Cement News tagged under: international
Russian cement manoeuvres12 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsThe Metallurg aluminium holding company (the Leningrad region) has sold its-owned Pikalevo cement plant. The Inteco company, owned by the Moscow mayor’s wife Yelena Baturina, was the buyer. In so doing Inteco may win the St. Petersburg cement market, 65 per cent controlled by Pikalevo Cement. Analysts value the cement maker at roughly US$100m. |
Lafarge sees more China opportunities11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsLafarge wants to invest more in China and thinks Beijing’s efforts to cool the booming industry could allow it to buy more factories, a company executive said on Tuesday. The French-based firm has built a plant at Chengdu and bought two others in China for a total cost of $350 million in the last decade. But its total yearly capacity of 3.5Mt is still a fraction of China’s 813Mt production, which is nearly half the world’s cement output. Company chief operating officer Bruno Lafont told... |
Italy Cementir Plans Acquisitions in Turkey, North America11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsItalian cement company Cementir, a unit of Italian construction company Caltagirone, plans future acquisitions in Turkey and North America, the company’s president Francesco Caltagirone Jr said on May 10, 2004. Caltagirone has estimated that the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Turkish Cimentas, a unit of Cementir, will grow by 50 per cent in 2004. |
Thai TPI Polene On debt deal talks11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsThai cement maker TPI Polene PCL said it will hold talks with its creditors Friday to discuss an amendment of its debt restructuring plan, which involves refinancing its $1.1 billion debt. Prachai Leophairatana, TPI Polene’s chief executive, said the company will propose to refinance its debt and also ask for a waiver of accrued interest. TPI Polene’s debt amounts to US$950m in principal and $150m in accrued interest. Prachai said the company has been in talks with state-owned Krung Thai ... |
Ravena US overhaul11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsWhen Atlantic Cement Co finished the Ravena facility in 1962, it was the largest ever built in the US. Many local people know the plant because of the conveyor system that passes below the Thruway south of Albany, carrying cement to barges on the Hudson River. Currently Lafarge is investing US$3.5 million and hiring 100 independent contractors -- in addition to using its 214 workers for some needed repair and upgrade work. The project comes at a time when demand for cement is increasing dram... |
HeidelbergCement’s numbers boosted by Indocement11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsHeidelbergCement has reported a 10.2% increase in turnover to €1,347m in respect of the first three months of 2004, with the operating profit at the EBITDA level advancing by 123.5% to €90m. Adjusting for exchange rate movements and changes to the sphere of consolidation, with Indocement being consolidated for the first time, the increase in turnover was 5.3%. Sales of cement and clinker rose by 38.4% to 12.95m tonnes, with the initial consolidation of Indocement adding 3.6m tonnes. The lo... |
Dyckerhoff sees benefits of Buzzi-led restructuring11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsThe first quarter results from Dyckerhoff, now a subsidiary of Buzzi Unicem, show a 20.1% fall in turnover to €203m, but excluding changes to the sphere of consolidation, notably the sale of Hispania and of the stake in Anneliese Zementwerke and the merger of the North American business with Buzzi Unicem’s RC Cement, the decline was more like 3%. The operating profit at the EBITDA level improved by half to €15m thanks to the cost reduction programme. Turnover in Germany declined by 19%... |
German cement prices11 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsBoth HeidelbergCement and Dyckerhoff expect cement prices this year to show an increase on average of between €10 and €12 per tonne over 2003 and an effective price at the end of the year some €20 per tonne above the low point in the early autumn of last year. According to HeidelbergCement, the market leader, cement prices are currently around €9 per tonne above the low point in the third quarter of last year. Not surprisingly, the price recovery has been more pronounced in southern German... |
Cement makers dispute cartel claim10 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsPhilippine Cement manufacturers want the Supreme Court to strike down a memorandum filed by Japanese-owned Southern Cross Cement Corp., which alleged that a cartel, or price collusion, exists among Filipino cement makers. In a motion filed with the High Court, the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CMAP) asked the tribunal to remove the documents from the records of the case for being "replete with sham, false and misleading allegations." The Japanese firm filed the memor... |
More than just a holiday romance10 May 2004, Published under Cement NewsA serious, academic-minded executive who’d never lived outside his native Vienna, Martin Kriegner had just turned 40 when Lafarge offered him a posting in Mumbai. To help him make up his mind, the French cement major invited him to take an all expenses paid holiday in India with his wife. So it was that Kriegner made his first-ever trip to the country in the winter of 2001, visiting Mumbai, Delhi and taking a jaunt around Rajasthan. Somewhere in-between, he picked up the phone and called Par... |