Displaying items by tag: India
India: HeidelbergCement India sold a grinding plant in Raigad, Maharashtra to JSW Ispat Steel for an undisclosed sum. The announcement was made at the Indian cement producer's annual general meeting on 16 May 2013.
HeidelbergCement India also announced that its shareholders have given it approval for raising funds of up to US$340m through borrowings.
Indian firms get a week more to pay fines
13 June 2013India: The Indian Supreme Court (SC) today refused to give interim relief to cement manufacturers in their appeal against the interim penalty imposed on them on charges of forming a cartel, confirmed for now by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT). It did, however, delay the deadline for the penalty by over a week.
The CAT had told the companies to pay 10% of the total US$1.1bn penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) by 16 June 2013 and it posted their main appeal for August 2013. The manufacturers appealed against this to the SC. Now the deadline for payment has been moved from Sunday 16 June 2013 until Monday 24 June 2013. However, the court insisted on their complying with the CAT's interim order.
The order was imposed by CCI against 11 major cement producers including ACC, UltraTech and Ambuja and their association. The apex court refused to lift the penalty order or reduce the rate, despite long arguments over two days by senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi for UltraTech Cement and Ranjit Kumar for Jaiprakash Associates. According to the modified order, the amounts shall be deposited with the tribunal and kept in a separate fixed deposit with a nationalised bank. The deposit shall be renewable after six months. The amounts deposited, with interest, shall be dealt with by the tribunal at the time of the disposal of the appeals of the cement companies.
The case was originally filed by the Builders Association of India before the CCI, alleging cartelisation by the cement companies. The director general (investigation) of the CCI found evidence of formation of a cartel by the cement companies, with capacity utilisation held down to control prices. The penalty was calculated on the basis of the annual turnover of the companies in question over a certain period.
Indian firms cartel appeal heard
12 June 2013India: On 11 June 2013 the Supreme Court admitted the appeals of several cement manufacturers against a Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) order, which directed the cement companies to pay a penalty for allegedly forming a cartel. The case is scheduled to come up towards the end of the week ending 14 June 2013 after the reply of the Builders Association of India (BAI).
The cement companies argued that the penalty, fixed ad hoc at the rate of 10% of their worth, was huge and unjustified. If the firms do not pay the penalties, their appeal case (before CAT) will be automatically dismissed, according to the CAT order.
UltraTech Cement Ltd, argued that CCI did not find any prima facie case against the 11 companies picked by the association out of 42 major cement manufacturers but still the CAT imposed a penalty in an interim order. The deadline for payment of the penalties is 16 June 2013.
Among the cement manufacturers that have appealed to the Supreme Court against the CAT order are Jaiprakash Associates, Century Textiles & Industries and Madras Cements.
FLSmidth to supply cement plant in India
05 June 2013India: The Danish cement plant supplier FLSmidth has reported that it has received an order worth around US$35.5m from the Indian cement manufacturer Orient Cement Limited for the supply of main equipment for a greenfield cement plant to be located in the state of Karnataka in southern India. The plant will have a capacity of 6000t/day. The order will be booked by the Cement division and contribute beneficially to FLSmidth's earnings until the end of 2014.
The order covers engineering and supply of main equipment from limestone crusher to packing plant. Included in the scope of supply are key components for raw material crushing equipment, limestone, coal and additive stores, raw material grinding system using roller press technology, vertical mill for coal grinding, ILC pyro processing system with Cross-Bar Cooler, two vertical mills for cement grinding as well as packing and loading system for trucks and rail wagons.
"Orient Cement is a well-known customer to FLSmidth. In 2007, we supplied the company with a pyro-processing system with a capacity of 4000t/day for a brownfield project. This new order from Orient Cement is based on a close and successful customer relationship and is furthermore a good example of FLSmidth's leading position in the Indian cement market," said Group Executive Vice President Per Mejnert Kristensen.
