PERU: SECTOR CONSTRUCIÓN EN EXPANSIÓN

Tras retomarse el dinamismo en la construcción de centros comerciales, viviendas, y en inversiones en minería y electricidad, el consumo interno de cemento se incrementó en 7.26 por ciento en agosto, según el Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (INEI).

Este incremento se dio en agosto, tras registrar retrocesos de 2.17% y 4% en junio y julio. El índice de consumo interno de cemento retomó, de esta manera, la tendencia creciente registrada hasta mayo. 

El INEI precisó que "en agosto se retomó el dinamismo en la ejecución de obras privadas, como la edificación de viviendas, centros comerciales e inversiones en los sectores electricidad y minería”.

El vicepresidente del banco de inversión Latin Pacific Capital, Emilio Zúñiga, señaló que el nombramiento del Gabinete Ministerial y el presidente del Consejo de Ministros, Salomón Lerner, en el Congreso, despejaron las dudas sobre el rumbo del Gobierno.

"Estas señales han precipitado decisiones de inversión y tranquilidad en los sectores económicos, claves para la recuperación que necesitamos, sobre todo mirando el riesgo de una posible recesión global el próximo año", expresó.

Zúñiga, indicó que el sector construcción tiene un efecto multiplicador importante en la economía, y que se espera que el Producto Bruto Interno, se expanda este año a más del 6.5 por ciento.

Según el economista, la construcción genera muchos recursos al Estado, y esto será primordial para generar una política contracíclica el próximo año si es que se da un escenario adverso a nivel internacional.

SPAIN: Empresa coreana y brasileña quieren adquirir plantas del Grupo Gallardo

Dos compañías extranjeras, la brasileña Votorantim, y la coreana Daewo, están interesadas en adquirir varias plantas del Grupo Industrial Gallardo, propiedad del empresario extremeño Alfonso Gallardo, entre las que estarían factorías ubicadas en Alemania, Badajoz y Rentería (Guipúzcoa).

Según han informado a Efe fuentes conocedoras de la negociación, una de estas compañías ya ha visitado las instalaciones del Grupo Gallardo y la otra lo hará en breve, y el interés de ambas se produce después de la ruptura de las negociaciones con la Compañía Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) de Brasil.

En concreto, Votorantim y Daewo estarán interesadas en adquirir la acería alemana de perfiles Sthalwerk Thüringen, la planta de Cementos Balboa, en Alconera (Badajoz) y la planta de papel prensa Papresa, ubicada en Rentería (Guipúzcoa).

Tanto Votorantim como Daewoo son compañías líderes en sus países y operan en los mercados en sectores como el acero, metal, cemento y energías.

Estas negociaciones llegan después de que el pasado 16 de septiembre, la brasileña Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional anunciase la rescisión del contrato que firmó en mayo para adquirir la participación del grupo extremeño "Alfonso Gallardo" en cinco empresas en España por supuestos "incumplimientos contractuales", aunque no detalló las condiciones incumplidas.

La siderúrgica brasileña, en un comunicado enviado al mercado de valores, informó de que su subsidiaria CSN Steel rescindió el contrato que preveía la adquisición de la participación que el grupo Alfonso Gallardo posee en las empresas Cementos Balboa S.A, Corrugados Azpeitia S.L., Corrugados Lasao S.L.U., Stahlwerk Thuringen GmbH y Gallardo Sections S.L.U. ("Contrato").

Por su parte, el grupo "Gallardo" acusó a la Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional de no haber respetado sus compromisos contractuales y anunció que había iniciado "la vía arbitral para exigir el cumplimiento del contrato y la indemnización por daños y perjuicios que corresponda".

INDIA: Retreating monsoon shows signs of revival for cement sales in Sept

Cement sales in September showed signs of revival with monsoon subsiding in most parts of the country. However, despatches of ACC were hit due to the ongoing unrest over Telangana issue in Andhra Pradesh. The company's plant at Wadi in Karnataka, which accounts for 29 per cent of its total capacity, caters parts of southern and western markets.

