ARGENTINA: Loma Negra finishes plant upgrades in Olavarria

Argentina's Loma Negra has completed upgrades to its Olavarria unit, a report from Exame said.

The firm invested $75.5 mm to upgrade the plant's kiln, and also spent $28 mm to improve transport capacity between the cities of Ferrosur Roca Olavarria and Cañuelas, and $35 mm to install new bagging facility, silos, and warehouses.

The state governor was present at the inauguration, the report said.

BRAZIL: Camargo launches promo for cement brand

The Camargo Correa Group started in July its new promotional campaign entitled "More Cauê: Fast Drying, Resistance + Quality," its first major marketing activity in two years, the portal da propaganda said.

The company, through the campaign, seeks to achieve significant growth in sales of 40 RS CPII in Greater Belo Horizonte. It focuses on the premium product that has the brand strength at 28 days than the common cement.

It is recommended for use in environments such as sewage and water galleries, application in concrete structures, flooring, seating and coating mortars, and a higher durability against chemical attack.

The company’s will run for three months and will cover retailers and consumers of Belo Horizonte and nearby cities.

The company is investing approximately $ 500 000 in action, inserts distributed in sports programs on radio, point of sale materials and an incentive campaign that provides distribution of up to $ 30,000 in prizes to retailers. Cards will be distributed with market values ​​of $ 50 and $ 100 for retailers that stand out and achieve specific goals in each store.

There will be approximately 800 inserts a 30-second radio broadcast every day at different times, the report said.

SPAIN: Cement consumption in Catalonia drops

Cement consumption in Catalonia dropped by 16.5% in the first half of the year, the Finanzas reported.
The decline was attributed to the falling activity in the construction sector in the recent months.

Industry group Ciment Català this was compounded by the protracted crisis in residential construction.

There is now cloud of uncertainty in the industry as there is still no time table for the expected recovery.

The association said the situation is more delicate than expected. Based on the semi-annual data, Catalonia’s cement consumption dropped more than in the whole of Spain.

Spain as a whole recorded a 10.2% decrease in cement use compared to the first half of 2010.

Cemex seen to narrow losses in Q2

Mexico’s Cemex is seen to cut its net loss in the second quarter of the year due to higher prices, although concerns over the company's debt situation linger, Reuters reported.

According to a Reuters poll of seven analysts, the giant cement maker is expected to post a $64-million loss in the April-June period, compared to a $306-million loss in the same period last year.

"In our opinion, the weak results in the second quarter had already been priced in by the market in the face of the slow recovery in Europe and weak housing indicators in the United States," said Santander analyst Gonzalo Fernandez.

Revenue is seen rising 8.6 percent to $4.09 billion on a combination of higher prices and a better exchange rate of the peso, the pound and the euro against the dollar during the period.

However, sales volumes in the United States and Europe, two of its key markets, may have declined. With operations in more than 50 countries, Cemex is seen posting only slight increases in operating results pressured by weak demand and higher energy costs, dampening the company's ability to generate enough cash to pay its heavy debt burden. Cemex has had to refinance its debt on several occasions to avoid interest payments from climbing further.

So far this year, Cemex has placed $4.1 billion in bonds and convertibles, and analysts expect the company to continue tapping international debt markets before $8.3 billion in debt comes due in 2014, the report said.

SERBIA: Holcim’s investments

Since the launch of operations in Serbia in 2002, Holcim Serbia has invested more than EUR100 million. In addition to investments in the production and technology, significant funds have been invested in the living environment and the local community.

So far, more than EUR10m has been allocated for various projects focused on environmental protection and preservation. One of major assets of Holcim are employees, and around EUR400,000 is invested annually in their education and professional development.

- Corporate social responsibility is part of Holcim’s strategy in all countries where it operates, and the same determination leads us in business operations in Serbia, where we invested EUR180,000 in CSR projects in 2010 only – said Gustavo Navarro, General Manager of Holcim Serbia.

