Friday, June 12, 2015

SOUTH KOREA: CRH investment spend set to pass €7bn with South Korea cement deal

CRH’s investment spend for this year looks set to inch past the €7bn mark, with the company heavily linked with an €800m move for the number two player in South Korea’s cement market.

CRH’s much-heralded €6.5bn purchase of assets being offloaded as part of the mega merger between European cement titans Holcim and Lafarge is due to formally conclude in August.

The Dublin-headquartered group is set to become the third largest building materials business in the world on the back of that deal, but management has already suggested it won’t be the limit of its 2015 spending.

Speaking after its May AGM, CRH chief executive Albert Manifold said that the group had a “very strong” acquisition pipeline, which is better than it has been for some considerable time.

The group spent €45m in the first four months of the year.

The €6.5bn spend will give it former Holcim/Lafarge assets in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Mr Manifold suggested, at the AGM, that the group currently has a separate €1bn US deal under consideration and a €700m deal; but also noted that CRH typically concludes around one-in-10 deals which come onto its radar.

If those deals came to pass, CRH’s 2015 investment spend would comfortably top €8bn.

“It looks like the latter could be the South Korean cement business. Given the cashflow generation of CRH – net debt to EBITDA set to be close to two times at the end of fiscal-year 2016 – we believe it has the scope to continue to take part in M&A,” commented Robert Eason of Goodbody Stockbrokers in a research note yesterday.

According to a Mergermarket report, Goldman Sachs has been appointed by CRH – which declined to comment, yesterday – to bid for Tongyang Cement & Energy.

The second largest player in the Korean market has a market value of nearly €600m. Its distressed owner, South Korean Tongyang, is reportedly putting a 74% stake on the market; with a $900m (€800m) price tag being touted.

While it was thought that the €700m deal could be a European target, if the Korean deal comes off it would further boost CRH’s Asian presence, already being improved via new assets in the Philippines coming on stream via the Holcim/Lafarge transaction. CRH said, at its AGM, that it will repackage its Asian operations into a separate grouped entity next year to cater for its growing size.

The South Korean market consumes about 45m tonnes of cement from total capacity of around 65m tonnes, according to reports.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

TUNISIA: Production en baisse contre une amélioration de l’exportation

Depuis le début de cette année jusqu’à fin avril, la production de ciments gris a atteint 2.98 millions de tonnes contre 3.16 millions de tonnes, sur la même période de l'année 2014, ce qui correspond à une baisse de 5.56%, d’après les derniers statistiques dévoilées par Taoufik Khardani, sous-directeur des industries des matériaux de construction au sein du Ministère de l'Industrie à Africanmanager.

Le responsable a ajouté dans le même contexte que les quantités vendues se sont élevées à 2.4 millions de tonnes contre 2.57 millions de tonnes jusqu’à fin avril 2014, soit une chute de 6.46%

590 milles tonnes de ciment ont été exportés durant les quatre premiers mois de 2015 contre 461 mille tonnes en 2014, soit une évolution de 28%. Cette évolution est due à la libéralisation de l’exportation des ciments gris, selon notre interlocuteur.

MOROCCO: Un mois de mais très morose pour les ventes de ciment

Le ministère de l’Habitat et de la politique de la ville a publié les chiffres relatifs à l’évolution de la consommation nationale de ciment au mois de mai 2015. Les ventes ont affiché une forte baisse qui efface la croissance enregistrée depuis le début de l’année.

Les ventes du ciment ont baissé, au cours du mois de mai 2015, de 6,33% par rapport au même mois de l’année précédente à 1.266.114 tonnes. En glissement mensuel (mai 2015­ mai 2014), cette baisse est plus importante, s’établissant à ­-8,47%. 

Ainsi, le mois de mai 2015 efface la croissance que le secteur du ciment a réalisée sur les quatre premiers mois de l’année en cours soit +1,4%. 

Cette contreperformance s’explique par une forte baisse des ventes du ciment dans trois régions à savoir Chaouia­Ourdigha avec -­29,01%, Guelmim­Es­Smara avec ­27,02% et Laâyoun­Boujdour­S­Elhamra avec - ­26,05%.

