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World Cement News

Celsia completes 10.6-MW PV plant at Honduras cement factory

March 12 (Renewables Now) – Colombian energy company Celsia SA has put into operation a 10.6-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at a site of cement manufacturer Cementos Argos in Comayagua, Honduras.

The PV park, which consists of 32,160 solar panels, will be able to meet 20% of the cement plant’s electrical demand. Both companies are part of Colombian giant Grupo Argos.

With the solar asset, Cement Argos should be able to avoid some 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year. The Comayagua plant is Celsia’s first PV plant in Honduras.

Last month, the Colombian company switched on its first rooftop PV system in Honduras. The arrays at the manufacturing facilities in the Zip Bufalo industrial park in Villanueva have a combined capacity of 4 MWp.

Uncertainty around Coronavirus could impact on cement prices

The uncertainty around Coronavirus may impact on the construction sector. Industry officials and sector analysts have said that a prolonged crisis in the business segments could impact on the cement industry and that cement prices could be increased as a result.

 

“Coronavirus’ impact is not felt as yet in construction activity. It is unlikely to be affected in the near term unless there is a major economic slowdown all across,” Sandip Ghose, Chief Operating Officer at Birla Corporation told Business Standard.

Coronavirus has been declared as an epidemic by The World Health Organisation (WHO), and those in India are self-quarantining for a month. Stock markets have been reacting to the uncertainty around the economic impact of this virus.

“The market is falling as people are unsure what the future holds in wake of the impact of Coronavirus,” Kunal Shah, Analyst with Yes Securities said.

From 1 March until 11 March, the BSE Sensex has fallen by 6.41% at 35 697.40 points. There is also caution regarding companies having exposure to retail, multiplexes, amusement parks and other public places. The availability of components from China is also causing concern among electronic device manufacturers, due to the halt of trade in the country.

The construction sector is also likely to be impacted, as it imports a significant number of products from China, including iron and steel, technical construction equipment, electronic equipment and plastic and fibre elements.

The combination of a stagnant economy and the threat from the virus is a cause for concern for industry officials.

“The demand has been recovering but this year, the growth will be much lower than what we had registered in previous years. On top of it, there is some uncertainty around Coronavirus but let’s see how it eventually reflects on the state of the economy,” an industry official said.

It is also being considered that large scale outbreaks of the illness could also lead to a labour shortage, which may impact construction activities.

Sector Analysts may take the view that given the muted state of cement demand in the country, a price hike is unlikely in the near future.

“There may not be an increase but prices are expected to remain stable in the near term,” Ghose said.

Across India, except the south and west, no price hikes were announced this month according to a report from broking firm, Anand Rathi. In the central region, encompassing Madhya Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, prices are expected to dip after a shortened increase in February.

“Our channel check show year-end targets and lost labour days due to Holi may pile pressure on cement prices in March,” Anand Rathi said.

 

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/

Coronavirus: Lafarge Activates Medical Protocol at Ewekoro Plant

Authorities of Lafarge Africa Plc, a cement company, have explained that the company is playing a pivotal role with the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Lagos and Ogun State Government in fighting against the Coronavirus which infected the Italian consultant to one of its clients at the Ewekoro plant in Ogun State.

A statement issued on Saturday by the Director, Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development of the company, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, said, “The Lagos State Government has reported the first case of n-COVID19 (Coronavirus) in Nigeria. The individual concerned works for a vendor that provides services to Lafarge Africa Plc in Ogun State.

“As a business, we have immediately identified the persons who had direct contact with the concerned individual. We have equally initiated isolation, quarantine and disinfection protocol.

“We thank the exemplary leadership of the Federal Ministry of Health, Ogun and Lagos State Governments for swiftly providing response and testing facilities and we are working in full co-operation with all local authorities.

“Lafarge Africa is also working in close partnership with International SOS, our medical service provider, a leading global health company.

“Health and Safety remain a core value at Lafarge Africa and we intend to leverage this strength at this critical time.”

Reacting too, the Ogun State Government declared that it had quarantined 28 persons with whom the 44-year-old Italian who came to Ewekoro had contacts with.

The state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, at a news conference in Abeokuta said the affected victim was a consultant to a third-party supplier to the Lafarge Cement Company in Ewekoro.

He also said the company was on locked-down while its two guest houses had been turned to isolation centers by the state government’s health team.

“Twenty-eight persons who had been in touch with this man had been quarantined, while the company in question has locked down.

“Besides, its two guest houses have been turned to isolation centers while we are also investigating other people that these quarantined 28 people had had contacts with,” the governor clarified.

