ARGENTINA: La construcción terminó la primera mitad del año 7,7% arriba

La suba en junio fue del 16,7 por ciento. “El consumo de cemento fue récord para el primer semestre con un incremento del 10,8 por ciento", se informó.

La actividad de la construcción registró una suba del 7,7 por ciento en el primer semestre del año, luego de registrar una suba del 16 por ciento en junio, informó hoy el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (Indec).

El organismo gubernamental informó que se registró un incremento interanual en junio del 20,7 por ciento en edificios para vivienda y del 16,7 por ciento en otros tipos de edificios.

Por otro lado, se ha registrado un incremento del 16,2 por ciento en obras de infraestructura y del 12,3 por ciento en obras viales.

En cambio, el Indec logró relevar una caída del 20,8 por ciento en obras de construcción a cargo de empresas petroleras.

En el primer semestre, entonces, se verifica una mejora del 8,7 por ciento en infraestructura, 8,4 en viviendas 6,9 en otros tipos de edificios, 6,2 en construcciones petroleras y del 4,6 por ciento en obras viales.

"En junio de 2015 se observó un despacho de cemento de 1,05 millones de toneladas, 17,7 por ciento más que en igual mes del 2014", destaca el informe del organismo estadístico.

El trabajo señala que "se observa que el consumo de cemento fue record para el primer semestre con un incremento del 10,8 por ciento".

Con relación a la encuesta cualitativa a empresas del sector, el Indec destaca que el 59 por ciento de las formas que realizan obras privadas espera que en el tercer trimestre se mantenga el nivel de actividad.

En las empresas que se dedican a la obra pública, un 47 por ciento dijo que el nivel de actividad no cambiará y un 29 por ciento dijo que crecerá.

Por otro lado, la cantidad de metros cuadrados autorizados para la construcción en 42 municipios del país registró una caída del 21 por ciento, respecto de igual período del año pasado.

De ese modo, la superficie cubierta autorizada en los primeros seis mes del año registró una caída del 13,8 por ciento, respecto de la primera mitad del 2014.

En cuestión de insumos, se registra una suba del 6,5 por ciento en hierro redondo, 22,8 en ladrillos huecos, 7,1 por ciento en pisos y revestimientos y del 28,6 por ciento en pinturas.

BOLIVIA: Fancesa tendrá nueva fábrica de cemento

La Fábrica Nacional de Cemento SA (Fancesa) de Sucre instalará una nueva fábrica y para ello ayer lanzó la licitación internacional para la construcción de la misma. Convocó a empresas nacionales y extranjeras a presentar sus ofertas.

La licitación fue publicada en La Razón y en ésta indica que “Fancesa requiere instalar una nueva fábrica de cemento” y para ello precisa que las empresas deben presentar sus ofertas para la provisión de equipo y maquinaria, incluyendo la ingeniería a detalle más los servicios de supervisión.

El 19 de mayo de 2014, el presidente Evo Morales inauguró la ampliación de la nueva línea de producción de cemento Fancesa, con el funcionamiento del horno Kawasaki.

La Agencia Boliviana de Información (ABI) publicó el 3 de febrero de la presente gestión en su página de internet que el presidente del directorio de Fancesa, Eduardo Rivero, informó que saldrá la licitación pública internacional para la ejecución de la tercera fase de la nueva línea de producción de esta factoría que será instalada en Santa Cruz y Sucre.

“El proyecto está listo, solamente será la metodología de la licitación, entonces, mañana sale la licitación pública internacional”, anunció Rivero.

El 23 de junio de la presente gestión La Razón publicó que según datos del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas Públicas, en lo que va del año la producción de cemento creció en 9,4%, debido a que la construcción está subiendo y junto a esta actividad, el empleo.

NIGERIA: Dangote Cement declares N121.8bn half-year profit

Dangote Cement Plc achieved a profit after tax of N121.808 in the six-month period ended June 30,2015, the company’s condensed consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the period showed.

The figure was 21.65 per cent higher than the N95.440bn PAT the cement giant announced for the same period of 2014.

The statements, which were filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday, showed that Dangote Cement also achieved a 20.23 per cent growth in profit before tax. Its PBT grew from N107.070bn to N128.726bn in the period under review.

