MEXICO: Cemex aumenta nuevo crédito bancario a 1,865 millones de dólares y concluye exitosamente enmienda al contrato de financiamiento

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (“CEMEX”) (BMV: CEMEXCPO) anunció hoy que ha recibido compromisos por 515 millones de dólares de bancos que han acordado incorporarse al contrato de crédito firmado el 30 de septiembre de 2014 (el “Contrato de Crédito”).

Una vez que se cumplan las condiciones de cierre habituales, los bancos que otorgaron los nuevos compromisos accederán al Contrato de Crédito como acreedores adicionales, aumentando el monto total del Contrato de Crédito de 1,350 millones dedólares a 1,865 millones de dólares.

El monto incremental obtenido será aplicado para prepagar parcialmente el Contrato de Financiamiento de fecha 17 de septiembre de 2012 (según enmendado en diversas ocasiones, el “Contrato de Financiamiento”) y para pagar otra deuda.

Después del prepago al Contrato de Financiamiento, el monto remanente bajo este contrato será reducido a aproximadamente 2,050 millones de dólares con vencimiento en 2017.

Adicionalmente, CEMEX anunció que ha obtenido los consentimientos requeridos para enmendar el Contrato de Financiamiento para que las obligaciones y compromisos bajo este contrato se homologuen a las del Contrato de Crédito. Las principales enmiendas incluyen:

- Los montos permitidos para inversiones en activo fijo se incrementan de 800 millones de dólares a 1,000 millones de dólares por año.

- Los montos permitidos para adquisiciones e inversiones en alianzas estratégicas se aumentan de 250 millones de dólares a 400 millones de dólares por año.

- Las restricciones en intercambio de activos son eliminadas

- Se introdujo un nuevo régimen de prepago mandatorio que elimina la obligación de entrega de excedente de caja (cash sweep) y provee a CEMEX de una mayor discreción para utilizar su efectivo.

CEMEX es una compañía global de materiales para la industria de la construcción que ofrece productos de alta calidad y servicios confiables a clientes y comunidades en más de 50 países. CEMEX mantiene su trayectoria de beneficiar a quienes sirve a través de soluciones innovadoras de construcción, mejoras en eficiencia y esfuerzos para promover un futuro

sustentable.

FRANCE: Le chiffre d'affaires de Vicat a progressé de 6,2% au T3 grâce à l'international

Le cimentier Vicat (VCT.FR) a annoncé mardi une croissance de 6,2% de son chiffre d'affaires au troisième trimestre, la hausse de son activité dans le reste du monde ayant compensé sa faiblesse en France et dans le reste de l'Europe.

Le groupe a indiqué s'attendre à une progression de son activité "sur l'ensemble des régions, à l'exception de la France et de l'Italie". Tout en anticipant une "accélération des déploiement en Inde et au Kazakhstan", il a souligné viser une "poursuite du redressement de l'activité en Egypte et aux Etats-Unis".

En France, où le producteur de ciment réalise un peu plus d'un tiers de son chiffre d'affaires, Vicat a indiqué s'attendre "à un environnement sectoriel toujours affecté par une situation macro-économique qui devrait rester peu favorable".

"Les volumes sont attendus en légère contraction dans un environnement prix qui devrait s'afficher en léger retrait", a précisé l'industriel.

Au troisième trimestre, le chiffre d'affaires de Vicat a atteint 629 millions d'euros, en hausse de 6,2% à données publiées et de 7,4% à périmètre et changes constants.

Sur l'ensemble des neuf premiers mois de l'année, son chiffre d'affaires est ressorti à 1,85 milliard d'euros, ce qui correspond à une hausse de 6,1% à données publiées et de 9,7% sur une base organique.

L'action Vicat a clôturé mardi à 54,19 euros, près de son niveau du début d'année.

LE COMMENTAIRE DE L'ENTREPRISE:

"Dans un contexte marqué par une situation macro-économique qui reste difficile en Europe, et plus particulièrement en France, le groupe s'appuie sur les investissements réalisés au cours de ces dernières années pour de nouveau enregistrer une solide croissance de son activité, portée par son rapide déploiement en Inde et au Kazakhstan, mais aussi par la poursuite, à un rythme soutenu, du redressement de son activité en Egypte et aux Etats-Unis", a précisé Vicat dans un communiqué.

"Dans ce contexte, le groupe confirme de nouveau son objectif de maximisation de sa génération de cash-flows et de réduction de son niveau d'endettement", a ajouté Vicat.

LE CONTEXTE:

Vicat reste détenu et contrôlé par la famille Merceron-Vicat, qui détient 60,5% du capital et 73,8% des droits de vote du producteur de ciment. En mai, Guy Sidos a été nommé PDG du groupe en remplacement de son président historique et beau-père, Jacques Merceron-Vicat. Guy Sidos appartient à la septième génération de la famille Vicat.