Décélération de la baisse sur les 5 premiers mois 

Toutefois, le marché de ciment a réduit sa baisse, à fin mai 2015, en comparaison à fin mai 2014 ou les ventes avaient reculé de 3,37%. En effet, sur les cinq premiers mois de l’année 2015, les ventes de ciment ont atteint un niveau de 6.172.299 tonnes en légère baisse de 0,33% par rapport à la même période de 2014.

Morosité des régions à volume significatif 

En termes d’analyse régionale des ventes sur les cinq premiers mois de 2015, la région de Guelmim­Es­Smara affiche la plus forte baisse avec ­-21%. 

Les autres régions à volume significatif qui connaissent une morosité sont ChaouiaOurdigha avec ­-18,6%, Meknès-­Tafilalt et l’Oriental avec ­6% chacune. Pour sa part, le Nord-Est continue de souffrir avec la baisse des ventes à Taza­-Al Hoceima-­Taounate de -­12,3% et à Fès­Boulemane de -­7,3%. 

Par ailleurs, la région du Grand Casablanca et de Rabat enregistrent une baisse respectivement de 4,4% et 2,9%.

Doukkala-­Abda affiche une bonne performance 

Pour les bonnes performances, la région Doukkala-­Abda consolide ses ventes avec une hausse de +30,3%. Cette hausse s’explique notamment par la construction de l’autoroute Safi­Jadida et du port de Safi. 

La région d’Oued Ed­Dahab­Lagouira affiche une hausse de +14,7%. Par ailleurs, le Gharb et le Sud se comportent bien avec une hausse des ventes du ciment à Gharb-­Cherarda-­B.Hssen de +9,7% et à Souss­-Massa-Drâa de +8,9%.

Le Nord du Maroc s’en tire plutôt bien avec une hausse des ventes de ciment de 1,7% à Tanger­Tétouan. 

Holcim Maroc subit le plus fort recul 

La lecture des chiffres relatifs à l’évolution de la consommation nationale de ciment au mois de mai 2015 laisse apparaître une situation négative pour l’activité de Holcim Maroc. En effet, l’opérateur cimentier voit ses marchés naturels (Fès, Oriental, Chaouia, Casablanca) dévisser de la même manière que ces marchés relais comme Meknès. 

Dans une moindre mesure, Lafarge Maroc souffre de la morosité des ses marchés naturels à savoir le Grand Casablanca et Meknès. Le cimentier compense timidement ce recul dans la région de Tétouan. 

De même, Ciments de l’Atlas (CIMAT) devrait subir l’impact défavorable de la forte baisse des ventes dans la région de Chaouia­Ourdigha. En revanche, CIMAT pourrait gagner des marges au niveau de la région Tadla-­Azilal

Cimar, le gagnant Enfin, 

Ciments du Maroc (Cimar) est probablement le plus gagnant des opérateurs cimentiers. En effet, Cimar devrait profiter de la forte reprise enregistrée sur la région Doukkala-­Abda. 


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

CHINA: Shanshui Cement New Loans Suspended Amid Shareholder Scrap

China Shanshui Cement Group Ltd. said some banks have halted new loans and suppliers are demanding immediate repayment after a court put one of the cement maker’s main shareholders into receivership.

Some joint venture partners have also said they wanted to review their relationship with the company, Shanshui Cement said in a statement Wednesday in Hong Kong.

The firm’s finances are likely to be impacted by the actions amid lawsuits against China Shanshui Investment, which controls a quarter of the cement maker, said Shanshui Cement. The dispute, fueled by disgruntled employee shareholders, led to Hong Kong’s High Court last month appointing receivers for more than 40 percent of China Shanshui Investment, in the nation’s latest corporate governance conflict.

“The development is very credit negative,” said Trung Nguyen, credit analyst at Lucror Analytics in Singapore. “Any dispute among shareholders is discomforting to creditors.”

Shanshui Cement’s $500 million 7.5 percent bonds due 2020 fell 5.6 cents to 87.6 cents on the dollar as of 3:45 p.m. in Hong Kong, paring earlier losses of as much as 10 cents. The stock has been suspended from trading since April.
Not Leaving

Shandong-based Shanshui Cement said last month that more than 2,400 employees have filed lawsuits in Hong Kong since August against an ex-director Li Yanmin, and founder Zhang Caikui, who owns 38.5 percent of China Shanshui Investment. The claims include a misappropriation of share interests those employees owned.