The occupational health and safety policy in Holcim Serbia focuses on employees and aims to raise their awareness on the responsibility of each individual for their own life and life of their colleagues.

- A result of high level of occupational safety is confirmed by an evaluation of an expert commission, who has granted the maximum five stars to Holcim Serbia. Our employees are fully protected because we have the OHSAS 18001 certificate, which we implemented successfully – explained Aleksandar Obrenov, Occupational Safety and Health Director in Holcim Serbia.

The number of injuries in Holcim was reduced from 99 in 1999 to only two in 2010, confirming that a systemic approach and implementation of defined standards and principles at all levels can provide outstanding results. Today we have a result of 500 days with no injuries at work.

INDIA: Indian producers likely to face margin pressures

After enjoying a peak pricing power in March, cement companies are likely to face margin pressure in the April-June quarter, due to a combination of weak cement prices and sluggish demand because of the monsoons. Cement prices have already fallen to INR 266/bag from INR 276 in March and profits of leading companies likeACC, Ambuja and UltraTech could weaken further in the coming quarters if demand does not pick up, say analysts.

In addition, margins will also be impacted by higher interest and depreciation costs during Q1, said brokerages

"Lower demand from the infrastructure segment, slow pick-up in real estate activity and slow construction due to the onset of the monsoon led to the lower volume growth in the quarter," Jaspreet Singh Arora from Anand Rathi told moneycontrol.com.

"The sector continues to be plagued by cost pressures like the recent news flow of sharp hike in regulated coal prices in Indonesia could further dent margins as fuel costs might increase This, in turn would put severe pressure on profitability of manufacturers over the next 2-3 quarters," says a report by brokerage house Emkay.

INDONESIA: expects cement demand to surge in July

Cement demand in Indonesia are expected to rise in July, as builders rush to complete projects before the onset of Ramadan or fasting season, a report from Primair said.

"The sales of cement during fasting is estimated to be fall because construction activity will likely decrease," said Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association, Urip Timuryono said.

Urip mentioned, most of the development on property projects and infrastructure will be done by July so that cement sales in this month is expected to soar.

As of June 2011 cement sales increased by 20% to 4.1 million tons. ASI noted, cement sales figures throughout the first half of 2011 rose 15% to 22.4 million tons, the report said.

SAUDI ARABIA: Arabian Cement half-year net profits rise 40%.

Arabian Cement Company said net profits for the second quarter and half-year rose 37.5% and almost 40%, respectively, as increased production helped it capitalise on the demand for the material despite losses for a subsidiary.

The company said post-tax profits reached SAR111.7m ($30m) over the last three months, far ahead of the SAR81.2m 9 ($21.6m)posted in last year’s second quarter, though this is down slightly against this year’s first quarter. Gross profit rose 46% to SAR139.3m ($37.1m), with operating profit rising by a similar percentage.

Net profit for the first six month of the year reached SAR227.8m 9$60.7m), up 39.8% against the SAR162.9m (US$43.4m) last year.

AFRICA: ANGOLA: Luanda Govt, BPC, Nova-Cimangola sign agreement, Angola

An understanding protocol aimed to guaranteeing supply of national cement to contractors which perform public works linked to Luanda government was signed Wednesday, by the Savings and Credit Bank (BPC), Nova-Cimangola and Luanda Provincial Government (GPL).

The protocol was signed by the deputy governor for financial and productive area, Miguel Catraio, the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Savings and Credit Bank, Paixão Júnior, and the executive director of the Nova-Cimangola, Mário Medina.


The signing of the agreement was taken into account that public works are of great significance in Luanda, contributing significantly to the economic development and job creation across the supply chain, besides the positive effect of the corresponding taxation.


According to the protocol, it is necessary to ensure the quality of the work promoted by the Luanda government and meet the supply needs of businesses, at the right price.

