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Cemex to buy back over US$950m of debt

18 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Cemex said on Wednesday it would buy back more than US$950m worth of its debt from bondholders through a tender offer, as part of a wider plan under a new chief executive to reduce its leverage, Reuters reports. Cemex said holders of US$592.5m worth of outstanding nine per cent notes due in 2018 and US$365.1m worth of 9.25 per cent notes due in 2020 had tendered their notes by the Wednesday deadline. The purchase will help the company to lower its debt-to-equity ratio and reduce interest p...

Saudi August dispatches rise 29.8% YoY

18 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Saudi cement dispatches for August 2014 climbed to 3.96Mt, an increase of 29.8 per cent YoY and 47.8 per cent MoM, AlJazira Capital has stated in a report citing the data issued by Yamamah Cement Co. The YoY increase in dispatches is primarily due to the fact that part of Ramadan and the holiday season fell in August 2013. The significant MoM growth is attributed ti cement demand recovering after Ramadan. On a YoY basis, Arabian Cement and Najran Cement showed a strong rises in dispatches ...

Lafarge to sell Russian plant to Buzzi Unicem

16 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Buzzi Unicem, through its fully-owned subsidiary Dyckerhoff GmbH, has reached an agreement to acquire a 100 per cent interest in Lafarge's UralCement plant in Russia for an enterprise value of EUR104m. The 1.1Mta wet-process plant is located in the town of Korkino, some 40km south of Chelyabinks. The transaction is subject to authorisation from relevant authorities. The divestment will contribute to Lafarge's objective to reduce net debt, the French cement major said in statement release...

Hanson Building Products files for IPO

16 September 2014, Published under Cement News

HeidelbergCement announced that its subsidiary, Hanson Building Products Ltd, has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares. The move is part of HeidelbergCement’s plan to divest a significant portion of its building products business in North America and the UK. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the potential offering have not yet been determined, HeidelbergCeme...

Raysut signs Somaliland jv terminal project

15 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Omani producer Raysut Cement has announced that it has agreed a deal with Barwaaquo Cement of Somaliland to operate a joint venture terminal for the packaging and distribution of cement. The two companies will build a US$7.5mn terminal in the port city of Berbera which will have the ability to store and distribute both bagged and bulk cement set to be delivered from Oman by sea. It will have a capacity to store up to 12,000t of cement and completion is scheduled for the end of 2015. R...

PCA: demand growth in 2014 and beyond

11 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Cement consumption is expected to grow in the United States through 2014, followed by additional gains in 2015 and 2016, according to a recent Portland Cement Association (PCA) economic forecast. Consistent with a report earlier this spring, cement consumption will increase 7.9 per cent this year compared to 2013 levels. The forecast indicates considerable evidence that the economy's growth path has strengthened from gains in the labor market, low consumer debt, and increased consumer wealt...

Indonesian August sales higher

11 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Indonesia cement sales jumped 37.4 per cent YoY to 4.7Mt in August 2014 on the back of higher demand from the property and infrastructure projects. Widodo Santoso, chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said that the development of smelters, power plants, apartments, hotels, and social housing has been key to improved cement sales last month. However, the 37.4 percentage point growth was also caused by fewer working days in August 2013 as the Idul Fitri holiday fell in that ...

Grupo Argos raises US$509m in bond sale

11 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Grupo Argos, the parent company of Colombia's leading cement producer Cementos Argos, has raised COP1trn (US$509.4m) in a bond sale on Wednesday that was more than doubly oversubscribed, the company said in a filing to the financial regulator. Grupo Argos said the issue enabled it to restructure debt which it said would now come due in 6.3 years instead of 1.5 years, a period it said matched its investment needs well. More than half the bonds sold will come due in 10 or 15 years though o...

Ashaka Cement stake changes hands

11 September 2014, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Group has sold 58.61 per cent of its stakes in Ashaka Cement Plc to Lafarge Africa Plc in a deal valued at NGN41bn (US$252m). Lafarge sold 1.3bn ordinary shares of its Ashaka Cement at NGN30.95 each. The sale follows the company's decision to merge its Nigerian and South African assets into a single unit, Lafarge Africa Plc. In creating Lafarge Africa, the group will sell the entirety of its 72.4 per cent stake in South African unit while relinquishing control of equity stake in...

EC clears Holcim and Cemex Spanish deal

10 September 2014, Published under Cement News

The European Commission (EC) has cleared, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Holcim’s Spanish operations by Cemex, the last of three transactions under scrutiny in the European tie-up between the two global majors. Following an in-depth investigation launched in April 2014, yesterday the Commission concluded that the acquisition "would not raise competition concerns since the merged entity will continue to face sufficient competition from its rivals in all markets ...