Cement News tagged under: infrastructure

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Cementos Argos announces investment in Colombia's central zone

19 September 2012, Published under Cement News

Colombia’s leading cement producer Cementos Argos announced yesterday that it is to spend US$93m in expanding its cement capacity in the country’s central zone as the company positions itself for expected increases in domestic construction acitivity. The main focus of Argos’ investment will be the expansion of its Rioclara plant by 900,000tpa of cement. The project involves the  extension of clinker capacity, the installation of a high-efficiency vertical mill plus packing and a truck load...

Chinese stocks boosted on approved government infrastructure projects

11 September 2012, Published under Cement News

China cement firms are outperforming the broader market on hopes that the government's recently approved infrastructure projects will boost their earnings; Anhui Conch Cement is up 3.8 per cent at CNY15.64 and Xinjiang Tianshan Cement is 9.6 per cent higher at CNY8.79. Last week, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved new subways, highways and other projects estimated at around US$156bn. The projects will be positive for steelmakers, cement producers, construct...

Tvornica Cementa forecasts FY12 double-digit declines

10 September 2012, Published under Cement News

Tvornica Cementa Kakanj (TCK), the Bosnian unit of HeidelbergCement, expects to post a 10-14 per cent drop in cement sales this year as local market conditions and the impact of the Euro zone crisis continue to weigh on performance. Speaking to SeeNews, the company’s general manager, Branimir Muidza, said that cement sales are seen at around BAM64m. "On the backdrop of the existing economic environment, our domestic sales volumes are seen flat in 2012 and would depend on the pace of const...

UK: latest construction new orders remain depressed

10 September 2012, Published under Cement News

The latest quarterly Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures for UK construction new orders released today show that new orders for construction remained at a depressed level in the second quarter of 2012, despite having risen 1.5% in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period one year earlier. New orders remain 40% lower than the pre-recession peak. Commenting on the new orders data, Noble Francis, Economics Director at the UK’s Construction Products Association (CPA) said: “...

Indonesia’s July sales rise 9.9 per cent

13 August 2012, Published under Cement News

Indonesia's domestic cement sales rose 9.9 per cent in July from a year ago, up from 9.5 per cent in June, data from the country's biggest cement firm PT Semen Gresik Tbk showed on Monday.     Southeast Asia's biggest economy consumed more than 4.8Mt of cement in July, up 7.2 per cent on a monthly basis. The Moluccas islands and Papua led July growth at 51.1 per cent, while main islands Java and Sumatra led sales volumes.     July cement sales volume was boosted by additional supply from...

UK construction shrinks 10 per cent YoY

13 August 2012, Published under Cement News

UK construction output figures for 2Q12, published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on Friday, confirm that nearly every sector of construction activity, from private to public and from housing to infrastructure, has shrunk considerably over the last year and that overall, construction activity across Great Britain has contracted by 9.5 per cent in a year. The figures reinforce a number of recent construction indicators but there is growing concern that long term damage is now b...

Middle East market developments

13 August 2012, Published under Cement News

Cement producers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations witnessed a 24.3 per cent increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2012, reaching US$1.26bn (AED4.62bn) as construction picked up in certain parts of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia continues to be the region's strongest market, but improvements are being seen in the UAE and Qatar is gathering pace. However, a challenging operating environment persists in Egypt. According to a report by Global Investment House (GIH), combine...

Fitch Ratings says outlook for Indian construction stable

07 August 2012, Published under Cement News

Fitch Ratings says that the outlook for the Indian construction sector remains stable for 2H12, despite the continued unfavourable macroeconomic environment, as some of the risks have already been factored into the ratings. However, the medium-term outlook could be affected by ongoing challenges in execution, coupled with high interest rates and lacklustre equity markets. Fitch is concerned about the construction sector's growing order book position amid slowdown in project execution, as th...

Siam City Cement 2Q net profit falls, Thailand

06 August 2012, Published under Cement News

Siam City Cement Plc (SCCC), Thailand's second-largest cement producer, reported a 30.5 per cent drop in 2Q net profit  although sales increased by more than 12 per cent as operating margins were hurt by lower cement prices and higher energy costs. In a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 2 August, SCCC said its net profit totalled THB809m in the quarter to June compared to THB1.056bn a year before. Net sales, meanwhile, rose 12.2 per cent to THB6.49bn as domestic cement consumption...

China to fast track infrastructure investment to spur growth

23 May 2012, Published under Cement News

China will fast track approvals for infrastructure investment to combat a slowdown in the economy, state-backed China Securities Journal reports.   The government had asked for project proposals by the end of June, even for those initially earmarked for the end of the year, said the journal. Citing government sources, the article said Beijing did not rule out bringing forward next year's projects, if it thought more investments would be needed to stimulate the economy.?The newspaper al...