Vicat, qui compte environ 7.700 collaborateurs répartis dans onze pays, a massivement investi ces dernières années pour se développer dans des zones à plus forte croissance. Cette stratégie lui a permis de doubler sa capacité de production de ciment, dont 70% est actuellement située dans les pays émergents.

WORLD: Heidelberg not to buy Lafarge or Holcim assets

HeidelbergCement has confirmed it will not buy any of the businesses that must be sold off as part of its rivals' merger.

In a brief statement, the German company told its shareholders it had now stopped looking at the assets being put on the block by its rivals, as it wanted to fortify its balance sheet and put cash into its own projects instead.

Given the importance of cement to developing economies - and Lafarge and Holcim's dominant positions in the market - their merger has come under enormous scrutiny from regulators worldwide, with a suite of asset sales required for the deal to complete.

The €40bn of assets that have been put up for sale by the French and Swiss groups include businesses in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and the UK.

The Heidelberg statement in full:

"After a thorough analysis, HeidelbergCement has decided to refrain from the ongoing bidding process for the assets offered for sale of Lafarge and Holcim in the frame of its merger proceedings.

The company intends to use the anticipated proceeds from the announced sale of its building products business in North America and United Kingdom for debt reduction and for its own high quality growth projects."

WORLD: Ang eyes Lafarge’s cement plants in PH

Businessman Ramon Ang said Monday he is seriously looking at acquiring the cement plants of Lafarge Republic Inc., whose French parent Lafarge S.A. is merging with Holcim Ltd. of Switzerland.

Ang did not say if San Miguel or Eagle Cement Corp. was the one interested in acquiring Lafarge’s assets in the Philippines.“We are looking at it. We are seriously looking at it. It will be a big transaction if ever,” Ang, president of San Miguel Corp. and chairman of Eagle Cement Corp., said in an interview at the sidelines of the listing ceremony for Petron Corp.’s P10-billion preferred shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Lafarge Republic plans to sell six assets, including FR Cement in Teresa, Rizal; Fortune Cement in Taisan, Batangas; Continental Cement and Republic Cement in Norzagaray, Bulacan; a cement company in Cebu, formerly known as Durano Cement; and Asturias Cement also in Cebu.

Lafarge Republic’s decision to sell its cement assets is part of the planned merger between Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge S.A.

Lafarge Republic earlier said it planned to sell its other assets, including Lafarge Iligan Inc., Lafarge Mindanao Inc. and Lafarge Republic Aggregates Inc., and Star Terminal at the Harbour Centre in Manila to Holcim Philippines Inc.

Holcim Philippines said the company would conduct a financial and technical study on the assets before finalizing the acquisition plans.

The study will be completed by the middle of 2015.

San Miguel Corp. ventured into cement business with the P3-billion acquisition of 35 percent of Northern Cement Corp., a company personally owned by San Miguel chairman and chief executive Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. last year.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Corp. said it was no longer in the list of qualified bidders for British snacks maker United Biscuits.

“I think we were not included in the short list,” Ang said.

He said despite being excluded from the shortlist, San Miguel would continue to look for investment opportunities overseas. “We will continue to look for more investments, whether domestic or international investments,” he said.

The private equity owners of United Biscuits, Blackstone Group and PAI Partners, have been working on plans for a sale or a public share listing by the end of the year. The auction for United Biscuits is reported to be worth 2 billion pounds ($3.2 billion).

BRAZIL: Cinzas da termelétrica serão misturadas a cimento e asfalto

As cinzas de carvão mineral da Usina Termelétrica Energia Pecém (Eneva) serão aproveitadas para mistura de cimento e de asfalto, a fim de reduzir os custos de fabricação destes dois importantes insumos da construção civil. A informação é do diretor regional do Serviço Nacional da Indústria (Senai), ligado à Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Ceará (Fiec), engenheiro Paulo André Holanda. Ele viajou, ontem, para Brasília, onde foi tratar de assuntos de trabalho.

Ele acrescentou que a Eneva já assinou convênio com o Senai para que essas cinzas sejam aproveitadas dentro do menor espaço de tempo possível, porque já existe uma boa quantidade coletada, à disposição, para ser misturada aos outros insumos. “Esse subproduto será aproveitado em cimento e em asfalto, trazendo um benefício bastante significativo para o meio ambiente”, destacou.

PESQUISANDO

Na Capital Federal, Paulo Holanda foi participar de reunião com a diretoria de inovação do Senai, com o objetivo de tratar uma série de assuntos relacionados ao Instituto de Inovação no Ceará. Ele acrescentou que o Senai regional está fazendo parceria com a Universidade Federal do Ceará e Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul no estudo para o aproveitamento das cinzas de carvão mineral, a fim de reduzir o impacto destes resíduos, que deixarão de poluir o meio ambiente.

Ele observa que essa tecnologia – mistura deste subproduto da termelétrica com cimento e com asfalto –, também está sendo estudada nos Estados Unidos, e o Instituto de Inovação do Senai, aqui do Ceará, está fazendo a mesma coisa. “Ainda em Brasília, estarei participando do encontro nacional das indústrias brasileiras e da diretoria do Senai nacional”, completou Paulo Holanda.