UltraTech Cement, which has an annual production capacity of 52 million tonnes, has not yet announced the production and sales numbers for September. The company has one cement plant each in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with a satellite grinding unit in Ginigera (Karnataka) catering the southern markets.

BUILDERS ON FAST-TRACK

Cement demand from real estate sector has improved with many builders putting their projects on fast track to keep up their promise of timely delivery during the festival season, said a cement company official.

However, there are no substantial developments in the infrastructure sector even as some government projects have been announced. The real offtake from infrastructure companies may be a few months away, he said.

With concern over rising input cost and increase in lending rates still lingering, cement companies have kept their production under check in order to align with the demand.

“It is too early to predict a recovery in cement demand as there is no marked improvement in economic health of the country. Besides, the unstable global developments emanating from the US and euro zone are also not encouraging,” said an analyst.

POWER SUPPLY HIT

Besides transportation hiccups, the Telangana agitation, which lasted for over 20 days, paralysed power supply. Though big factories have their captive power plants, the smaller cement units were the most affected. The supply of coal from Andhra Pradesh was also hit pushing up the cost of power production for captive plants that had to rely majorly on imported coal shipments.

Mr V. Srinivasan, Research Analyst, Angel Broking, said cement companies are expected to face margin pressures due to higher fuel costs because of increased domestic and international coal prices.

The demand revival has helped cement companies to hike prices on an average by Rs 5-10 a 50-kg bag across the country. Despite the hike in prices, cement producers' profitability may be under pressure due to rising cost.

STOCKS UP

Despite the benchmark Sensex losing 287 points, the top three major cement company stocks managed to close with a gain on Tuesday. ACC was up 0.07 per cent at Rs 1,101, UltraTech rose 0.20 per cent to Rs 1,105 and Shree Cement jumped 1.70 per cent at Rs 1,885. Ambuja Cement remained unchanged at Rs 149.

AFRICA: ETHIOPIA: Maritime Enterprise to Prepare Facility for Imported Coal

The Ministry of Industry (MoI) has directed the Ethiopian Maritime and Transit Service Enterprise (EMTSE) and Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) to prepare transportation and port facilities for the unloading of coal to be imported by the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise (EPE).

A letter officially directing the three institutions signed by Mekonnen Manyazewal, minister of MoI, was sent last week. The ministry had been looking for an alternative energy source for furnace-oil cement factory use and initially had looked at importing Pet Coke. However that proved difficult both in terms of supply and cost, so the ministry has turned to coal. A task force composed of ESL, MTSE and five major cement factories along with MoI has considered the possible import of coal from countries, based on geographical proximity and institutions capable of importing at competitive prices.

The MoI is mandated to assess how much coal is needed by cement factories. Accordingly, EPE is tasked with preparing the necessary human resources and budget and looking for companies to supply coal and import it from South Africa within a month.

MoI is to collect the cement factories actual monthly demand of coal and available stock at their factory in a week's time, according to sources inside the MoI.

Two months ago, National and Messobo factories had teamed up to import 41,000tn of coal from South Africa. Currently, except the state-owned Mugar and East cement factories, which are expected to finalize installation of infrastructure for using coal, all 12 existing cement factories have the necessary infrastructure to use coal.

The estimated annual demand of coal for the cement factories this fiscal year is 896,500tn, excluding the two factories which will not install the necessary infrastructure this year, according to research conducted by a team of experts.

Considering the geographical proximity and degree of Caloric value of the coal which is 6,300 kilo calories and cost-effective prices, the team has chosen South Africa for importation. This has alsobeen approved by the minister.

About 207.30 dollars will be spent for one metric tonne of coal to be transported from South Africa, according to the assessment.

Out of all factories, the highest amount of coal is consumed by Messebo and Derba Midroc factories, which have the capacity of producing 2.1 and 2.3 million tonnes of cement yearly, and consuming 272,000tn of coal each.

Coal found in Ethiopia is known for its less caloric value and is highly flammable. Reserves amounting to 628 metric tonnes, largely deposited in Illibabur, Oromia regional state and Semien Shoa, Amhara regional state, were discovered in the 1940s, according to the study.