COLOMBIA: Gerente saliente de EPM presidirá a Cementos Argos

El llamado Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (GEA) rompió su marcada tradición de los últimos años de elegir de su “cantera” a los líderes para sus negocios más representativos.

Y eso pasó ayer al conocerse que el gerente saliente de Empresas Públicas de Medellín,Juan Esteban Calle Restrepo, quien deja el cargo el 31 de diciembre, fue elegido como nuevo presidente de Cementos Argos, a partir del primero de abril de 2016.

Incluso ayer Calle estuvo de paso por las oficinas principales de Cementos Argos, en El Poblado, y estrechó las manos de los directivos que acompañarán su gestión.

También se reunió con Jorge Mario Velásquez Jaramillo, quien sucederá a su mentor José Alberto Vélez Cadavid en la presidencia de Grupo Argos, matriz del conglomerado de infraestructura y, en términos prácticos, será el nuevo jefe de Calle.

Cabe anotar que su designación estuvo a cargo de la Junta Directiva de la cementera, en su mayoría miembros independientes, y que el proceso tuvo en cuenta una amplia baraja de candidatos internos y externos.

De hecho, entre el sonajero del hermético proceso se oyeron nombres como el de Mauricio Ossa Echeverri, vicepresidente de la Regional Caribe y Centroamérica de la cementera, cargo que justamente ocupó Velásquez Jaramillo, antes de llegar a la Presidencia en 212. También surgió el nombre de Tomás Restrepo Pérez, vicepresidente de la Regional Colombia e hijo de Nicanor Restrepo, quien también ha hecho una exitosa carrera al interior de Argos.

Ahora Calle Restrepo tendrá que ponerse a estudiar del mundo técnico del cemento, pero no tanto de estrategia y de internacionalización, dos de los aspectos que más sobresalen de su destacada gestión en EPM.

Así que en sus manos, desde 2016, y con una hoja de ruta muy clara de Argos, será quien lidere la expansión a más geografías y profundización de mercados del principal negocio de Grupo Argos.

La cementera líder de Colombia ya tiene presencia en 13 países, exportaciones a más de 30 y un equipo de 9.600 empleados que reman para el mismo lado: crecer con sostenibilidad.

IRELAND: Used tyres to reduce costs at Irish Cement 's Limerick plant

Irish Cement will burn used tyres at temperatures higher than those in a volcano in a bid to cut costs and secure jobs at its Limerick plant.

The company plans to switch to dry waste material such as rubber from used tyres and plastic to heat the kiln at the Castlemungret plant which employs 80 on the outskirts of the city.

The switch will cut costs, make the plant cleaner and more competitive, according to the company.

A spokesman for Irish Cement said they will shortly be lodging a planning application with Limerick City and County Council for the replacement of fossil fuel with alternative fuels and raw materials to improve the sustainability of their operations.

The company will also be seeking a revision of its licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Limerick is Ireland’s oldest cement plant, having commenced operations 77 years ago.

"Its continuous operation has been sustained by continuous investment in new technologies and processes.

"After the recent period of reduced demand, production is once again on the increase at home and abroad for cement.

"This fuel replacement programme will be key to sustaining this growth,” said Castlemungret plant manager, Pat Robinson.

“Based on exerience in other cement plants in Ireland and throughout Europe, the opportunity to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels will prove critical to our ability to operate competitively and sustain jobs at Irish Cement Limerick into the future.”

Councillors from the Limerick City West metropolitan district were briefed on the plan earlier this week when they met senior executives from the company.

In making cement, the kiln has to be heated to over 1,400 degrees, higher than the 1,100 degrees a volcano reaches.

Thousands of tons of used tyres will be ferried to the plant along with shredded plastics which waste disposal companies cannot process.

Used tyres now piling up around the country pose a major problem with regards to their proper disposal.

The making of cement involves the mixing of materials including limestone, slate, ore, ash and heating them to nearly 1,500 degrees.

The ash used at the Limerick cement plant is brought from the ESB Money Point Power station in west Clare.