EGYPT: Cement firms overcome gas shortages by importing coal.

Several of Egypt's major cement producers have begun retrofitting their plants to run on energy from imported coal, beating high gas prices and energy shortages that have curbed industrial output this year.

Egypt has been suffering from an energy crisis in recent years as supply from state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has been intermittent and power blackouts commonplace.

The government has targeted energy-intensive cement companies for cutoffs while its priority has been to preserve gas for power generation, which would avoid blackouts and public unrest.

Cement companies began petitioning for permission to use coal instead, and the cabinet approved the industrial use of coal in April. Companies still must petition for individual licences to burn and import coal.

Some have already retro-fitted their plants to run on coal.

"Most of Egypt's cement producers have been working towards fuel switching because of unreliable gas supply and high prices. Some have already started importing coal," said Jens Zimmerman, an energy markets analyst for Wood Mackenzie.

Permits are required particularly those for plants located near Cairo and other urban areas. Environmentalists say extensive use of coal as energy would be catastrophic for Egypt, which already has high air pollution levels.

Arabian Cement has already started a gradual switch to coal and has imported 700,000 tonnes so far this year, mostly from South Africa, Ukraine and Spain, Investor Relations Manager Haitham El Shaarawy said. It expects to bring in another 200,000 tonnes by the end of 2014, he added.

He said the decision had been largely a financial one, with coal prices around 30 percent cheaper than gas prices.

Gas shortages in April, May and June also had cut Arabian Cement's first-half clinker production, a first step in producing cement, by almost 20 percent compared with the previous year.

Lafarge Cement Egypt, which has one cement plant in Egypt, has already converted it to coal and has applied for a permit to import coal, a spokeswoman said.

Suez Cement, which has five cement factories, began testing coal use at its Kattameya plant in September and will begin testing at its Suez plant by year-end, the company said in its quarterly earnings statement last week.

Zena Spinelli, a communications manager for Suez, added that factories near population centres will have to undergo more rigorous evaluations before the Egyptian Environment Ministry clears them for licenses to use coal.

The Kattameya plant is located in the suburbs of Cairo.

Earlier this year, an Egyptian minister said government estimates had found that burning coal in cement plants alone would save 450 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Coal is attractive because global prices are hovering around five-year lows. Output is rising from countries including Australia, Indonesia and the United States, while demand growth has been slowing due to sluggish economies and environmental concerns.

Coal traders have noted the emergence of Egypt as a market, but demand from its cement companies alone is too small to reduce much of the world's surplus and affect prices, Wood Mackenzie's Zimmerman said.

"(Egypt's) Demand for coal will be small to start with but could rise significantly once power producers start using it," he said.

Egypt's cabinet said on Sunday that 38 local and international companies had recently applied to build power plants using coal or renewable energy.

SIERRA LEONE: Dangote Cement Sierra Leone Expansion Delayed by Ebola Outbreak

Dangote Cement Plc (DANGCEM), Nigeria's largest company and the continent's biggest producer of the building material, said it has delayed expansion in Sierra Leone due to the Ebola virus outbreak in the country.

"Sierra Leone was scheduled to start this month, but we had to put the project on hold because of the Ebola crisis," Chief Executive Officer Devakumar Edwin said on a conference call today. "As and when the crisis abates then we'll immediately start moving ahead."

Companies have slowed investment in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the three countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak that's killed about 5,000 people in West Africa. Dangote Cement's parent company, Dangote Industries Ltd., postponed a visiting day for investors in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, in September after some fears about Ebola. Nigeria declared itself Ebola-free last month after the virus killed seven people in Africa's largest economy.

Dangote Cement, controlled by billionaire Chairman Aliko Dangote, expects to have a capacity of 29 million metric tons in Nigeria by the year end. The company plans to expand in 13 other countries on the continent, bringing total capacity to as much as 60 million metric tons by 2016.

Persistent fuel disruptions to Dangote's Nigerian plants are expected to ease after gas-supply authorities assured the company they don't anticipate major disruption within the next six months, Edwin said.

INDONESIA: Cement firms struggle in challenging year

Publicly listed cement manufacturers’ January-September financial performances show they are not only struggling with weaker economic conditions, but also with other problems such as rupiah depreciation, a minimum wage hike and a higher electricity rate that have spiked costs.

The net profits of PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (INTP) and PT Holcim Indonesia (SMCB) dropped 4.7 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, while those of PT Semen Indonesia (SMGR) grew 4.65 percent and PT Semen Baturaja’s (SMBR) rose 8.94 percent.

Indocement booked Rp 3.63 trillion net profit during the January-September period this year, according to the company’s latest financial statement announced on Friday.

The company’s revenues rose 6.13 percent to Rp 14.17 trillion as of September this year from a year earlier, but its cost of revenues grew at a faster pace of 10.15 percent toRp 7.82 trillion.