The court subsequently appointed receivers over 43.3 percent of China Shanshui Investment’s shares not owned by the two individuals, Shanshui Cement said in a May 21 filing.

Henry Li, the cement maker’s head of finance, said some employees involved in the lawsuit had told banks and suppliers that Zhang Caikui and Chairman Zhang Bin were leaving the firm. Li said both men are still with the company.

The cement industry is struggling to recover amid a slowing property market. Fitch Ratings Ltd. downgraded Shanshui Cement in April to BB-, three levels below investment grade, citing weak cement prices. The company’s average selling price for its products has fallen around 10 percent this year compared to the same period in 2014, according to Shirley Han, credit analyst at UBS Group AG in Hong Kong.
More Pressure

“The employee law suits will negatively impact the daily operations of Shanshui Cement and its future business development,” said Winnie Guo, an analyst at Fitch in Hong Kong. “The latest actions taken by lenders and suppliers/contractors due to the ongoing law suits would put further strain on the liquidity of the company.”

Shanshui Cement had 1.2 billion yuan of cash against short-term debt of 4.3 billion yuan at the end of 2014, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

In April, the company repaid early a $400 million bond due in 2017. It’s also been forced to redeem a 2016 bond of the same amount after China Tianrui Group Cement Co.increased its stake to 28.2 percent, triggering a change of control clause, adding to liquidity pressure. Li said the company is on track to complete the redemption.

BRAZIL: Camargo pretende vender parte da cimenteira InterCement

Para levantar recursos, a Camargo Corrêa pretende vender parte de sua empresa de cimentos. A intenção do grupo é encontrar um sócio disposto a comprar de 10% a 18% da InterCement, de acordo com o jornal Folha de S.Paulo.

A fatia poderia render de R$ 2 bilhões a R$ 3,6 bilhões, segundo o jornal. A porcentagem ainda está em discussão no conselho de administração da companhia.

A InterCement é uma das maiores produtoras de cimento do mundo e a principal empresa do grupo hoje. Ela é dona de 40 fábricas pelo mondo e, no Brasil é a segunda maior do mercado de cimentos, atrás da Votorantim.

No ano passado, a empresa teve faturamento de 8 bilhões de reais. Hoje, a área de cimento responde por mais de 30% da receita da Camargo, que faturou R$ 26 bilhões no ano passado.

Em abril, a companhia estava avaliando opções para a InterCement. Na época, uma das alternativas era fechar algumas operações que não são lucrativas e pouco estratégicas.

Ela havia informado que estava cortando parte de seus investimentos para priorizar a redução de endividamento, que em 2014 era de 2,6 bilhões de reais.

Com a venda de 10% a 18% da divisão, a empresa poderá fazer novos investimentos, principalmente no exterior, em países como Moçambique, Paraguai e Egito, segundo a Folha.
Distância das obras públicas

De acordo com o jornal, a Camargo Corrêa pretende fortalecer a área de cimento, mudando seu perfil e reduzindo a presença no setor de obras públicas.

No começo de junho, a força-tarefa da Operação Lava Jato pediu a condenação de alguns dos principais dirigentes da empresa.

Eles foram presos em novembro de 2014 sob acusação de envolvimento com o cartel de empreiteiras que se apossou de contratos bilionários da Petrobras.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

ZIMBABWE: Lafarge to invest more on plant upgrades

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed cement manufacturer Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has secured approval from its France-based parent company, Lafarge Group, to invest an additional $5 million on plant upgrades this year. 

The cement maker last year announced plans to invest about $10 million-$15 million on upgrading its milling plant to increase production by nearly a third of current capacity and bring approved investment threshold to $20 million. According to the company, the plant upgrades will push its volumes to 500 000 tonnes of cement per annum from 390 000 tonnes. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting, Lafarge Zimbabwe chief executive Ms Amal Tantawi told The Herald Business that the company has managed to secure an additional funding for the upgrade of the plant. “We are continuing the investment. We secured an approval for an additional $5 million and all the investments will go towards rehabilitation of the plant, refurbishing inlets to the kiln and other small things that will reduce costs. 

“In terms of our outlook for 2015, we are slightly above budget when it comes to EBITDA. Preparatory work done at the plant has started bearing fruits and we hope this new investment approved will go a long way in enhancing our cost-cutting initiatives based on plant efficiencies,” said Ms Tantawi.