MÉXICO: Cementos de Chihuahua recibe orden de embargo

El grupo cementero de Chihuahua (GCC), con operaciones en México y Estados Unidos, anunció que su filial GCC of América recibió una notificación de embargo emitida por una corte estadounidense. 

La nota fue enviada por la disputa que sostiene con la empresa Compañía de Inversiones Mercantiles (Cimsa), en torno a la venta hace cuatro años de su participación con la Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce).

Desde entonces Cimsa, que en ese entonces tenía el control de Soboce, ha demandado a la compañía cementera mexicana por la forma en que vendió su interés de 47.02% en esa empresa a la compañía peruana Consorcio Cementero del Sur (CCS).

Para Cimsa, con esa venta Cementos Chihuahua incumplió el acuerdo por el que debió ofrecerle la opción de adquirir las acciones de Soboce en primera instancia. No es claro si la compañía mexicana incumplió con eso antes de la venta de su participación en Soboce a CCS.

Hasta ahora, sin embargo, Cimsa parece ir arriba en la disputa, pues ya ganó un fallo al respecto proveniente de la Comisión Interamericana de Arbitraje Comercial. 

Ese fallo fue el que de hecho provocó que la corte del Distrito de Colorado, en Estados Unidos, emitiera la mencionada notificación de embargo.

ZAMBIA: Zambezi Portland Cement Doesn’t Owe Dangote

A new legal dispute has come before the Lusaka courts as two of the top cement producers clash over a purchase deal.

Dangote Industries Zambia Ltd., a newcomer to Zambia owned by the Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, has filed suit against Zambezi Portland Cement Ltd. (ZPC) seeking to back out of a paid transaction for the construction of their plant. ZPC has conversely filed a counter suit against Dangote Industries disputing their claim and pointing to the rights of the contract.

One year ago, as Dangote Industries was building its cement plant, the company entered into an agreement to purchase 990 tonnes of cement from ZPC – although this deal had been made under the previous illegal management of Rajan Mahtani, who has since been removed from the management. Now, according to the suit, the Nigerians want more than 800 ,000 kwacha to be returned to them instead of taking the cement they already bought.

According to the counter-suit, Zambezi Portland has nevertheless fully honoured its past contractual commitments and supplied all the cement to Dangote Industries that was paid for, and are awaiting collection of the product.

Zambezi Portland is in the business of selling cement, not investment banking, said one source at the courts with knowledge of the dispute. Dangote Industries must come collect the product they have paid for, he said, otherwise they don’t have a case to stand on.

NIGERIA: Infrastructure, housing to drive cement demand, says BUA chief

Demand for cement will be driven by building of infrastructure and housing development, Executive Director, BUA Group, Kabiru Rabiu has said.

He said the firm’s target is to increase its capacity to 10 million metric tonnes per year by 2018.

He said the company acquired a controlling stake at the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, as well as Edo Cement.This is in addition to being one of the 13 companies given licences to bring in bulk cement into the local market.

On how the plant is powered, he said the company established 30 kilometres of gas pipeline to power their cement plant in Edo State.

He predicted that cement price will remain stable in the short term and gradually drop in the medium term.

Speaking at an investor conference, Rabiu said though BUA started as a trading company, importing rice, cement and flour, it later turned to a major integrated manufacturer of these products locally thereby creating thousands of jobs for in the country.

“The company started as a trading entity importing rice, edible oil, cement as well as flour into the Nigerian market. Over the years, it began the production of what it previously imported like edible oil as well as rice and flour milling,” he said.

He said by 2005, the firm established its first flour mill in Lagos, followed by another in Kano with 5.5 million tonnes milling capacity per day.

Also, in 2008, BUA Group set up the second-largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa, which is situated in Lagos with installed capacity of 720,000 metric tones, he added.

“At the moment, companies within the group are separate entities within different divisions. We have the Infrastructure division and then we have the foods division. In the infrastructure segment, we have cement, real estate, steel and port operations,” Rabiu said.