This followed a 15.94 per cent rise in revenue, with the company realising N242.215bn revenue as against N208.909bn in the first half of 2014.

The growth in profit was achieved despite increases in administrative expenses, selling and distribution expenses and finance costs.

The results showed that administrative expenses rose to N13.618bn in the six months to June 30, 2015 from N7.295bn in the corresponding period a year ago, while selling and distribution expenses jumped to N23.385bn from N18.030bn.

Finance costs soared from N8.146bn to N24.381bn, while cost of sales rose to N84.501bn from N73.537bn.

Dangote Cement had grown its revenue to N114.7bn from N103bn in the first quarter of 2015 on the back of its expansion programme, which saw it commence operations in some African countries.

Its net profit for the quarter had also risen by 44.1 per cent to N68.6bn from N47.62bn in the first quarter of 2014.

The company had at its Annual General Meeting in April received the approval of its shareholders to pay N102bn as dividend for the 2014 financial year.

The Board of Directors had proposed the dividend, which translated into N6 per share after the company grew its revenue from N386bn in 2013 to N392bn in 2014.

The Chairman, Dangote Cement, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had explained that, “As a result of the sizeable investment that we have made over the past few years, Dangote Cement ended the year (2014) with new lines in Nigeria, factories becoming operational in Senegal and South Africa.”

Earlier in the year, the company had said that its new plants in Senegal and Cameroun had commenced operations with plants in Ethiopia and Zambia following.

UGANDA: Tororo cement in sh86b expansion

Tororo Cement Limited, Uganda’s largest cement manufacturer has injected $ 25m (about sh86b) towards the plant expansion.

Brij Mohan Gragrani, the company executive director, said the new plant is expected to increase cement production from the current 1.8 million metric tons to 3 million metric tons per annum to meet the increasing demand of cement in the region. 

Gagrani said they expect to scale up production capacity that will include construction of more cement grinding mill with the cement storage silos, rotary packers, clinker feeding system and clinker sheds for investments of $25-30 Million. 

‘’The expansion is proposed in view of market demand in Uganda and the neighbouring countries,” he said.

BRAZIL: Brazil gives cement firms 30 days to pay combined $934 mln fines

Brazil's antitrust watchdog, Cade, has ordered six cement makers named in a price-rigging case to pay a combined 3.1 billion reais ($934 million) in fines within a month in a landmark decision that also orders asset disposals.

Under the terms of the decision announced on Wednesday, the watchdog gave the companies a one-year deadline to reduce their installed capacity in the cement and concrete industries through asset sales. The decision was published in the government's official gazette.

According to Cade, which first issued a ruling in the case in May of last year, Votorantim Cimentos SA, Camargo Correa SA's Intercement Brasil unit, Itabira Agro Industrial SA and Cia de Cimentos Itambé SA, as well as Switzerland's Holcim Ltd and Cimpor Cimentos de Portugal SGPS SA colluded on pricing to force rivals out of the market.

The ruling, which followed an eight-year inquiry, follows cost overruns that dogged Brazil's preparations for last year's soccer World Cup as well as dozens of road, port and infrastructure projects across Latin America's largest country. The firms named in the case control about three-quarters of the domestic market for cement and concrete.

A series of studies by Cade showed evidence that several takeovers and asset swaps among cement companies during the 1990s and the 2000s were made to prevent rivals from entering the lucrative market.

The largest players in Brazil's cement industry tend to have strong market control in specific regions, increasing the potential for collusion. The number of cement producers in Brazil shrank to about 10 in 2011 from almost two dozen in the early 1990s.

Under terms of the ruling, Votorantim must pay 1.5 billion reais in fines and Cimpor 297 million reais. Cade fined Intercement Brasil 241 million reais, Itabira 411 million reais, and Holcim 508 million reais. Itambé must pay 88 million reais.

Some of the companies are challenging Cade's ruling in the courts. The companies could not immediately be reached for comment on the penalties announced Wednesday.

Cade also imposed sanctions on Abesc, an industry group representing concrete producers; ABCP, Brazil's Portland cement group; and SNIC, which represents local cement factories.

Votorantim is the largest producer of cement in Brazil, followed by Holcim, France's Lafarge SA and Camargo's Intercement. Holcim and Lafarge are negotiating a merger.