She said despite the difficult economic environment, Lafarge invested $7,2 million in capital programmes, with $5 million going to limestone quarry development. Ms Tantawi said the company has found it difficult to export citing lack of competitiveness as the biggest challenge for the leading local cement manufacturer. 

“As Lafarge we cannot compete on the export market at the moment because our business environment at the moment is expensive to operate on and it’s difficult to compete with cement from the east coast, Pakistan and China. 

Demand has been flat and recently we have seen the entry of new players in the local market where disposable incomes remains subdued coupled with lack of huge infrastructural projects,” said Ms Tantawi. The Lafarge CEO said as demand remains subdued, they have implemented differentiation strategy. 

She said new players coming into the market were imitating their brands and Lafarge is working towards strengthening its brand equity. She said the coming of new players on the domestic market has seen Lafarge Zimbabwe’s market share declining to 27 percent from 31 percent last year. “At the moment we stand at 27 percent in terms of market share down from 31 percent,” she said. 

The company’s revenue for the year to December 2014 was down 11 percent at $60 million from $67 million in the previous comparative period as a result of a reduction in local sales volumes and cement selling prices. The liquidity constrains and the low average manufacturing capacity utilisation continues to have an adverse impact on the company’s business activities. 

Last year the company incurred high maintenance costs in the first half of the year, following major plant maintenance works undertaken to improve performance. Despite the difficult operating environment the company recorded a modest operating profit before income, finance costs and tax of $1,1 million last year.

GHANA: Cement Producers Form Association

Local cement manufacturing companies have formed a new association to protect and accelerate the development of the industry in Ghana.

The Ghana Cement Manufacturers Association (GCMA) will also promote the interest of its members through collaboration.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated May 12, this year, named the founding companies as GHACEM Limited, Diamond Cement Ghana Limited and Savannah Diamond Company Limited.

Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah, Strategy & Corporate Affairs Director of GHACEM, was named chairman of an interim executive body comprising two representatives from GHACEM and one each from Diamond and Savannah cement companies.

They are N. Venkatesh, Finance Director of Diamond Cement (Vice Chair/Secretary), Dominik Michel, Finance Director of GHACEM (member) and B. V. K. Raju, General Manager of Savannah Diamond (member).

The association, the MoU revealed, “is not a cartel, but an umbrella body for cement manufacturers in the country.

“By cement manufacturer, we mean any company who owns and operates at least a cement grinding facility in Ghana,” it said.

As such, it will liaise with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to “promote, lobby, advocate and support matters affecting the cement manufacturing industry in the country.”

Patrons of the association include Morten Gade, Managing Director of GHACEM and Manubhai J. Patel, Chairman of Diamond Cement Group.

Monday, June 8, 2015

COTE D´IVOIRE: Pénurie de ciment - Les premières commandes d'importation arrivées

Pour cette première commande, ce sont les sociétés Cimaf et Socim qui sont concernées. L'arrivée du navire pour le premier opérateur sus-cité s'effectue au Port autonome d'Abidjan et le deuxième au Port autonome de San Pedro.

Les premières commandes d'importation arrivéesLa promesse faite par le gouvernement d'importer 300.000 tonnes de ciment pour combler le déficit constaté au premier trimestre de l'année 2015, du fait de la forte demande pour les grands travaux d'infrastructures, est en train d'être tenue. En effet, les premières commandes de ciment pour la première phase de l'opération d'importation seront livrées à partir du vendredi 5 juin 2015.

Le gouvernement a bénéficié de l'assistance de la compagnie marocaine Ciment d'Afrique pour cette opération d'urgence.Pour cette première commande, ce sont les sociétés Cimaf et Socim qui sont concernées. L'arrivée du navire pour le premier opérateur sus-cité s'effectue au Port autonome d'Abidjan et le deuxième au Port autonome de San Pedro. Et les différentes quantités relatives à cette première phase d'importation s'élèvent respectivement à 20 000 tonnes et 22 000 tonnes, nous dit le ministère de l'Industrie et des Mines. Tout en rassurant que les livraisons des autres sociétés (Sca, Socimat) vont suivre les jours à venir.Depuis 2012, la production du ciment est en constante hausse en Côte d'Ivoire.

