GLOBAL NEWS
Cemex has announced that it
plans to sell up to
USD2-billion worth of assets
by the end of 2020, following
an earlier announcement by
LafargeHolcim that it also plans
to divest from selected assets
worth up to USD2-billion as
part of its Strategy 2022.
Therefore potentially
USD4-billion of cement
production infrastructure will
be on sale over the next few
years.
In the second half of
2018 both companies plan
to announce their planned
divestments, which could be as
many as 16 units. Prices vary
considerably at the moment
with potentially
USD250-million per integrated
plant.
Cemex’s weaker areas in
its half-year report were its
South, Central America and
the Caribbean region and, to
www.quarryonline.co.za
a lesser extent, its European
region. The former reported
falling sales, cement volumes
and earnings. The latter
reported falling earnings on a
like-for-like basis with issues
noted across cement, ready-
mix concrete and aggregate
business lines in the UK.
In Central and South
America, problems were noted
in Colombia due to a 10% fall
in cement sales in the first half.
Another operation
which may be affected is
Cemex Croatia, which the
company attempted to
sell to HeidelbergCement
and Schwenk Zement in
2017, before the European
Commission put an end to
discussions.
CEO Fernando Gonzalez
is on record as saying that the
company had faced ‘headwinds’
in the Philippines, Egypt and
Colombia, particularly in
Cemex joins the divestment party
Cemex is starting a process of divestment.
relation to fuel prices. He also
says that Cemex had finished
its market analysis, that it knew
exactly which assets it would
like to sell already and that it
was in ‘execution’ mode. In
Gonzalez’s own words, “We do
have a number of assets to be
divested, either because they
are low growth, or because they
are not necessarily integrated
to other business lines.”
LafargeHolcim CEO
Jan Jenisch has refused to
comment on rumours that
the company is leaving
Indonesia, though local
production overcapacity,
falling earnings and profits
and an underperforming
but still sparky market make
it a potential candidate.
Other potential locations
for LafargeHolcim to leave
might include Brazil and
parts of the Middle East
and Africa. Brazil’s cement
market recovery has been
a few years coming. The
Middle East Africa area was
the worst performing region
in LafargeHolcim’s mid-year
results with problems noted in
South Africa.
QUARRY SA | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018_11