Cement News tagged under: Pricing

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Argentinian Court of Appeal rejects cartelisation appeal

25 June 2012, Published under Cement News

Argentina’s Court of Appeal has rejected the appeal made by Loma Negra, Juan Minetti, Cementos Avellaneda, Petroquímica Comodoro Rivadavia and Cemento San Martín, upholding the previous price-fixing ruling and the multi-million peso fines attached. The companies were awarded fines of ARS300m (US$66.5m) as penalty for anti-competitive practices between 1981-99. Loma Negra will be expected to pay ARS138.7m, Juan Minetti ARS100.1m, Cementos Avellaneda ARS34.6m, Cementos San Martín ARS28.5m...

BNP Paribas maintains 'deteriorating' outlook on Indian cement sector

25 June 2012, Published under Cement News

BNP Paribas has maintained its ‘deteriorating’ outlook on the Indian cement sector given its weak macroeconomic outlook, high interest rates, continuing oversupply situation, cost inflation and ongoing regulatory overhang. The Economic Times of India reported that cement stocks have been witnessing pressures since the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of US$1.1bn on 11 cement companies last week. The fines is 50 per cent of the companies’ net profit for FY10 and FY...

Holcim to contest Indian price fixing fine

22 June 2012, Published under Cement News

Holcim has said will defend the position of its two Indian units on the penalties imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for price fixing. Yesterday, the CCI announced that it would fine 11 Indian producers a total of US$1.1bn, stating that they had created an artificial cement shortage “so as to reduce supplies and raise prices in times of higher demand," it said in its judgment. The ruling applies to Holcim group companies ACC and Ambuja Cements (ACL), which have been fi...

Concerns over Ghana’s cement duopoly

22 June 2012, Published under Cement News

The World Bank has expressed its concern over the dominance of Ghana Cement Company (Ghacem) and Diamond Cement Company in the sale of cement in the country, local press report. The bank is worried that the two companies control more than 80 per cent of the market and suppress competition in the sector with negative consequences on the prices and supply of cement to the building and construction industry. It has therefore called for urgent steps that would liberalise the market “to eng...

Indian producers issued with record fine on price fixing

21 June 2012, Published under Cement News

Eleven Indian cement producers have been issued a total fine of INR60bn (US$1.1bn) for price fixing, the highest ever fine issued by the country’s antitrust authority in its three-year existence. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in its ruling that the companies colluded to underuse their plants and create an artificial cement shortage. "The commission has found that the cement companies have not utilised the available capacity so as to reduce supplies and raise prices in tim...

China prices continue to fall

21 June 2012, Published under Cement News

The average price of cement across China last week fell 0.83% to CNY336.25/t compared to the previous week. Cement prices have been falling since the end of April registering price adjustments of CN10-50/t mainly in Beijing, Hebei and Anhui. According to industry portal Digital Cement, the price of cement in Beijing and Hebei continued to fall last week by CNY20-50/t and the price in Beijing has dropped CNY120/t since the beginning of May.??It has also been reported that a number of prod...

Indian producers face alleged cartel fines

20 June 2012, Published under Cement News

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is expected to soon impose fines over alleged price collusion in the industry. According to local press reports, the CCI is expected to fine 11 large cement manufacturers approximately INR3000crore for being guilty of a price cartel. Business Standard of India quoted an unnamed source as saying: "The Competition Commission of India has found 11 cement firms guilty of cartelisation. The penalty of eight per cent of their three years' average turn...

UAE cement prices drop 3.4% in May

14 June 2012, Published under Cement News

The average prices of several building materials groups have undergone changes during May 2012, compared with April 2012, a monthly report by the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) revealed. The average prices of cement dropped by 3.4 per cent, due mainly to decreases in the price of Portland cement per tonne by 11.3 per cent and SRC by 5.9 per cent. The next largest fall was in the average price of aggregates and sand which decreased by 3.2 per cent.

China prices continue to fall

13 June 2012, Published under Cement News

The average price of cement across China last week fell 0.83 percent week-on-week to CNY336.25/t, reports Shanghai Securities News. According to the report, the price of cement has been falling for several weeks since the end of April.  Price adjustments of CNY10-50/t mainly occurred in Beijing, Hebei and Anhui.

Credit Suisse maintains negative outlook for large Indian cement companies

06 June 2012, Published under Cement News

Credit Suisse maintains negative outlook for large-cap cement stocks, due to expensive valuations and low growth prospects, the Economic Times of India reports. Cement prices in May declined by 2-6 per cent across regions in India, which is an unseasonal trend, Credit Suisse said. ??Demand was also cited to be weak, which is however, contrary to the double digit volume growth posted by Ultratech Cement and Ambuja Cement in May. Any adverse ruling by monopoly regulator on cartelisation c...