Goa plant to go-ahead with waste fuels
05 June 2013India: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a cement company to use the plastic waste generated across the state as fuel for its manufacturing plant. Vasavadatta Cement, a company with its plant in Karnataka, would procure the plastic waste collected by the state agencies and villages in Goa.
State Environment Minister Alina Saldanha said that the plastic waste collected from the highways and other internal roads would be baled before being handed over to the cement company. Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, a state run agency, has already taken up the task of collecting garbage from the highways, while villages would be asked to clean up their own roads.
"Two baling machines have already been installed one each in North and South Goa to treat the plastic before handing it over to the cement company," said GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha. "The state requires six such machines to bale all of its plastic waste."
India: HeidelbergCement India will sell its 0.6Mt/yr cement grinding unit in Raigad, Maharashtra, to JSW Ispat Steel, part of the JSW Group.
"The disposal is in line with HeidelbergCement's philosophy of divesting less strategic assets with lower margins to focus on more strategic and key operations in central India where the company had recently expanded its cement capacity from 2Mt/yr to 5Mt/yr," said Ashish Guha, chief executive and managing director of HeidelbergCement India, in a statement.
The parties are negotiating and finalising the terms of the business transfer agreement, HeidelbergCement India said in a regulatory filing. The transaction will be finalised only after obtaining all relevant approvals, including that of shareholders.
India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPACT) has ordered cement producers to pay 10% of a US$1.15bn fine imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a price-fixing cartel. The tribunal asked 11 Indian cement producers to pay the fine within 30 days otherwise their appeal against the fine will be dismissed.
COMPAT had reserved its order over a batch of petitions filed by various cement producers and the Cement Manufacturer's Association (CMA) on 18 March 2013 after hearing them on an interim plea. In the petitions, the cement producers had challenged US$1.15bn penalty imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and a US$133,000 fine imposed on the CMA. The cement companies charged with cartel behaviour include Lafarge India, India Cement, JP Associates, Binani Cement, Ambuja Cement, Madras Cement and J K Cement.
The CCI had found cement producers were in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements, including cartels. The order was passed following probe by CCI Director General (Investigation) on a complaint filed by Builders Association.
Lafarge sells 14% stake in India for Euro200m
15 May 2013India: Lafarge has signed an agreement to sell a 14% minority stake in its Indian subsidiary, Lafarge India, for Euro200m to Baring Private Equity Asia. The transaction, which is subject to the approval of local regulatory authorities, is intended to accelerate Lafarge's growth plans in India in all its product lines, inlcuding cement, aggregates and concrete.
India: Sanghi Industries has posted a 234% increase in net profit to US$7.65m for the third quarter of its 2012 – 2013 financial year, compared to US$2.28m for the same period in 2011 – 2012. Net sales remained stable at US$54.4m.
For the financial year to date, profit after tax rose to US$14.9m in 2012 – 2013 from a loss of US$3.98m in 2011 – 2012. Net sales rose by 17.3% to US$146m from US$124m.
Commenting on the financial performance of the company, director Alok Sanghi said that the company's strategy of diversifying sales to markets in Maharashtra and Rajasthan outside of its core market of Gujarat had begun to pay off as the company operated at near full capacity. Additional cost saving measures such as debt reduction, higher captive power generation and increasing utilisation of cheaper sea route for transport of cement had further boosted profit margins.
India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating a complaint against a Chinese company offering waste heat recovery (WHR) solutions for the cement industry. This case is believed to be the first instance where a Chinese company has been affected by Indian competition law.
According to sources quoted by the Financial Express, Transparent Energy Systems (TESPL) filed a complaint against the Indian operations of Nanjing Triumph Kaineng (NTK). The complainant alleged the Chinese firm is severely impacting its business by quoting prices for tenders much below the market rates.
NTK specialises in WHR and accounts for a 30% market share of WHR power generation in the Chinese cement industry. It entered the Indian market in 2011 through a joint-venture with Tecpro Systems.