Among four factors in Indocement’s total manufacturing costs, fuel and power costs rose the most at 12.31 percent, followed by manufacturing overhead costs that increased by 11.36 percent, labor costs by 11.33 percent and raw materials by 3.97 percent.

This year, the nation’s cement industry, one of the main elements of Indonesia’s domestic consumption-driven economy, is facing a big challenge from slowing economic growth that will hurt demand. Southeast Asia’s largest economy grew 5.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, the weakest since 2009.

“Among the [other] challenges are rises in electricity rates, minimum wage hikes and surging losses on foreign exchange [forex], attributed to rupiah depreciation against the US dollar and imported material,” Asjaya Indosurya analyst William Surya Wijaya previously said.

State-owned Semen Indonesia is among the companies that have suffered losses from the rupiah’s volatility — which went from a high of around Rp 11,000 per US dollar earlier in March to Rp 12,085 most recently — as its forex loss more than doubled to Rp 56.3 billion as of September from Rp 22.6 billion in the same period last year, pushing up spending.

Semen Indonesia’s net profit rose 4.65 percent to Rp 4.09 trillion from January to September although its revenues surged by 11.26 percent to Rp 19.35 trillion during the same period.

Like Indocement and Semen Indonesia, Holcim Indonesia also saw a faster growth rate of costs than top line, as the company’s cost of sales surged by 16.83 percent to Rp 5.38 trillion as of September this year from a year ago, while sales grew 9.18 percent to Rp 7.5 trillion during the same period.

Holcim Indonesia failed to grow its net profit as the bottom line shrank 4.91 percent to Rp 569.69 billion net profit in the nine-month period of this year.

Meanwhile, another state-owned cement manufacturer, Semen Baturaja, saw its net profits grow 8.94 percent to Rp 220.56 billion as of September this year, although its operating income was squeezed by 33.74 percent to Rp 149 billion from Rp 224.88 billion between January-September last year.

The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry estimated that the country’s construction market would hit Rp 500 trillion by the end of this year, up by 25 percent from last year.

Demand for cement is predicted to jump to around 95-97 million tons per year in 2017 from the current level of around 60-65 million tons, if the new administration under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo fulfills its promise to boost a lot of infrastructure developments, said Kiswoyo Adi Joe, an analyst with Investa Saran Mandiri.

PORTUGAL: Grupo Lucros da Semapa crescem 15% nos primeiros nove meses

De acordo com a informação enviada hoje pela empresa à Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), a evolução dos lucros do grupo deve-se essencialmente à "redução do EBITDA total ((lucros antes de juros, impostos, depreciação e amortização) em cerca de 14,1 milhões de euros", ao "aumento das amortizações e perdas por imparidade", em 1,4 milhões de euros, e à reversão das provisões no valor de 5,8 milhões de euros.

Outros fatores que contribuíram para o resultado líquido obtido relacionam-se com o agravamento dos resultados financeiros líquidos em 10 milhões de euros, face ao período homólogo (para 77,9 milhões de euros negativos) e a diminuição dos impostos cobrados à Semapa, de 27,3 milhões de euros.

Quanto ao volume de negócios consolidado do grupo, aumentou 0,7% nos primeiros nove meses, face ao período homólogo de 2013, para 1.482,4 milhões de euros. Deste valor, as exportações e vendas no exterior representaram 80,1%, totalizando 1.187,7 milhões de euros.

Por áreas da empresa, foi o negócio da pasta e papel que representou a maior fatia das receitas do grupo até ao final de setembro, traduzindo-se em 1.138 milhões de euros de volume de negócios.

Em causa esteve um crescimento de 0,1% no volume de negócios da pasta e papel, face aos primeiros nove meses de 2013, "com o aumento expressivo do volume de vendas de papel a compensar o efeito negativo da evolução dos preços da pasta e papel", indicou o grupo.

Quanto ao negócio do cimento, cujas receitas aumentaram quatro por cento, para 326,5 milhões de euros, o grupo atribui este desempenho "maioritariamente à boa performance das operações de exportação de cimento e clínquer a partir de Portugal, cujo volume de negócios cresceu 22,9% face ao ano transato, e da unidade de negócios de cimento da Tunísia, que apresentou um crescimento de 10,1%".

Já na área do ambiente, o volume de negócios decresceu 17,2% nos primeiros nove meses do ano, em termos homólogos, para 18 milhões de euros.

Por seu turno, o EBITDA total do grupo Semapa decresceu cerca de 4,5% entre janeiro e o final de setembro, face ao mesmo período do ano anterior, atingindo 298,4 milhões de euros, informa também a mesma entidade.

A dívida líquida consolidada reduziu-se em 119,6 milhões de euros face ao valor que tinha no final do exercício de 2013, passando para 1.165,7 milhões de euros registados a 30 de setembro.

"Esta evolução deveu-se essencialmente à redução do nível de endividamento em todos os segmentos", afirma a Semapa.