He explained that massive infrastructure projects, commercial and residential housing development will drive cement demand in Nigeria. The BUA boss said he learnt from informed sources that President Muhammdu Buhari’s administration planned to spend about $20 billion starting from next year on infrastructure.

CHINA: Anhui Conch to Double West China Cement Stake in Consolidation

Anhui Conch Cement Co. agreed to more than double its stake in smaller rival West China Cement Ltd. for HK$4.59 billion ($592 million) amid consolidation in an industry suffering from overcapacity.

Conch International Holdings (HK) Ltd., a wholly owned unit of Anhui Conch, plans to increase its holding in Shaanxi-based West China to 51.57 percent from the current 21.17 percent, the companies said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange Friday. If the transaction goes through, Anhui Conch will have to make a mandatory cash offer for all shares of West China it doesn’t own, the filing showed.

China’s cement producers, already hurting from falling property construction, will face new challenges under the country’s next Five-Year development plan starting 2016. Demand probably will be constrained by slower economic growth and a broader shift to a consumption model from one that’s investment-driven, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michelle Leung wrote in a note Nov 6. 

Shares of West China will resume trading Monday after being suspended Nov. 19, according to the filing.

Cement Units

West China agreed to buy four units of Anhui Conch and will issue shares in itself to pay for the purchase, the companies said in the filing. West China will issue 3.403 billion shares at HK$1.35 each -- a 6.9 percent discount to its last traded price of HK$1.45 -- for a total of HK$4.59 billion. The issuance will raise Anhui Conch’s stake in West China.

Should Anhui Conch be required to make an offer for the rest of West China, it will pay HK$1.69 in cash for each share, according to the filing. That’s the same as the subscription price of shares West China last sold to Anhui Conch in June.

Bloomberg Intelligence identified West China as one of 17 possible merger and acquisition targets among China cement producers, according to another note from Leung. The most likely candidates show losses and carry substantial debt, she wrote.

New-home building starts in China, a leading indicator of real estate construction, fell 24 percent in October from a year earlier, according to the nation’s statistics bureau.

AUSTRALIA: LafargeHolcim says Australian business not up for sale

LafargeHolcim, the world's largest cement producer, said its Australian and New Zealand operations are not on the sale block. 

Speculation has emerged that the newly created Swiss-French building materials company may exit from the region. LafargeHolcim announced a plan last week to divest almost $5 billion of assets in 2016 after posting weaker-than-expected third-quarter results.

That has left the door open to a possible $3 billion spin-off after the completion of a $60 billion global merger.

But in an internal email sent to staff on Monday, Holcim Australia chief executive Mark Campbell said the company was "not currently being sold" but could not rule out an exit in the long term.

"I have checked whether the LafargeHolcim group had made a decision to sell the businesses in Australia and New Zealand and started a sale process without my knowledge, and the answer I have received is no," Mr Campbell said.

"That said, as we know, organisations change focus over time and it is impossible to say that we will always be part of the LafargeHolcim group."

Australian-listed rivals, including Boral, Fletcher Building and Adelaide Brighton, are seen as potential acquirers should the multinational giant choose to sell off its local arm, and Ireland's CRH may also be interested if a sale proceeds.

However, Morgan Stanley said many of LafargeHolcim's local competitors may run into competition issues given the market is concentrated among several large players.

"Should Adelaide Brighton fully participate, we cannot rule out that the 50 per cent share in Cement Australia would be divested due to Australian regulations, given Adelaide Brighton's already-strong share in cement," Morgan Stanley analyst James Rutledge said.

Other players such as Fletcher and Boral may also face acquisition issues.

"While we think Fletcher Building is unlikely to be in a position to participate in industry consolidation, a change in owner that was less integrated into the region may be a positive for Fletcher Building at the margin," Mr Rutledge said. "Given Boral's strong share in aggregates and the concrete market, we believe it will be difficult to participate in industry consolidation. Any transaction in the space, however, could focus the market on the sum-of-the-parts value for Boral."

