Cement News tagged under: Australia

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India: cement industry demand raises coal imports

12 September 2016, Published under Cement News

The demand for coal with a high calorific value, primarily from the cement sector, combined with the doubling of clean environment cess has resulted in a shift in coal imports into India. Steam coal imports have been declining in the April-June 2016 quarter due to higher output of domestic mines, but the key shift relates to the origin of the imports. While Indonesia has accounted for the majority of coal imports, in the 1Q16-17 import growth of coal sourced from this Asian country has re...

Australia: Adelaide Brighton sees power bill rise by US$2.2m

01 September 2016, Published under Cement News

The price spike in July added around AUD3m (US$2.26m) to Adelaide Brighton's power bill, mainly attributed to operations at its Birkenhead plant. This surge in costs led the company to temporarily scale back its production and increase the use of imported product. Managing Director, Martin Brydon, commented on how the company had the capacity to turn off its grinding process at the times of high power prices but urged that continuing power prices needed to be addressed. The Council of ...

Indonesia: Indocement cuts production by 1Mt

10 August 2016, Published under Cement News

PT Indocement Tunggal TBK will cease operations at two production lines at its Citeureup plant due to the national cement excess, resulting in a 1Mta drop in output levels. The fall in cement sales in the country resulted in Indocement seeing its domestic sales volume drop 3.7 per cent to 7.9Mt QoQ in 2Q16. However, exports for the company increased by 190,000t when compared to the same period last year. President Director of Indocement, Christian Kartawijaya, said, “we supply a lot of pr...

Adelaide Brighton sees potential in US$2bn acquisition

22 June 2016, Published under Cement News

Adelaide Brighton Group says it has carried out detailed work on a potential US$2bn acquisition of the Australia and New Zealand operations of Lafarge­Holcim, including a plan to address competition issues. Martin Brydon, Adelaide Brighton's  chief executive, confirmed that Adelaide Brighton had been working with its longstanding takeover defence adviser Credit Suisse and Blackpeak Capital. Mr Brydon said that while LafargeHolcim had still given no indication it was selling the Austral...

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia looks to international markets

21 June 2016, Published under Cement News

Amid prospects of disappointing revenue growth in the domestic market, Semen Indonesia is looking offshore to expand its sales figures. Newly appointed head of PT Semen Indonesia, Rizkan Chandra has said that he wants to raise the company’s sales outside of Indonesia from 5.2 per cent of revenue in 2015 to 10-15 per cent over the next three years. In an interview Mr Chandra said operations may expand into Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, with operations already present in Vietnam.  ...

Australia: competition body seeks higher Cement Australia fine

07 June 2016, Published under Cement News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has appealed against a court ruling imposing fines of AUD18.6m (US$14m) on Cement Australia, one fifth of the level the ACCC had asked for. In September 2013 Cement Australia was found guilty of conspiring to prevent competition in the concrete market when it entered into contracts with power stations in southeast Queensland to acquire fly ash. On 29 April 2016, Australia’s Federal Court levied a fine of AUD18.6m on the company ...

Australia: Adelaide Brighton sales boost

25 May 2016, Published under Cement News

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 2016 sales volumes of cement and clinker are expected to be similar or slightly less than those in ...

Semen Indonesia to invest US$2.2bn over next five years

16 May 2016, Published under Cement News

Semen Indonesia President Director, Rizkan Chandra, has announced that his company is to invest IDR30tn (US$2.2bn) over the next five years. The funding will be split between existing operations, entry into new markets and downstream acquisitions. According to reports on Deal Street Asia, Semen Indonesia is looking to acquire majority interests in ready-mix and precast businesses. The firm is also planning to expand further afield and is considering its options in four countries, includin...

Australian cement companies fined AUD18.62m

29 April 2016, Published under Cement News

After the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought the proceedings against four Australian cement manufacturers in 2008, the Federal Court has finally ordered the four cement companies pay more than AUD18m (US$13.73m) in penalties for anti-competitive conduct. Cement Australia Pty Ltd, Cement Australia Queensland Pty Ltd, Pozzolanic Enterprises Pty Ltd, and Pozzolanic Industries Pty Ltd entered into the contracts between 2002 and 2006, and operated in breach of the the...

LafargeHolcim’s US$3bn spin-off in the making?

30 March 2016, Published under Cement News

LafargeHolcim is reported to have chosen Citi and JP Morgan to explore the sale of its US$3bn Australasian operations, according to the Business Spectator. The news follows Dataroom’s disclosure that the company had been considering a potential spin-off of its Australian and New Zealand assets. The move would help to pay for the US$50bn global merger of Lafarge and Holcim in 2014. Both Citi and JPMorgan are understood to be among the banks funding that transaction at the time, and whil...