ARGENTINA: En el trimestre a agosto, el consumo de cemento registró una caída interanual de 5,4% promedio país

La construcción resultó "otro sector afectado por la crisis de expectativas", según consignaron las economistas Alejandra Marconi y Soledad Barone del IERAL, Fundación Mediterránea, al destacar que en el trimestre a agosto, el consumo de cemento registró una caída interanual de 5,4% promedio país.

Considerado el dato regional de la semana en el Informe Coyuntural del Instituto se indica que las caídas más pronunciadas se observaron en Misiones (-27,1%), Tierra del Fuego (-25%), Corrientes (-22,2%) y Entre Ríos (-13,9%).

Se trata de la baja del consumo de cemento al mismo período del 2013 aunque también se encuentran provincias con números positivos en la Patagonia (Chubut con 9,8% y Neuquén con 4,4%); en el Noreste (La Rioja con 16,4%, Santiago del Estero 8% y Catamarca 6,6%) y en la zona Pampeana (CABA con 7,1% y La Pampa con 6,6%).

"En el acumulado de los meses de junio, julio y agosto de 2014, la caída en el consumo de cemento a nivel nacional alcanzó el 5,4% respecto de iguales meses del año 2013", manifestaron las especialistas.

El ritmo de descenso "se está instalando, ya que el consumo de cemento es una variable que acompaña al nivel de actividad en el sector de construcción, el cual no es ajeno a los vaivenes de la situación económica actual", señalaron.

Por su parte, este viernes, el INDEC informó que la actividad de la construcción creció 3,2% en septiembre y se convirtió en la variación positiva interanual más alta del año.

Para el IERAL, la variación en el consumo de cemento no ha sido homogénea a lo largo del país, con algunas regiones que han mostrado una variación positiva.

La región que menos se vio afectada en el periodo considerado fue la Patagónica, la cual tuvo un aumento del 2,2% en el consumo de cemento, respecto del mismo período el año anterior. Entre las provincias que componen esta región, Tierra del Fuego sufrió la mayor caída, del 25%, aunque a pesar de ser un volumen bajo no afectó el desempeño de la región; le sigue Río Negro que presentó una variación interanual negativa del 3,3%.

En el resto de la región las provincias presentaron un aumento en el consumo de cemento, Chubut mostró un aumento del 9,8% siendo la segunda jurisdicción de mayor crecimiento a nivel nacional.

Para el caso de la región Noreste, la caída en el consumo fue del 17,7% interanual en el acumulado junio-agosto, con un total de toneladas despachadas de 207.925.

En este caso, todas las provincias que integran la región presentaron una disminución en el consumo, "siendo la más afectada Misiones, tanto a nivel regional como nacional, con una caída del 27,1%".

TAIWAN: Taiwan Billionaire's TCC Buys China State-Owned Cement Supplier

TCC International, a Hong Kong- listed subsidiary of Taiwan Cement of Taipei, said on Friday it has agreed to purchase Sichuan Railway Group Cement Co., a Chinese state-owned cement supplier, for a total consideration of 675.9 million yuan, or $110 million. The figure includes debt owned by Sichuan Railway that would be taken on by TCC.

The acquisition is in line with TCC’s push to expand its cement production in China, particularly in the southwestern region. TCC holds Taiwan Cement’s mainland operations. Sichuan Railway Group Cement lost 121 million yuan, or $19.7 million, in 2013.

TCC’s shares have gained 10% in the past 12 months.

TCC chairman Leslie Koo and his family ranked No. 22 on the 2014 Forbes Taiwan Rich List with wealth of $1.7 billion.

China’s cement industry is facing an extended period of relatively slow growth and consolidation that’s opening opportunities for buyers with access to cash.

PERU: Consumo interno de cemento creció 6,11%

El Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (INEI) dio a conocer que en el noveno mes del presente año, el consumo interno de cemento se incrementó en 6,11% en comparación con similar mes del año anterior, mostrando una recuperación luego de dos meses de resultados negativos.

Este comportamiento favorable se explica por la recuperación en la construcción de obras privadas y públicas, edificación de viviendas, así como centros comerciales.

Producción de electricidad aumentó en 5,16%

En el mes de setiembre, la producción de electricidad creció en 5,16% respecto a igual mes del año anterior. De esta manera, dicho subsector acumuló 59 meses de crecimiento consecutivo.

Las empresas que contribuyeron con este resultado fueron Electro Perú, San Gabán, Electro Piura, Electro Oriente y Electro Ucayali, entre las principales.

Sector Minería e Hidrocarburos retrocedió en -3,09%

En el noveno mes del presente año, el sector Minería e Hidrocarburos disminuyó en 3,09%, en comparación con igual mes del año pasado; debido a la menor producción del subsector minería metálica (-4,79%) ante la menor producción de cobre (-12,94%), oro (-2,03%), molibdeno (-14,62%) y estaño (-6,48%); sin embargo, aumentó la producción de zinc (10,43%), plata (3,92%), plomo (2,04%) y hierro (43,61%).

