News

In January-March 2016, China-based Jidong Cement reported a 34.28% year-on-year reduction in net profit with a loss of CNY 805 million (€110.27 million/US$123.87 million).

Exports of cement from Pakistan in February and March 2016 grew 1.47% and 20.58%, respectively, from 443,539tonnes to 534,804tonnes in March 2016. From July 2015-March 2016, the volume of cement delivered in the domestic market increased 17.69% on-year to 23.94 million tonnes, while exports in the same period dropped 19.02% to 4.41 million tonnes.

Kuwait Portland Cement has recorded a 41.7% drop in profits in fiscal year 2015 from KWD 8.26 million (€24.38 million/US427.39 million) in fiscal year 2014, to KWD 4.82 million. The cement producer agreed to pay 50% or KWD 0.05 a share as cash dividends for the year under review.

The managing director of Semen Indonesia (SI), is reported as saying that the state cement company has secured working capital of IDR 1 trillion (€67.48 million/US475.75 million) from Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

Due to an oversupply of cement in Vietnam, it is being reported that there is a possibility that LafargeHolcim Group may exit from the country. It is estimated that the production of cement in the country is 81.56 million tonnes, while in 2016, consumption demand for cement is between 75 million tonnes and 77 million tonnes.

Ireland-based CRH saw its overall group revenues rise by 9% in Q1 2016, with a 22% rise in its American segment and a 12% increase in Asia. The building material firm also spent €85 million on investments and takeovers while selling €78 million worth of assets.

The power of three is often said to lead to success – but it’s the power of four that Cotswold Stone Solutions is toasting in 2016. The Cheltenham, county Gloucestershire, England-based company goes from strength to strength with the acquisition of a new quarry, a state-of-the-art new processing plant, planning permission for an existing quarry extension, and the appointment of a well-known industry heavyweight to the firm’s board of directors.

According to Francesco Caltagirone Jr, t CEO of Italian cement manufacturer Cementir, cement consumption dropped 7% in Italy in the first quarter of 2016. He says consumption should become stable in the future. Caltagirone also said that before the market crisis that hit the country, cement production capacity was higher than 40 million of tonnes, while now it equals 20 million of tonnes.

For the quarter ended 31 March, 2016, after-tax profit of Pakistan’s Lucky Cement declined 2.65% to PKR 4.10 billion (€34.83 million US$39.12 million) from PKR 4.20 billion in the same period of 2015. Its revenue, on the other hand, grew 2% to PKR 21 billion from PKR 20.5 billion in the quarter under review.

Breedon Aggregates says it is continuing to make good progress with pre-integration planning for the acquisition of Hope Construction Materials. “We also welcome today’s positive response from the Competition and Markets Authority [CMA] regarding the undertakings we have offered to alleviate its concerns over competition in a limited number of local ready-mixed concrete markets,” said Peter Tom, chairman of Breedon Aggregates.

Tomas Kuta will become Volvo Construction Equipment’s new Senior Vice President, Sales on 1 June 2016. Having worked for the company since 1997 in a variety of senior management roles, Kuta’s new leading role will see him responsible for leading the development and delivery of Volvo CE’s global sales strategy. He will serve as part of the executive management team and report to company President Martin Weissburg.

Cementir Holding (Cementir), the Italian cement and construction materials specialist, may be considering new acquisitions in Europe in order to “reinforce or complete its geographical presence,” according to Francesco Caltagirone Jr, its CEO. He is reported as saying that the company excludes the possibility of carrying out acquisitions in the US, and it prefers to “focus on sectors where it can become a leading operator.” For example, Caltagirone said that Cementir intends to focus on the white cement sec

In Bihar of India, a new grinding plant has been commissioned by Ultratech Cement. The Pataliputra plant has a 1.6 million tonne/year capacity and is the 15th grinding unit of the company. It will cater to the eastern Indian markets where growth in cement demand has been higher than the average in the industry over the past two to three years.

An order has been placed by Turkey-based Adana Cimento Sanayii (Adana Cement) with Germany-based Loesche for a vertical roller mill for the company’s works in southern Turkey. Adana Cement will use the mill, type LM 46.6, to grind 200tonnes/hour of raw material to white cement.