PAKISTAN: CEMENT CONSUMPTION REGISTERS 8PC GROWTH

Robust growth of 8.07 per cent in domestic cement consumption in the month of May 2015 was overshadowed by most depressing decline of 26.13 per cent in exports that resulted in an overall decline of 0.39 per cent in the cement despatches compared with May 2014.

A spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association said the cement industry in Pakistan was still operating below capacity despite almost 7.98 per cent growth in the domestic consumption during the first 11 months of this fiscal. He said overall decline in exports in the first 11 months of 2014-15 was 10.82 per cent that restricted the total growth in the industry to only 3.47 per cent.

The data released by APCMA reveals that cement industry despatched 25.492 million tons of cement for domestic market during July-May period of this fiscal against 23.608 million tons despatched during the corresponding period last year.

CHINA: Cement Alley in decline as economy falters

Yang Zengkui climbs a hill behind his small restaurant on the industrial outskirts of Shijiazhuang. Under a blue sky that was once rare here, he looks out over China’s Cement Alley. Twenty, maybe 30, cement plants are visible. It’s hard to count them all: tucked into hillsides, standing tall beside a reservoir, wedged between wheat fields.

Easier to count is how many are still operating.

“Two,” Mr. Yang says, squinting against the sun. The rest are closed, some already razed and reduced to pits of wrecking ball rubble.

Mix together limestone, calcium, silicon and a few other ingredients at 1,500 C and you have cement. You also have one of the single most important ingredients in China’s remarkable rise.

Factories built China’s exports to the world. But cement built China: the vast forests of high-rises that populate its new cities, the innumerable roads and bridges that connect them and the endless bullet-train lines that propelled the country’s race away from poverty. China famously used more cement in three years than the U.S. in the entire 20th century.

But as China’s economy falters and its leadership scrambles to find new foundations for growth, cement’s seemingly unstoppable reign is suddenly in question. This year, for the first time since 2000, Chinese cement output is falling. In April, cement output fell 7.3 per cent from last year, and the decrease appears to be gaining speed. To date in 2015, cement is down 4.8 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Prices in some places have been cut in half, sapping momentum from an industry that until recently enjoyed 11-per-cent profit rates. Now, the industry says most companies in northern China are losing money.

It’s a startling change. Even last year, Chinese cement output was up 1.8 per cent, capping a roaring expansion that saw China rise from just over a third of the world’s demand in 2002 to nearly two-thirds in 2012, when it used 27 times more cement than the U.S.

The most recent years were so ebullient that Gao Zhi calls it the “crazy time.”

Now it looks to be over, said Ms. Gao, the dean of the cement industry consultancy at the China Development Strategy Institute for Building Materials Industry, which both helps set national policy and monitors the industry. She uses a pen to sketch a line graph that rises quickly before levelling off and then plunging. It’s meant to show concrete demand over time. She points to the apex. China is now here, she says, and may experience a brief plateau. Over the next two decades, she expects a big decline. “The fall in demand could be 30 per cent, or even 50 per cent,” she said.

It’s no outlier prediction: The Chinese industry has studied places like Japan and Taiwan, and discovered that “from peak to trough, the difference in demand could be 50 per cent or so,” said Chen Bailin, a deputy director at the China Cement Association. “But as for whether that will take 10, 20 or 30 years – that’s hard to say.”

The new reality for cement is reflective of the ways China itself is changing. The “industry is closely related to the macro economy and national policies,” said Qu Hui, vice-general manager of Gansu Shangfeng Cement Co. Ltd., one of China’s top 20 cement companies, in a written answer to questions. “The slowdown in economic growth and the weakening of investment in fixed assets and infrastructure construction all have a major impact on cement demand.”

Some of this might be for China’s good, since the recent boom squandered huge amounts of cement used as unnecessary construction filler and overbuilt “fat beams.” The industry also suffers from gross overcapacity, with nearly a quarter more cement plants than needed.

But the drop this year has been not in capacity but in actual output, which “is certainly an important signal that the Chinese economy is not doing well,” said Chi Lo, senior greater China economist with BNP Paribas. The change is, in part, intentional. “The government wants the economy to slow in order to push through structural changes,” he said.

It is also pushing companies to grow beyond China as opportunities at home diminish. All of the country’s top cement makers have launched overseas operations. Shangfeng recently entered a joint venture to build a $114-million (U.S.) cement plant in Kyrgyzstan and has its eyes on “newly booming markets in southeast Asia, Africa and South America,” Mr. Qu said. “We will work to become a trusted, respected international supplier.”