Por su parte, el subsector hidrocarburos se incrementó en 3,05% por la mayor producción de petróleo crudo (10,63%) y líquidos de gas natural (0,09%); no obstante que disminuyó la producción de gas natural (-1,84%).

Sector Pesca disminuyó en 26,42%

En setiembre de este año, el sector Pesca se contrajo en 26,42% respecto a igual mes del año anterior debido a la menor captura de especies destinadas al consumo humano directo (-29,25%), principalmente las destinadas a congelado (-48,77%) y enlatado (-37,69%); no obstante, aumentó el desembarque de especies orientadas a la preparación de curado (24,24%) y consumo en estado fresco (7,28%).

En cuanto a la captura de anchoveta destinada a consumo humano indirecto (aceite y harina de pescado), aumentó de 148 toneladas en setiembre de 2013 a 1 mil 229 toneladas en setiembre de 2014, lo cual representó un incremento de 730,43%.

Se dinamiza gasto e inversión de Gobierno

El Gasto en Consumo de Gobierno en el mes de setiembre de 2014, creció en 12,97% y la Inversión en 6,71%, respecto a igual mes del año pasado.

Monto de créditos mantiene resultados positivos

El INEI informó que los montos de créditos brindados a corporaciones, a grandes, medianas, pequeñas y microempresas incrementándose en 14,94%, seguido de los créditos hipotecarios en 14,31% y de los créditos de consumo en 12,33%.

Aumentan exportaciones no tradicionales en 3,65%

Según cifras preliminares al 30 de octubre del presente año, las exportaciones no tradicionales crecieron en 3,65% sustentado principalmente por los mayores envíos de productos agropecuarios y siderometalúrgicos.

Por otro lado, el valor de las exportaciones de productos tradicionales disminuyó en 20,50% por la baja en productos mineros, pesqueros, petróleo y gas natural; no obstante, aumentaron los envíos de productos agrícolas.

Comportamiento de las Importaciones

La información disponible al 30 de octubre de este año, muestra que el valor de las importaciones CIF en términos nominales disminuyó en 0,93% en comparación con los resultados de similar mes del año anterior, por la menor adquisición de bienes de capital (-2,71%) y bienes de consumo (-2,30%); en cambio, subió la compra de materias primas y productos intermedios (0,91%).

Otros indicadores

De acuerdo con información proporcionada por la Superintendencia Nacional de Aduanas y de Administración Tributaria, en setiembre del presente año, el Impuesto General a las Ventas de origen interno ascendió a S/. 2 353,2 millones de nuevos soles, monto que significó un crecimiento de 5,46%, en comparación con similar mes del año pasado.

El monto recaudado por el Impuesto Selectivo al Consumo de origen interno, en setiembre de 2014 fue de S/. 298,7 millones de nuevos soles, cifra menor en 9,41%, respecto a igual mes del año 2013.

Asimismo, la venta de vehículos ligeros aumentó en 2,30%, al pasar de 10 mil 876 unidades en setiembre de 2013 a 11 mil 126 unidades en setiembre de 2014.

NIGERIA: BUA to Raise Nigeria's Local Cement Production Capacity by 5.3m Metric Tonnes

BUA Group has completed plans to add about 5.3million metric tonnes to the Nigerian cement market, noting that its latest, state-of-the-art cement plant, when completed in February 2015, would take the nation's installed capacity beyond 35million metric tonnes per annum.

The Executive Director, Projects and Technical, Mr. Yusuf Binji, who dropped the hint yesterday explained that the investment which has so far gulped around $500 million and was located in Okpella, north of Edo State, would further enhance Nigeria's self sufficiency in cement production.

Binji who spoke during a tour of the facility pointed out that the factory was one of its many cement projects being carried out to make the commodity increasingly available and affordable in the country.

According to him, "Right now, this plant we are building is going to manufacture cement straight from lime stones and it is one the many cement projects we are doing in Nigeria, the plant has 3 million metric tonnes capacity per annum. It is a modern plant with up to date facilities.

"It is technologically advanced and at the end of the construction period, which we started in 2012, the plant is scheduled for completion and commissioning within the first quarter of 2015 and will go into commercial production. Full production at the plant will commence at the end of February, then after about three months, the products will be available in the market."

He also commended the federal government on the backward integration policy for cement, maintaining that the policy had attracted more investments into the cement industry, shooting up the nation's installed capacity to about 30 million metric tonnes per annum now and over 35 million metric tonne when BUA's Okpella plant was completed.

"The backward integration policy was a very good concept by the federal government. About 10 years ago, Nigeria was producing about 2 to 3 million tonnes of cement, but currently, the installed capacity in Nigeria is about 30 million tonnes and because of the good policy by the federal government, the existing and new entrant cement companies have ventured and established cement plants increasing the capacity to 10 to 15 per cent every year, leading to high expansion in growth," he said.

