CEE Oct-Dec 2002

to produce concrete. A few construction companie!', have already started to use ready-mix concrete. Multinational companies are in a better position to Ii f1 the domestic cement industry to a higher level of efficiency, productivi ty. innovations and global competi ti veness. Courtesy: World Cement Aug. 2002, Pp 53-59, Enquily no: 9 Fax: + .f.f (0) 1252 718992 Email: mail (q)wurldr.: ement.com UI?L: 11ww. worldcement.cu! "l GERMAN CEMENT... ...TOUGH GOING Once again thi s has been a eli fficu lt year for the German construction industry. In June. Germany's construction workers went on strike for the first time in the country's post-war hi story. The st rike las ted a week before agreement was reached, but it \.Vas felt at the time that the pay dispute cou ld have jeopard ised Chance llor Gerhard Schroder's chances of re– election in thi s month' s national election. Also in June, Germany's seco nd largest const ruction company, Philipp Holzmann. tiled for bankruptcy protection after lead ing banks failed to come up with a rescue plan. The Federal Carte ls Office has launched an investigation into the price collusion with in the German cement industry relating to a period before 2002. Recent reports in a leading Ge rman newspapers suggest a potential fine of I billion could be imposed on German cement producers. Analysts at BNP Paribas have calculated this fi gure represents about CS to C6 pert sold (based on the 1995-200 1 period of 6 years). or put anot her way about I0% of the average domestic sa le price before this year' s price war. Gcrm:my consumes about 32 million 1 of' cement. so the fine mentioned represents 31 per t sold, i.e. 60% of the current average sa le price of a tonne of cement. However verdicts made in the past in a simi Jar cartel investigation. notabl y by the Europea n Commission in 1994 on 42 European cement producers, shows that the maximum fine was applied to only a few cases. Even so, it seems rhat there is a high risk of fines being imposed, and already RMC. Heidelberg Ce ment and Dyckerhoff have announced their willingness to co-operate with the Federal Cartels Oftice in the hope that tines will be reduced. All this is anothe r body blow for the German cement industry, which while experienc ing one of the toughest price wars of many years. has seen prices decl ine by more than 25% in East Germany and by almost 10% in West Germany. A recent report put out by a leading business analyst points out that the German cement market is as compet itive, if not more competit1ve, as anywhere else in the world. Prices in East Germany are as low or lower than cement prices in Turkey, Indonesia. Bulgaria and Poland, and half the prices seen in Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, parts of Africa and parts of Asia. Germany has one of the highest leve ls of imports in the world (7% last year). The analyst also suggests that if fines are imposed the price war could become nastier and seriously harm the industry's ove ra ll profitability, employment levels, and ta x contribu tions. Further capacity reductions could result in the loss of more than 3000 jobs. This woul d translate into reduced tax receipts by up to · €50 mil lion and corpo rate tax receipts by another E'SO million. And new incoming government would be happy with that situati on? Courle.\}' : IVoriel Cement SeJ?. 2002. P 37. Fox: +-/.."1(0) 1252- 718992 E-mai( mai/(al \For!clcemellf. com UR L: 11'11' \V. II'Urlclcement. com 64 18m TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM OF THE ASEAN FEDERATION OF CEMENT MANUFACTURERS Approxi ma tely 300 participants from all round the world travelled to the 18' 11 Technical Symposium of the ASEA Federat ion of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM) which was held in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia, over the period from 22"d to 26' 11 Apri I 2002 under the s logan "Optimization in the cement industry". The amb itious lecture programme covered 22 lectures from all sectors of cement manufacture. At the same time as the conference an exhibition was given by 28 suppliers. and some firms issued invitations to visit their hospitality suites. During the openi ng ceremony the Chairman of the Cement & Concrete Association of Malaysia (C&CA) Mr. Datuk Aslie Awang Hashim spoke on the problems of overproduction in the Malaysian cement market, which now amounts to about 15 million t. The over– production should be red uced by increased use of cement for road bui lding. although this wi ll not completel y solve the problem. The C&CA has therefore requested the government for support and also proposed to the National Economic Act ion Council (NEAC) that the surplus cement should be used for road construction. Cemenr could be used to build a total of 37 kmof public roads. In hi s speec h Mr Asli e also reported that this year the local cemen t indu stry expects a growth of I to 2 %. In 200 1 the in stalled kiln capac ity for the clinke r in Ma laysia was 17.8 million t. and the actual clinker production was 12.0 miII ion t. Good growth opportun ities arc a lso expected in other Asian