CHINA: Cement strong demand hopes

China’s cement producers are higher on hopes for strong demand after the government speeds up the construction of social public housing in the second half, say analysts. The State Council said Thursday that China had began construction on more than 50% of the 10 million public housing units it has pledged to build this year as of the end of June. The reading is up from 30% as of May.

"The sector may still have some upside due to expectations of strong 1H earnings growth," says Huatai Securities analyst Zhou Lin, who adds that the government’s commitment to slash obsolete cement output capacity also lends support to cement prices.

AFRICA: GHANA: Price hikes attributable to power shortages.

Minister for Trade and Industry, Hannah Tetteh says the high cost of cement in the country is not due to the high cost of production, because the ex-factory price of cement has not changed since August 2009. She attributed the high cost to demand which has been on the high side, and the drastic power outages which affected the smooth production and supply of the commodity. 



Ms Tetteh disclosed this in Parliament yesterday when responding to a question on the cause of the short supply of cement in the country and its attendant high price increases. 

The question was posed by the Member of Parliament for Offinso South, Ben Abdallah Banda. 



The Minister stated that the retail price of cement has been stable since January to April 2011, until May this year when the average price of cement rose to its peak of GH¢18.00 for Ghacem and GH¢14.00 for Diamond Cement. 



She explained that between May and June 2011, the production plant of Ghacem at Tema, experienced drastic power outages of about 60 hours of power outages a week. This, she noted, adversely affected production and its attendant supply of cement for distribution and sale. 



Whilst within the same period, Diamond Cement Ghana limited also experienced a low level of production, due to irregular supply of raw materials.

RAK Cement sees further losses in second-quarter 2011

RAK Cement increased its losses for the second quarter and first half of this year against 2010.

Cement prices declined since the previous year to offset the strong production and sales volumes, the company stated to investors on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange today. It posted a loss of AED 5.2m for the second quarter, down on the AED 4.29m loss from the previous year, as sales fell 26% with a gross loss steady at AED 3.1m.

Over six months, the company’s revenue fell 25% from AED 129.2m to produce a net loss of AED 4.9m, more than triple the AED 1.26m loss at the same point last year. Total assets increased 0.24% in value to AED 823m against the end of June 2010 and shareholder equity fell from AED 767.4m to AED 760m.

TURKEY: Exports decline due to civil unrest

The instability and social unrest in the Middle East and North African countries has a negative impact on Turkish exports.

Turkey’s southern province of Antalya is experiencing a significant decline in cement exports this year due to Middle Eastern and North African turmoil, the head of the Antalya Free Trade Zone, or ASBAŞ, said during a Sunday meeting.

“Cement exports fell by 35 per cent in the first half of this year compared with last year,” said Zeki Gürses, general manager of ASBAŞ, speaking to press in Antalya. The city’s total exports of cement and barite in the first half of last year was at around 515,000t and declined to 335,000t by the first half of this year, he said.

The total trade volume of the Antalya Free Trade Zone reached US$75.3m by the end of the first half of 2011 compared to last year’s US$71.6m, according to official figures. “Despite the five per cent increase in total trade volume in this year’s first half compared with last year, our city’s cement and barite export was hit by the Middle Eastern and North African turmoil especially in January and February,” said Gürses.

INDONESIA: Production expected to rise to 59Mt in 2012

Indonesia’s cement production capacity is expected to rise to 59Mt next year, from 54.5Mt this year.

Additional capacity is expected from PT Semen Gresik and PT Semen Tonasa each 2.5Mt, the association of cement companies (ASI) said.

ASI chairman Urip Timuryono said last weekend additional capacity is needed to meet fast growing demand for cement in the country.

In 2013, there is more an additional capacity of 1.8Mt with the completion of a new factory of PT Holcim Indonesia.

Urip said Lafarge and two Chinese companies – China Anhui Conch Group and China Triumph International Engineering Co – are also planning to invest in cement industry in the country.