05 July 2016
Burkina Faso: CIMAF, a subsidiary of Morocco’s Addoha Group, has started building a 0.7Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Bobo-Dioulasso. The plant will cost about Euro25m and will be completed by the end of 2017, according to the North Africa Post newspaper. The new plant will generate 200 direct and indirect jobs. CIMAF also operates a 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant in Ouagadougou.
Vietnam government to sell stake in cement giant 05 July 2016
Vietnam: The Ministry of Construction is planning to sell its stake in Vicem through an initial public offering in the fourth quarter of 2016. The cement producer has said previously that the state is planning to reduce its holding to 51%. Investors from Indonesia and Thailand have expressed interest in acquiring stakes in Vicem, according to the Dau Tu newspaper.
Vicem, previously known as the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation, has stakes in 31 companies, mostly cement producers and distributors. Its gross profit reportedly doubled last year to US$105.2m in 2015. It currently controls 34% of the market in Vietnam.
India: Ramco Cements has received environmental clearance to upgrade the captive power plant at its Alathiyur cement plant in Tamil Nadu. The expansion will cost US$3.18m. The cement producer intends to add 6MW turbines based on air-cooled condensers, taking the total power generation to 42MW, according to Accord Fintech. The company will use imported coal from Indonesia for the power plant. The coal supply agreement was made in July 2014 with Devendral Coal International.
India: UltraTech Cement and Jaiprakash Associates have revised their deal for UltraTech to buy 21.2Mt/yr of cement production capacity from Jaiprakash Associates. The revised value of the deal is now US$2.47bn, up from US$2.40 agreed previously. UltraTech will have to pay an additional US$70m upon completion of a grinding unit under construction. The new agreement is an amendment to the 31 March 2016 scheme of arrangement., according to the Hindu newspaper.
The approval follows an agreement of Jaiprakash Associates’ lenders who invoked Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) scheme on 28 June 2016. This allowed the lenders may take control of the company and sell its assets to recover dues.
“Jaypee Group is determined to reduce its overall debt through its proactive divestment initiatives to help the group tide these current turbulent times caused by the economic slowdown,” said Manoj Gaur, Executive Chairman, Jaypee Group. The company has put together a committee of directors to explore its options to tackle its debt management.