"In 2012, Nigeria was almost self sufficient in cement production and that is why you have seen the ban on importation of cement because we believe we have the capacity to satisfy all the market in Nigeria," he added.

According to him, manufacturing was still plagued with so many challenges, pointing out that infrastructural deficit was still a major concern hindering the manufacturing sector of the economy.

He said the factory would run independently off the national grid at every point of its manufacturing processes, stressing that the Group had a 50 megawatt power plant to be commissioned by the end of December to power its operations.

"The energy we are going to use both for the main production facility and also for the power plants that will call from our generators which we call the turbines and gas based." We are building a gas pipeline 30 kilometres from the point of where we get the gas to the factory," he said.

We are going to have a gas reduction station and the internal distribution of the gas pipeline into all the user department for the gas," he said. 

"We are also going to use liquid fuels for both our turbines and also for our plants. We are going to see more tanks built for storage of liquid fuels that will be used as a backup fuel in case of disruption with the gas supply and this is ongoing. We want to ensure that the plant is not under any form of threat as a result of power outages when carrying out our operations so that daily, about 250 to 300 trailers of cement will leave our factories," he added.

‎He noted that BUA had equipped its facilities across Nigeria with batch enabling machines to ease proper identification and traceability, saying that the move by the company was to be fully compliant to Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON's) ‎regulations.

He said the company had also embarked on its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to ensure that the safety of the community while it carries out its production activities, stressing that the investment will provide about 1000 direct employments and thousands indirectly.

INDIA: Malabar Cements gets govt nod to set up INR 160 crore unit at Kochi Port

Business Line reported that the Kerala Government has accorded sanction to Malabar Cements Limited to set up a bulk cement handling unit at Kochi Port at an investment of INR 160 crore.

A government order to this effect said that interest-free KVAT loan will be provided to the company based on VAT remittance and the loan will be repaid in 5 years with equal instalments after a moratorium period of one year. Necessary funds are to be tied by Malabar Cements to complete the project within two years without any cost escalation.

As a source of fund, Malabar Cements proposed an interest-free KVAT loan for four years from October 1st to September 30th 2018.

The order said that the government examined the proposal in detail and found that the project is beneficial to the state as well as to the company.

Malabar Cements has shown interest in establishing cement handling and bagging unit following the decision of the Kochi Port in permitting cement companies to bring raw materials for cement manufacturing through sea route using the port facilities.

The government order added that the port management expressed its willingness to allot the land on nomination basis. The capacity of the plant is 0.6 million tonne per annum after stabilisation.

RWANDA: Savannah Cement to begin operations by 2015

Kenya-based Savannah Cement has announced that it is set to begin operations in Rwanda early 2015, once the firm gets approval from the Rwanda Standards Board (RSB)

According to estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, local demand for cement in Rwanda is at 400,000 tonnes a year. Ronald Ndegwa, managing director of Savannah Cement, said that the company was attracted to the Rwandan market because of its vibrant nature and investment climate.

“We are required to test and certify our cement before we can enter the market. That’s why we are looking forward to the harmonisation of standards across the East African market – if a firm has been certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards, for example, it will not be subjected to another certification process. This will avoid delays,” Ndegwa noted.

He said that once the company gets the RSB approval, it will start identifying local cement distributors who can access the product and serve it to other retailers, contractors and the Rwandan government.

Savannah Cement has a capacity to produce 1.5mn tonnes of cement per year. It has operations in Uganda, South Sudan and northern Tanzania.

ECUADOR: Cementera Yura de Grupo Gloria invertirá US$ 230 mlls. en planta en Ecuador

La empresa peruana Yura invertirá US$ 230 millones en la construcción de una nueva fábrica de cementos en Ecuador, anunció el ministro de Industrias y Productividad de ese país, Ramiro González.

González dijo que representates de la unidad de cemento del Grupo Gloria visitarán Ecuador la próxima semama para firmar el acuerdo de inversión en el Ministerio de Industrias y Productividad (Mipro).

El acuerdo fue adoptado luego del VIII Encuentro Presidencial y Gabinete Binacional entre Ecuador y Perú, realizado ayer en Arenillas.

“Esas son las buenas noticias que se generan gracias a los Gabinetes Binacionales y, sobre todo, a la confianza mutua entre el empresariado ecuatoriano y peruano”, dijo Gonzáles en declaraciones recogidas por El Ciudadano de Ecuador.

BRAZIL: Arabian Cement contributes €7m to facility in Brazil

Egypt’s third biggest cement producer, Arabian Cement Company, announced Tuesday it will establish a cement grinding facility in Northwest Brazil.

The move comes as a part of the company’s joint venture agreement with Brazil’s leading cement manufacturer Cementos Relampago, part of Cementos La Union, Reuters reported.

The facility will run with a capacity of 230,000 tons per year, with a total cost of €23m ($28.7m), of which Arabian Cement will contribute €7m to the project.