But Shijiazhuang’s Cement Alley, and the people who made it run, have no overseas option – and the trouble they’ve seen offers a preview of the dislocations that China’s massive economic changes stand to bring. Dozens of local cement plants have been shut down by government order, many of them older facilities with outdated technology and outsized contributions to pollution that, until recently, made this a place so smoggy that blue sky rarely appeared.

If they had a choice, however, few of those who live here would trade cleaner air for their jobs.

Every morning at 5:30, beside a gas station on the outskirts of Shijiazhuang, a crowd assembles on electric mopeds. They are workers in ball caps, olive fatigues and canvas shoes. This is one of several local cash corners that have dramatically grown in recent years, as men – and a few women – without work gather in hopes someone will come and hire them for the day. One worker estimates 3,000 come here every day, and that 80 per cent to 90 per cent once worked at cement plants.

Plant owners received compensation when they were ordered to shut down. None of the workers The Globe and Mail spoke to had received anything.

They come to cash corner willing to do anything: Swing a hammer, haul bricks, pull weeds. But they are largely unskilled – an employer looking for carpenters can find none – and the flood of desperation has lowered a day’s pay from $60 to as low as $20. Mr. Ling, a 34-year-old man with two children, now gets work only on half the days he comes here. “There are fewer bosses coming and more people looking for work,” he says.

Another man chimes in: “China is a country where the people feed the nation and make it rich. It’s not like foreign countries where the nation feeds the people,” he says. In Shijiazhuang, in other words, what the postcement world looks like depends on the workers’ own ability to reinvent themselves.

It’s not simple. Take Mr. Yang, who figures 30 per cent of those in his home village of Nanbaozhuang once worked in cement. Now they’re either farming – for a third the income – or leaving town to find jobs. Some have sought new futures in growing grapes or walnuts. But the local village secretary recently rented out big chunks of their communal land to an outsider who wants to build an ecopark. Nearly 20 families petitioned for change, but haven’t succeeded.

Mr. Yang himself rented office space from a shuttered cement plant. The rent was cheap, and he figured he could use the space to manufacture solar equipment. “It’s low-carbon and environmentally friendly. The country has policies to support it,” he says. But he hasn’t been able secure a partner or funding.

So instead he runs a small restaurant, where patrons can sit on stained plastic chairs to slurp noodles under a sign advertising 60-cent beers. Business hasn’t been good, with most of the nearby cement plants closing. One of his customers says she hasn’t bought new shoes in two years. “We are all under pressure,” Mr. Yang says. “As construction stops, who is going to use cement?”

ARGENTINA: San Luis: primera en el ranking en el consumo de cemento

El informe de la Construcción de la Consultora Economía y Regiones señala que, en el mes de abril, San Luis fue la provincia que más aumentó el consumo de cemento, triplicando la media nacional.

El estudio revela además que, durante el mes de marzo, San Luis fue la provincia que más aumentó el número de puestos de trabajo registrados en el sector de la construcción, superando ampliamente la media nacional. Cabe destacar que en el acumulado de 2015, San Luis lidera ambos índices.

En Villa de Merlo, según los datos oficiales, durante el 2014 el sector privado invirtió en construir unos 39.580 metros cuadrados, aplicados a locales comerciales, viviendas unifamiliares, cabañas y alojamientos. Durante el 2013, la cifra fue de 43.600 metros cuadrados de construcción y en el 2012, un poco menor: 30.910 metros cuadrados, mientras que en el 2011 había sido de unos 37.000 metros cuadrados.

El consumo de cemento en la provincia creció un 61,6% interanual en abril de 2015, logrando que San Luis se posicione como la provincia que registró mayor aumento en el consumo de cemento de todo el país, por encima de Río Negro (49,7%), Neuquén (41,8%) y Formosa (28,6%). El primer cuatrimestre del año de este rubro es liderado ampliamente por San Luis, que acumula un crecimiento del 40,1%, mientras que la media nacional es del 9,7%.

Además, es importante destacar que no obstante al pleno empleo que posee San Luis en la actualidad, la provincia volvió a crecer en generación de puestos de trabajo. En la comparación interanual de mes de marzo, los puestos de trabajo relacionados a la construcción de San Luis registraron un crecimiento del 66,2%.