He said there was no cause for alarm as both his administration and that of his Lagos State counterpart, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, were on top of the situation.

He described the Coronavirus as an imported disease and that the Minister of Heath had assured the National Executive Council in Abuja that the ministry had been conducting exit checks for all visitors to the country at the airports.

He noted that the coronavirus was no respecter of persons, having infected the deputy health minister of Iran, advising everyone to obey all the rules of hygiene.

He thanked the federal ministry of health for lending a helping hand in handling the Ewekoro situation.

 

Source: THEDAY LIFE

 

 

Why cement has a huge carbon footprint

The building material that touches nearly all aspects of our lives is also one of the world’s top industrial emitters of carbon dioxide. CNN visited a Colorado plant that’s looking to make a concrete change.

Source: CNN

FLSmidth shares annual report for 2019

Highlights in 2019

• Revenue increased by 10%.

• EBITA increased by 5%.

• EBITA margin declined to 8.1%.

• Increased service order intake, but lower capital order intake.

• CFFO increased significantly to DKK 948 m.

Order intake decreased by 10% to DKK 19 554 m in 2019, explained by a lower level of large capital orders due to the increased market uncertainty and delay in customer decisions. However, the service business maintained a good momentum with an increase in service order intake of 3%, underpinned by record high service order intake in cement in the fourth quarter.

The order backlog declined by 12% to DKK 14 192m in 2019 (2018: DKK 16 218m) as a consequence of the lower level of capital order intake during the year. Timing of large orders has a significant impact on the backlog development, and FLSmidth has announced large orders of approximately DKK 2.0 billion in the first quarter of 2020.

Financial performance

Revenue increased 10% to DKK 20 646m, explained by a 15% growth in mining and a 3% growth in cement.

FLSmidth Group CEO, Thomas Schulz, commented: “2019 has been a year of challenges but also successes. We maintained a stable growth in revenue and the service business gained momentum over the year. We see rising demand for our solutions to help customers obtain a more sustainable production, and good progress was made on our digital and sustainable innovations. During the year however, we experienced an unfavourable development in business mix and a weakening business environment. The latter led to delayed customer decisions and postponement of capital orders, and some mining projects delivered lower profit than anticipated. While this was disappointing, we were pleased to see that the financial performance of our cement business showed a positive development despite challenging market conditions.”

EBITA increased by 5%, while the EBITA margin declined to an unsatisfactory 8.1% due to the lower than expected profitability in mining. The EBITA margin in Cement improved following internal efficiency measures and a more selective approach to large projects.

Cash flow from operating activities increased significantly to DKK 948 m and the free cash flow adjusted for acquisitions and disposals increased to DKK 574 m, compared to DKK -15 m in 2018.

Average capital employed increased to DKK 15 251m, mainly as a result of an increase in working capital and lease assets. Consequently, ROCE decreased from 11.0% to 10.9%.

Thomas Schulz, continued: “In the context of market developments and financial performance during the year, we have accelerated business improvement initiatives and we are confident that the actions we are taking will create a strong foundation to deliver sustainable profitable growth and shareholder value. Sustainability and digitalisation will be key differentiators in the years to come and help expand the gap to the mid-market. We are well-positioned in both areas and have made step-changing progress in 2019. Our launch of ‘MissionZero’ truly demonstrates our leadership within sustainable productivity and sends a strong message to customers that we are determined to provide zero emissions technology to the mining and cement industries by 2030.”

Highlights in Q4 2019

• EBITA decreased 5% and the EBITA margin declined to 8.1%.

• Service order intake increased 8%.

• Capital order intake declined 18%.

• Cash flow from operating activities increased significantly to DKK 327 m.

As anticipated, earnings in mining were affected by lower profitability on projects and costs related to business improvements.

The higher revenue, combined with internal efficiency improvements, drove operating leverage and improved profitability in cement.

Guidance 2020

FLSmidth guides for revenue of DKK 18.5 – 20.5 billion (2019: DKK 20.6 billion) and an EBITA margin of 8 – 9% (2019: 8.1%). The return on capital employed (ROCE) is expected to be 9 – 12% (2019: 10.9%).

Revenue is expected to have a phasing with a seasonally low level of activity at the beginning of the year and a seasonally high level of activity towards year-end.

Iran’s cement and clinker exports rise 22%

Iran exported 11.4Mt of cement and clinker to 37 countries in the first eight months of the Iranian year from 21 March 2019-21 November 2019. Exports during the period rose by 22 per cent, compared to the corresponding period a year ago, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation.

Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Russia were the top destinations for cement and clinker exports and the top 10 countries accounted for 78 per cent of the exports from Iran.