LafargeHolcim chief executive Eric Olsen last week acknowledged weakness in Australia during an investor conference call, where its third-quarter earnings fell 1.1 per cent to 7.83 billion francs ($10.6 billion), missing a consensus forecast.

"What's happening in Australia is you've got a lot of infrastructure projects, which are slowing down, and its overall economic effect in the economy," said Mr Olsen. "And we've seen [aggregates] price declines going down – prices going down in Australia and ... we all see the mining sector in Australia which has been strongly impacted."

Expansion 

Mr Campbell said he has been surprised by speculation the Australian and New Zealand division could be sold but told the company's 3000 staff not to be distracted by the rumours. 

"I was not aware of any such speculation until the story was printed and I, like many of you no doubt, was caught a bit by surprise," he said. "As you know our priority is keeping people safe, meeting our customers' needs and meeting our financial targets. That's what we all need to stay focused on."

While Lafarge has a limited local presence in Australia and New Zealand, Holcim has beefed up its operations after buying a string of Australian assets from Mexico's Cemex in 2009 for $2 billion, and now boasts more than 350 sites nationwide. .

Cemex paid $16 billion to buy Australia's United States-focused Rinker Group – a former subsidiary of CSR – in 2007 in a hostile takeover battle but struggled to repay debts on the transaction after the 2008 financial crisis crimped borrowing and construction activity.

Holcim swooped in to buy the local Australian assets from Cemex, establishing the Swiss-based company as one of the country's biggest cement makers.

Holcim made the decision last year to close its New Zealand manufacturing plants, with cement to instead be imported to its Auckland and Timaru plants from a Mitsubishi-owned plant in Japan.

LafargeHolcim will host a capital-markets day for investors on Tuesday when it may directly comment on the possible divestments, according to Morgan Stanley.

REP. DOMINICANA: Minas dice Industria y Comercio certifica no hay concesión de explotación para cementera de los Abinader

El Ministerio de Energía y Minas informó que el Ministerio de Industria y Comercio le ha certificado que en sus archivos mineros no hay evidencias de que se haya dictado una resolución otorgando concesión alguna para la explotación de rocas calizas denominada “Hatillo” a las sociedades Michel Philipe Lulo Collado, ABCO o Cemento Santo Domingo.

Conforme a un comunicado de Energía y Minas, la certificación número 253/15, entregada el viernes 27 de noviembre a esa dependencia a las 3:00 de la tarde y dirigida a la directora legal de esa cartera, María Susana Gautreau De Windt, está suscrita por Israel González Ortiz, consultor jurídico de Industria y Comercio.

En la víspera, Gautreu De Windt había solicitado al Ministerio de Industria y Comercio –por la vía de su consultoría jurídica – confirmar si esa dependencia estatal había emitido una resolución de explotación para rocas calizas, en la ubicación señalada, con una extensión de 6,197.50 hectáreas mineras, a favor de las sociedades supra indicadas.

“Yo, licenciado Israel González Ortiz, en mi calidad de Consultor Jurídico del Ministerio de Industria y Comercio, certifico que en los archivos mineros correspondientes a esta Consultoría, no tenemos evidencia de que el Ministerio de Industria y Comercio haya dictado una resolución otorgando alguna concesión para la explotación de rocas calizas denominada “Hatillo” en los municipios de Estebanía y Las Charchas, provincia Azua”, dice la comunicación oficial.

La pasada semana, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales –a través de su titular Bautista Rojas Gómez- había desmentido que Cemento Santo Domingo tuviese concesión para explotación de rocas calizas, en respuesta a la exsecretaria de Industria y Comercio, Sonia Guzmán, quien dijo que había tramitado una licencia cuando ocupó el cargo.