Estas estadísticas, confeccionadas en base a datos de IERIC, Grupo Construya, INDEC y Asociación Fabricantes de Cemento Portland, reflejan la magnitud de la obra pública realizada por el Gobierno de San Luis en comparación con el resto del país.

La Provincia lleva adelante una política de obras públicas intensa, que además de mejorar la calidad de vida de miles de sanluiseños, genera miles de puestos de trabajo a lo largo de toda su geografía y repercute positivamente en los otros sectores de la economía provincial.

ETHIOPIA: CEOs Converge on Ethiopia as Dangote Opens $500m Cement Plant

Leaders of Nigeria’s private sector along with public sector players converged yesterday in Ethiopia as Dangote Cement Plc officially opened its new plant in the country.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Stephen Olabisi Onasanya; Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State; Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola; and Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, were among the many captains of industry who graced the opening of the 2.5 million metric tonnes cement plant in the Oromia region, Ethiopia.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Ato Hailemariam Desalegn, who led other government officials from the country, commended Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote for the timely completion of the factory, stating: “I give you my word that I will be personally supporting this project and all your other projects in the future.”

The prime minister praised Ethiopia's rapid economic development, crediting the unprecedented growth of the nation’s economy to the inflow of massive foreign investments to the country.

“Within a short time, we have become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, yet we have only just scratched the surface.

“The amount of foreign investment entering the country will continue to increase, taking advantage of the comparative and competitive edge that Ethiopia provides,” Desalegn said.

Also speaking at the event, Emefiele said the Dangote initiative underscores the importance of fostering intra-Africa investments.
He stated: “Africans must first and foremost invest in Africa. We need to promote a symbiotic and mutually beneficial flow of direct investments within the continent.

“The recent endeavours of Alhaji Aliko Dangote confirm that Africans have the capacity to drive the continent’s economic integration, growth and development, rather than depend almost entirely on foreign investors.”

He hailed Dangote for braving the odds and increasing investment across the continent at a time the regional economy of sub-Saharan Africa and the economies of the constituent countries seem to be slowing down due largely to the impact of exogenous global shocks.
In his remarks, Dangote said the company is currently simultaneously setting up new cement plants and terminals across 16 African countries including Ethiopia, in pursuit of the long term target of becoming one of the world’s biggest cement producers.

According to Dangote, “We believe that manufacturing and not trading is the best way to grow an economy. This event which we are witnessing today attests to the fact that we took the right decision when we decided to transit from a trading company in our home country Nigeria into manufacturing in 1996.

“It might interest you to know that we are now not only self-sufficient in cement production in Nigeria where Dangote accounts for over 60 per cent of the market, we now also export cement.”

He noted that his company was also investing substantially in other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, oil and gas, petroleum refining, fertiliser production and petrochemicals, adding, “In all, we have 13 subsidiaries in Nigeria and we are investing about $16 billion between now and 2018 in new projects and existing plants.” 

Dangote said the Ethiopian plant was his company’s sixth offshore plant that has commenced operation in Africa, identifying the other countries as Senegal, Cameroun, Ghana, South Africa, and Zambia.

TANZANIA: Cement makers share prices fall

Share prices of cement firms listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) slid during the last five months raising fears of marginal dividends among investors.

The situation was largely due to lowered investors’ appetite and demand for the two stocks at DSE. According to analysts, the whole manufacturing sector was last year marred by increased taxes, particularly, the 25 per cent increase of excise duty on July 2014.

Zan Securities Limited Chief Executive Officer Mr Raphael Masumbuko said in Dar es Salaam in an interview that hiked levies and duties on cement impacted heavily on the profitability of the companies.

“As cement production costs increases, the profitability is directly affected to hit heavily on the shareholders returns or dividends,” he said.

When shareholders returns dwindle, appetite for the current and potential investors to go for the stocks decline as well. For example, the percentage average change of Twiga Cement shares since January is 13.75 per cent down while Simba cement is 10.12 per cent.

Orbit Securities Limited General Manager Mr Juventus Simon shared the concern of the dwindling mood of the two stocks and underscored the need for the government to take swift measures to protect domestic industries.

Apart from increased costs, cement investors decried the importation of cheap cement from some Asian countries, thus creating unnecessary competitions in the market.