Cement News tagged: International
UBS initiates Italcementi with ‘Sell’
UBS has initiated Italcementi at sell with a target of EUR3.40, reports from Dow Jones show. UBS cites a negative view of the cement maker's core Italian market, underwhelming cash flow generation, among other factors. "We expect Italian cement volumes to fall 20% in FY12," it says. "Italcementi is trading at a near 15-year low, following a peak-to-trough EBITDA decline of circa 52%. The sh...
Vietnam first-half output seen down
Vietnam produced 27.3Mt of cement in the first half of this year, down 5.9 per cent from a year earlier, the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) showed. During June, the country produced 5.5Mt, an increase of 15.8 per cent YoY, the GSO said in its monthly report. The office has also revised down the country’s output during the January-May period to 21.8Mt from a previously-estim...
South Africa’s first-quarter sales rise 6.7%
South African cement sales rose 6.7 per cent YoY in the first quarter of 2012 to 2.64Mt, data by the Cement and Concrete Association (C&CI) showed. Average daily sales for the 1Q12 were 41,863t, up 6.7 per cent on the same quarter as last year. The moving annual total (April 2011-March 2012) reached 11.4Mt, up 5.6 per cent on the same period of the previous year. Up until April this year ...
Sri Lanka post-war reconstruction spurs cement demand
Tokyo Cement, a Sri Lankan-Japanese joint venture says that cement demand in the country is being spurred by large-scale government infrastructure projects related to post-war and flood reconstruction, according to local press reports. In its 2011/2012 annual report, Tokyo Cement also highlighted that the surge in private credit has contributed towards higher demand for cement, Daily News Sr...
Holcim Indian cement interests see modest YoY gains
Holcim’s Indian cement companies, ACC and Ambuja Cements have reported modest rises in June shipments and production in June. ACC said shipments in June reached 1.96Mt, up 2.6 per cent from the 1.91Mt a year ago but lower than the 2.05Mt recorded in May. Cement production during June rose 4.23 per cent to 1.97Mt from 1.89Mt a year ago but fell from 2.02Mt in May. During Jan-June, ACC dis...
2Q demand waivers for product manufacturers, UK
The UK's Construction Products Association’s (CPA) latest State of Trade Survey indicates that, following a relatively good first quarter of the year, product manufacturers suffered from a slowdown in sales in 2Q and are extremely concerned about demand going forward. Commenting on the figures, Construction Products Association senior economist, Kelly Forrest said: “With public sector cutti...
UAE sees brighter long-term prospects
The long-term prospects for the UAE cement industry are bright due to growth in investment in infrastructure in the UAE, GCC and key foreign markets, the latest study by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry finds. The UAE has the potential to become the major provider of cement to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond when taking into account the lucrative opportunities ...
Lucky Cement supplies electricity to HESCO, Pakistan
Pakistan-based producer Lucky Cement has started supplying excess electricity generated from its power generation plants to a domestic electricity distribution company. Lucky Cement is selling 20MW/h of electricity to Hyderabad Electricity Supply Company Ltd (HESCO), a company official has said. The company is also likely to start selling the same amount to Peshawar Electricity Supply Compa...
Suez Cement delays new lines, Egypt
Egypt-based Suez Cement has delayed a EGP1.5bn (US$248m) capacity expansion, Al Alam Al Youm reported, citing Managing Director Bruno Carrea. The company has postponed additional production lines at its factory in Ein El Sokhna for a year or two because of political unrest, the newspaper cited Carrea as saying. (Source: Bloomberg)
Sri Lanka's CCA siezes outdated cement
The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka has seized a stock of cement that expired early this month, according to local press reports. The CAA reportedly raided the storage facility of the government-owned Sri Lanka Cement Corporation in Panchikawatte. The expired cement had been sold from the warehouse after the expiry date of June 12th. The expired cement was allegedly being load...
CEMBUREAU welcomes new CEO
Koen Coppenholle has become the the new Chief Executive of CEMBUREAU, taking over from Jean-Marie Chandelle who retired at the end of June. “I will ensure that the voice of our industry sector is heard in the major ongoing policy debates, ranging from the future design of European climate change and energy legislation to the reflection on a resource efficient society. In order to remain su...
Birla Corp mulls Ethiopian cement plant
India-based Birla Corporation is considering setting up a cement plant in Ethiopia, according to a senior official. The company has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, Birla Corp Cement Manufacturing Plc, in the country and secured a limestone mining licence. It has also applied for a coal mining permit, chairman Harsh V Lodha, told reporters at the sidelines of the company’s AGM. “We have...
Gresik sees regional expansion costing US$400m-500m
Indonesia's largest cement producer, PT Semen Gresik, says its planned expansion into Vietnam and Myanmar can be realised by year-end. Semen Gresik president director Dwi Soetjipto said that expansion into the fellow ASEAN member nations would need US$400m to US$500m. “We will need about US$150m to set up a factory for Myanmar," Dwi said after the company¹s annual and extraordinary meeti...
MPA responds to chancellor’s speech, UK
In an open letter MPA’s Chief Executive has responded to the speech by the Chancellor, George Osborne MP last week, in which the Chancellor highlighted measures taken to boost business in the UK, by welcoming recent measures taken in the last Budget, but emphasising the onerous cumulative tax and cost burden which faces the industry, and encouraging Government to shift current spend into here ...
Chettinad Cements plans Karikkali plant expansion, India
India-based Chettinad Cement is considering the expansion of its Karikkali cement plant in Tamil Nadu from 4.5Mta to 7Mta. According to reports in the Times of India, Chettinad is also planning to increase capacity of its captive power plant from 48MW to 78MW. The company received the Terms of Reference (ToR) from the union environment ministry in March this year and a public hearing for...
Nepal proposes cement tax
Nepal’s Ministry of Energy has proposed that the country’s Finance Ministry include an additional tax of NPR1 on every bag of cement sold on the market which would then be specifically used for rural electrification projects. Speaking to the Himalayan Times, Hariram Koirala, Secretary, Ministry of Energy, said: "We have proposed to the Finance Ministry and are hopeful that this will be incl...