Cement News tagged under: north Africa

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Tunisian government authorises use of polypropylene bags for cement

28 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Tunisia’s government approved the use of polypropylene for packaging cement, but the move has already drawn ire of the country’s environmentalists and the Tunisian Industrial Paper and Cardboard Co (Sotupapier). Sotupapier filed a complaint with the administrative tribunal on 21 August 2020 to challenge the decision taken by the Tunisian ministers of industry and trade. The company expects the step to increase plastic pollution through the production of at least 150m new polypropylene bags...

Carthage Cement posts TND3.3m net profit at end July

27 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Carthage Cement posted a net profit of TND3.3m (US$1.2m) as of 31 July 2020, despite at two-month shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The stoppage led the company to lose nearly TND28.6m, according to company CEO, Brahim Sanaa. Mr Sanaa said that the company targets a net result of TND19.6m by the end of the year, reversing the TND51.3m loss posted in 2019. Carthage Cement  carried out a capital increase from TND172,134,413 to TND343,624,940, reducing the company’s bank indebtness by ...

Tunisia looks to change cement packaging and reduce costs

20 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Salah Ben Youssef, Tunisia’s Minister of Industry and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises, has stated that by replacing 30 per cent of Kraft paper bags used in cement packaging with polypropylene bags, the equivalent of TND20m (US$7.37m) in foreign currency would be saved.   "This will help Tunisia reposition itself on the Libyan market by bringing down the cost of cement bags and increasing the competitiveness of Tunisian products against the Turkish competitors," said Mr Youssef. The...

Egyptian cement demand has fallen 20% since May

19 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Since Egypt's Ministry of Local Development (MLD) suspended building licences for six months in the governorates of Greater Cairo (Cairo-Giza-Qalyubia), Alexandria, and provincial capitals and major cities with high population densities in May, cement demand has dropped by 20 per cent. Ahmed Al-Zaini, Chairman of the Building Materials Division, Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), confirmed that the cement sector had seen a 20 per cent depression in demand over the summer....

Misr Beni Suef Cement records 84% rise in profit

18 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Egypt’s Misr Beni Suef Cement Co has seen its profit rise 84 per cent YoY to EGP29.5m (US$1.85m) during the second quarter of 2020, against EGP16m in the 2Q19. The company also reported a 94 per cent increase in profit to EGP88.77m in the 1H20, compared to EGP45.66m in the corresponding period of 2019. However, revenue declined 52 per cent YoY to EGP216m. Cement sales, including exports, also fell 53 per cent YoY, which was attributed to the continued oversupply alongside the effects o...

Two cement shipments set to arrive in Libya

14 August 2020, Published under Cement News

A ship transporting 4400t of bulk cement has arrived at Tobruk port, Libya, according to the country’s state news agency, LANA. Another shipment of around 3850t of cement is also expected to enter the port in the coming days. The Libya Herald also reported that domestic cement prices climbed to LYD75/t (US$53/t) at the start of August, compared to around LYD30/t in the same month of 2019.

Misr Cement Co sees 330% surge in net profit

12 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Egypt’s Misr Cement Co (Qena) has reported a 330 per cent surge in consolidated net profit to EGP63.25m (US$3.96m) for the first half of 2020, against EGP14.69m in the 1H19. Standalone net profit also climbed to EGP42.16m from EGP8.1m, according to a statement filed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Moroccan deliveries drop 24% in July

06 August 2020, Published under Cement News

Cement deliveries in Morocco fell 24.1 per cent YoY to 1,073,755t in July 2020 from 1,415,075t in July 2019, reports the Ministry of Urbanisation and Housing. In the January-July 2020 period, deliveries declined 19.5 per cent YoY to 6,547,485t when compared with 8,132,157t in the 7M19.

Ciments de Bizerte sees 1H turnover up 2%

27 July 2020, Published under Cement News

Tunisian cement producer Ciments de Bizerte has seen its total turnover expand 1.6 per cent YoY to TND42.781m (US$15.6m) in the first half of 2020. Domestic turnover edged up 0.2 per cent YoY to TND40.112m while export turnover improved 26.8 per cent YoY to TND2.669m. In addition, clinker production increased 17.2 per cent to 282,440t in the 1H20 despite the total suspension of production for 45 days following the general COVID-19 lockdown. However, cement production fell by 4.7 per cent....

MENA outlook: Egypt and Saudi Arabia market prospects

24 July 2020, Published under Cement News

This week, Cemtech hosted its latest live webinar which considered global market trends and provided an update on the dynamic Egyptian and Saudi Arabian markets in particular. Egyptian market update Solomon Baumgartner, CEO of Lafarge Egypt, delivered an overview of the Egyptian cement sector which is facing both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other structural issues, such as its considerable overcapacity. Mr Baumgartner noted that January, February and even March were strong ...