Cement News tagged: Corporate
Romania: CRH Ciment sees profits rise 40% in 2015
The Romanian subsidiary of CRH, CRH Ciment, has released performance figures for 2015, reports Romania Insider. CRH Ciment saw turnover reach EUR189m (US$211m) in 2015, up 23 per cent YoY. Profits climbed faster still, reaching EUR30.1m, up 40 per cent YoY. The business was acquired by CRH from Lafarge as part of the divestment process that accompanied the formation of LafargeHolcim. Hol...
Cemex sells its Bangladesh operations to Siam City
Cemex has closed the sale of its operations in Bangladesh and Thailand to Siam City Cement for approximately US$53m.The proceeds obtained from this transaction will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes.
Malaysia: Lafarge takes 1Q16 hit on net profits
Lafarge Malaysia Bhd is optimistic about its prospects this year despite having had a challenging 1Q16. The company's net profit fell nearly 72 per cent to US$5m in the first quarter of this year from US$17.9m in the same period a year earlier. President and CEO, Thierry Legrand, attributed this to lower contribution from the cement segment, following continued price competition and one-off...
New Zealand: Holcim Westport works close
The closure of Holcim’s Westport cement works next month will result in a loss of jobs and profits for Westport Harbour Ltd (WHL). Holcim is Westport’s main customer, with its cement shipping generating over 80 per cent of WHL's revenue. WHL is a subsidiary of Buller Holdings Ltd (BHL). BHL chief executive Stephen Lowe said seven people would lose their jobs, including five dredge crew and t...
Saudi Cement to sell 40% stake in Kuwaiti firm
Saudi Cement Company announced signing a contract to sell its entire stake of 40 per cent in Group International Cement Company, a Kuwaiti closed joint stock company. The total value of the contract amounts to KWD1.989m (US$6.58m/SAR 24.7m), the company said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange. "The financial impact will be seen in the company's profits for the 2Q016 as a gain fro...
Kazakhstan: devalued tenge affects Steppe Cement
The sharp devaluation of the Kazakh tenge saw the 2015 results of Steppe Cement affected as import pressures waned. Until August 2015 local producers had to lower their selling prices to fend of imports into Kazakhstan due to the relative strength of the tenge against the rouble. As a result, sales volumes in tonnes rose by only two per cent YoY to 1,643,136t in 2015 from 1,612,709 in 2014 whi...
India: HeidelbergCement 4Q FY16 margins up 16.5%
Operating margins of HeidelbergCement India jumped 18 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY16 compared to 16.5 per cent in the same period last year. Speaking to CNBC TV, said Jamshed Naval Cooper, CEO and MD of HeidelbergCement India said, "Lower pricing on the revenue front and improved operating efficiencies helped the company post good results in the 4Q of FY16." "For the fourth quarter...
Ambuja Cement adds 0.9Mta to Sankrail grinding unit
India’s Ambuja Cement has added 0.9Mta of capacity to its Sankrail grinding unit near Kolkata. The INR3.38bn (US$50.2m) project was commissioned on 24 May 2016. As a result of the expansion, the plant’s current capacity now stands at 2.4Mta. The project included installation of 140tph Thyssenkrupp roller press, increasing the capacity of Cement Mill 1 to 235tph in combo grinding and two ad...
Vietnam: second phase of Song Lam cement plant starts next month
Hoang Phat Vissai Group, one of the biggest cement groups in Vietnam, will start construction of the second phase of Song Lam cement plant with an investment of VND9.5trn ($422.22m) in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An in June. The second phase with 6000tpd of clinker will be developed in the 2016-20 period. Song Lam Cement Plant is located in Bai Son commune and was transformed from ...
Australia: Adelaide Brighton sales boost
Adelaide Brighton expects improved sales in several of its key products largely due to demand from east coast markets. Martin Brydon, Adelaide Brighton chief executive, said at the company’s annual meeting that the firm expects significant growth in the sales of pre-mixed concrete and aggregates in 2016 as a result of stronger east coast markets. However, Mr Brydon went on to say that 2...
India: Prism Cement 4QFY16 profits fall 95% YoY
Prism Cement’s net profits for the quarter to 31 March 2016 fell to just INR30m (US$445,000), down 95.2 per cent YoY, reports India Infoline. Net revenues at the company rose by 4.1 per cent YoY to INR15.9bn (US$236m), while profit margins were estimated at 6.3 per cent. Indian producers have struggled over the past year as low prices have hit profits even as volume sales have risen.
Brazil: LafargeHolcim opens new production line in Barroso
LafargeHolcim has begun production at a new line in its Barroso plant in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The new line raises the plant's capacity to 3.6Mta. Equipment includes the world's largest vertical cement mill, with 450tph production capacity as well as a Horomill for raw material grinding with low power consumption, and a fully-automated quality control laboratory. The new line w...
Creditors seek to sell Hyundai Cement stake
Creditors of Hyundai Cement seek to sell their majority stake in the South Korean cement producer as early as July, according to local news reports. State-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), the largest stakeholder of Hyundai Cement with a 27.94 per cent stake, and other creditor banks including KEB Hana Bank hold a combined 95 per cent stake. The speeding up of the sales process comes as...
China: West China Cement to agree to Anhui Conch ownership
Yesterday, shares in West China Cement rose nearly six per cent on news that a sufficient majority of option-holders had agreed to an acquisition by largest listed Chinese peer, Anhui Conch Cement, reports the Australian Financial Review. The deal should have the government's blessing as further consolidation is needed in the sector. Last week, the State Council reiterated its desire for a m...
LafargeHolcim appoints head of organisation and Algeria CEO
LafargeHolcim has appointmented Caroline Luscombe as the group’s new head of organisation and human resources and member of the executive committee from 1 July 2016, based in Zurich. Caroline will take over responsibility for organisation and human resources from Jean-Jacques Gauthier, chief integration officer – organisation and human resources, who will be taking up a post as country CEO Alg...
France: Daniel Group to buy Lafarge quarries
Daniel Group is to buy three assets of Lafarge in France. The Baudreix-Mirepeix site comprises a 200,000tpa alluvial gravel quarry and a concrete plant. The agreement will also include the acquisition of the 350,000tpa Louvie-Juzon, an open pit limestone quarry, as well as a further concrete plant. These purchases add to the offer of the construction material specialist, which aims to broaden...