.4Mta to 2Mta. In a statement,...
Philippines: Eagle Cement to break ground on Davao plant
Eagle Cement has said that it will begin construction work on its new 2Mta cement plant in Davao in the south of the country on 20 October, according to reports in the Business Inquirer. Eagle Cement’s owner, Ramon Ang, first announced plans to expand Eagle’s capacity in June 2015, proposing to build two new plants in Davao and Cebu, as well as expanding the company’s existing facility in...
Semen Indonesia: unsuccessful Holcim (Lanka) bid will not deter from ASEAN expansion
PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk's director, Rizkan Chandra, has claimed that Siam City's bid for Holcim (Lanka) Ltd was "an outrageous price". Siam City Cement won 99 per cent of the Holcim Lanka shares for US$400m. "We lost the tender in Sri Lanka because Siam City Cement bid an outrageous price," said Mr Chandra to CNN Indonesia. "The price Siam City paid was an anomaly. The lowest ...
Mexico: Elementia considers price rise to help fund investment plan
Elementia is considering a potential rise in its cement price following the depreciation of the Mexican peso against the US dollar, according to the El Financiero newspaper. The price rise will help to maintain the viability of its US$250m investment programme that includes a capacity expansion at the company’s Hidalgo works as well as contributing to debt payments, of which a significant pa...
Azerbaijan: Akkord Concrete and Gazakh Cement merge
The Akkord Industry Construction Investment Corporation OJSC has merged two of its businesses. The Akkord Concrete LLC and Gazakh Cement plant LLC have been merged, according to a news report from the Azeri-Press Agency. The news agency says the merger between the two enterprises was made known by the Ministry of Taxes. Akkord Cement LLC operates the 1Mta Gazakh cement plant in Dash Sala...
Philippines: competition commission probes cement industry
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has warned cement companies of the repercussions should it violate antitrust laws. PCC Commissioner, El Cid Butuyan, said, "We intend to exercise our enforcement powers in a way that is envisioned under the law, which is a muscular agency, not a paper-pushing, rubber-stamping agency." The agency has decided to investigate the country’s cement indu...
Pakistan: Pioneer Cement profits up slightly in FY2016
Pakistan cement producer Pioneer Cement Ltd has reported post-tax profits of PKR2.51bn (US$24m) for the financial year ended June 2016, a rise of 0.9 per cent YoY. In a notice to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company stated that its net sales increased by 11 per cent to PKR9.36bn over the same period. Pioneer incurred distribution costs of PKR60m and administrative expenses of PKR81.5m...
Chile's three largest cement producers sees 1H sales rise 3.7%
Chile's top three cement companies - Cemento Melon, Cementos Polpaico and Cementos Bio Bio - recorded a 3.7 per cent YoY rise in sales to CLP339.82bn (USD510.48m) in the first six months of 2016. This represents the lowest growth rate in three years. Cementos Bio Bio's sales increased 6.6 per cent to CLP151.9bn as it was affected by the economic slowdown. Cementos Polpaico posted sales of CL...
USA: public asked for their comments on Martinsburg plant's future
Federal regulators are seeking public opinion on one aspect of the pending US$4.2bn merger between HeidelbergCement and Italcementi that will include a change in ownership for Essroc Cement Corp and the Martinsburg cement plant, West Virginia. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have raised concenrs about the likelihood that the sale of the Martinsburg cement plant to Argos USA LLC for US$660...