Arabian Cement added that its contribution represents 60% of the total paid in capital, noting that 50% of the project’s cost will be financed through debt and equity.

In May, Arabian Cement held the first initial public offering (IPO) after the 25 January Revolution in 2011, with the company aiming to raise $100m by listing on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Following the government’s approval in April to use coal as a source of energy in the industrial sector, Arabian Cement has taken steps commencing testing coal in thermal power generation. The company aims to shift to this energy source for 50% of its factories’ needs.

Tanzania: Dangote Cement wants its own power plant

Dangote Cement has applied for a licence to build a 75 megawatt coal-fired plant in Tanzania that would power a $500 million cement factory now under construction, Tanzania's energy watchdog said.

Sub-Saharan Africa's leading cement producer plans to roll out plants across Africa to reach an annual capacity of 62 million tonnes by 2017, up from a projected 42 million tonnes this year.

Businesses often complain that poor or erratic supplies deter investors and push up costs.But any corporate expansion plan in Africa must contend with power shortages, which are common across the continent.

"Dangote Industries ... applied for a 75 MW electricity generation licence to build, own and operate a coal-based captive power plant adjacent to its cement manufacturing plant," the state-run Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

All the electricity would be "used to run the plant and machinery for the manufacture of cement, utilities and housing colony", EWURA said.

"Any interruption in power supply or unstable voltage/frequency causes extensive damage to the refractory and also to the rotary kiln parts.

"Refractory failures cause production shutdowns varying from 15 to 30 days and unscheduled use of costly imported refractory bricks," the regulator added.

Dangote Cement, owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, already operates in 13 African countries and posted $2.45 billion in revenue last year.

The factory it is constructing in southern Tanzania is scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of next year.

With an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes, it will supply Tanzania's domestic market and export to landlocked nations in the region.

Cement makers in east Africa's second-biggest economy include Tanzania Portland Cement, which 69.3 percent owned by a subsidiary of Germany's Heidelberg Cement AG; Tanga Cement, which is 62.5 percent owned by Afrisam Mauritius Investment Holdings Limited; and Mbeya Cement, 62.76 percent owned by France's Lafarge SA.

NIGERIA: Distributors, manufacturers disagree over new price of cement

The cheery news that came yesterday on the downward review of cement price by some manufacturers in the country may not translate into relief for consumers as major distributors of the commodity in Lagos have expressed reservation about the decision and vowed not to effect the change in price.

Citing high inventory of the commodity, which was acquired at a high retail price, the stakeholders said it would be difficult for consumers to access the product at the new rate. The Guardian learnt that already, there are talks between the parties on how to ensure that the distribution chain is not weakened as a result of the commodity’s price review.

With domestic cement production inching towards 60 million metric tonnes per annum, due to recent expansion projects embarked upon by many of the manufacturers, it is expected that the commodity should be available at a cheaper price.

For instance, Dangote Cement in September this year achieved an installed capacity of 29.2 million metric tonnes, ahead of Lafarge Africa, which currently has 12 million tonnes with expansion plans to hit 17.5 million tonnes by 2017.

Similarly, the United Cement Company of Nigeria (UniCem) is investing N84 billion in an additional 2.5MT cement line project to double its 2.5MT existing capacity to 5MT per annum by 2016, and consolidate its position in the industry. Also, Ashaka Cement is investing N100 billion to increase capacity to four million tonnes per year.

With the BUA Cement factory in Okpella in northern part of Edo State ready for commissioning in 2015, the overall local manufacturing output of cement in Nigeria is set to take a leap from the current figure of about 30 million metric tonnes per annum to about 60 million tonnes yearly.

Furthermore, the price review is believed to have been provoked by recent cement standardisation reforms embarked upon by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), which, among others, include labelling criteria and specifying the shelf life of the commodity.

The shelf-life policy and batch numbers indication on cement bags are expected to guide consumers in buying cement that may have been on the shelf beyond the prescribed six months while also ensuring that distributors do not hoard the product. The new cement standard NIS 444-1:2014, has prescribed new guidelines for advertisements, storage and labeling of cement products in Nigeria as well as a proper regulatory framework for all stakeholders.

Investigations conducted by The Guardian revealed that consumers who demand for the product at the new price might have sparked off the move by the distributors to resist the manufacturers’ efforts.

The manufacturers, on the other hand, have resolved not to yield to the efforts of the distributors. According to them, the new price took effect from November 1 and it would not be changed as it was discovered that many of the distributors have been hoarding the commodity in other to maximize profit.

A source at Dangote Cement Plc yesterday noted that the company might only consider giving rebates to distributors who have a good track record and have recently bought the product at the existing price before the recent review.

The source said: “We have since discovered that hoarding of the products by some distributors has been responsible for the high cost of cement in the country. Many of the distributors are greedy and only trying to maximize their profits. We would not allow this to happen. The company may offer a rebate to distributors who have recently bought the product and still have a large inventory to offload”.