“Desmiento a Sonia; Sonia le pidió a Hipólito (el ex presidente Hipólito Mejía) que le concediera la concesión de explotación minera a la compañía Cemento Santo Domingo e Hipólito no se la concedió. Luego se la solicitaron nuevamente al presidente Leonel Fernández y no se la concedió, esta es la tercera vez que solicitan y ahora no se la han concedido, o sea, no se la van a conceder porque está dentro de un área protegida y eso viola la ley”, dijo Rojas Gómez.

El 25 de septiembre de este año, Medio Ambiente emitió una certificación al Ministerio de Energía y Minas en la que señala que de los 59.80 km² del área de la solicitud de concesión de explotación denominada HATILLO, “aproximadamente el 92.78% se encuentra dentro de los límites de las áreas protegidas y sus zonas de amortiguamiento, incluyendo el Parque Nacional Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó, establecido mediante Decreto 571-09, y zona de amortiguamiento, así como la Reserva Forestal Hatillo, establecida mediante la Ley Sectorial de Áreas Protegidas”.

El Ministerio de Energía y Minas ha señalado que la cementera –propiedad de la familia Abinader Corona- no está impedida de seguir operando con su modelo de negocio de adquirir Clinker, de fuentes locales o internacionales para fabricar cemento, pero que no es posible otorgar una concesión para extraerlo del parque Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó so pena de violar las leyes de Medio Ambiente y Sectorial de Áreas Protegidas.

“Hay tres salidas: Que el Congreso Nacional modifique la Ley Sectorial de Áreas Protegidas –excluyendo del parque los terrenos en los que la cementera ha solicitado la concesión de explotación de rocas calizas-, que esta empresa ubique otro lugar donde sea posible extra la materia prima sin violar la ley o que siga adquiriendo el clinker de suplidores locales o internacionales”, apuntó el ministro Antonio Isa Conde.

El Ministerio de Energía y Minas reiteró que su desaprobación a la solicitud de concesión minera para explotación de rocas calizas en terrenos del área protegida, obedeció a una solicitud formalmente hecha y publicada en un periódico de circulación nacional por la misma empresa cementera de los Abinader.

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi considering lifting export curbs on cement, steel

Nov 29 Saudi Arabia is considering lifting partial export bans on cement and steel to relieve oversupply in the local market, economic news website al-Eqtisadiah quoted a customs department official as saying on Sunday.

Saudi government bodies are studying whether to ease restrictions on cement and steel exports after local production doubled, exceeding the storage capacity of the kingdom's largest companies, customs department spokesman Essa al-Essa told Eqtisadiah without giving any timeframe for the decision.

Steel stocks have risen above 1.8 million tonnes, causing some factories to cut production by 50 percent and shut some smelters entirely, said the report, citing the chairman of the National Committee for the Steel Industry.

The Saudi government originally imposed a ban on cement exports in 2008 to push prices down and accommodate demand from large government-funded infrastructure projects, although some companies were allowed to export at prices lower than those in the local market. Steel exports have been similarly restricted.

New activity in the Saudi construction sector has slowed in recent months as a slump in oil prices has pushed the government to cut spending on non-essential projects; the industry may slow further if, as economists expect, more austerity measures are imposed next year.

TURKMENISTAN: Turkmenistan produces over 3 million tons of cement

Turkmenistan has produced around 3.3 million tons of cement since early 2015, said the message from the country’s government.

“The country has established its own cement industry meeting the demands of the domestic market in large-scale construction,” said the message. “Rich raw material resources for cement production open up export opportunities for the country as well.”

A plant with the capacity of 1.4 million tons of cement per year was put into operation by Turkish Polimeks in Turkmenistan’s Lebap province, said the message.

The plant produces portland cement, oil-well cement required for the oil and gas industry, and sulfate-resistant cement used in hydraulic units.

Polimeks also put into operation a similar plant in Turkmenistan’s west - in the Balkan province. Such large enterprises operate in the Ahal province as well.

To cover the demand, the country has opened 35 specialized outlets for selling cement at single price – 175 Turkmen manats per ton, said the government message.

The official exchange rate has remained at 3.5 manats/$1 in Turkmenistan since January 2015.