Displaying items by tag: Ambuja
Cement company using pine needles as secondary fuel
11 July 2012India: Pine needles, a major cause of forest fires in Himachal Pradesh, are now helping villagers earn money. The needles are being used as biofuel by a cement plant, with locals supplying production on a per-kilo basis. "Gujarat Ambuja Cements is using pine needles along with charcoal in its kiln," said the Divisional Forest Office, Pradeep Thakur. The substitution rate varies from 25-30%. "The needles have good calorific value and it's a good source of additional income for the villagers. In the Hamirpur forest division alone, more than 200 families are involved in the job. According to an official, an average a family can earn US$270/month through pine needles.
Manju Devi, a villager, said, "Since pine needles are not used in homes (due to the presence of various nitrogen oxides), they lie unused in the forests. The demand picked up after the company started procuring them and we are now earning up to US$750 in a season (from May to June)."
India fines cement firms US$1.1bn over cartel
22 June 2012India: In one of the largest fines of its kind, India's antitrust body has imposed a penalty of a combined US$1.1bn on 11 cement companies for price fixing. The companies penalised by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) include ACC and Ambuja Cements (both units of Swiss cement-maker Holcim), UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, India Cements, Madras Cements and the local unit of France's Lafarge.
"The commission has found that the cement companies have not utilised the available capacity, so as to reduce supplies and raise prices in times of higher demand," said the CCI in its judgement. It said that the penalty on each company amounted to 50% of their profit for the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11.
ACC has been fined US$201m and Ambuja has to pay US$204m. India's largest producer of the building material, Ultratech Cement, has to pay US$206m, while Lafarge's Indian unit will have to shell out US$84m. Jaiprakash Associates has been fined US$232m.
On 21 June 2012 the CCI said that the cement companies' action of limiting supplies to the market through an 'anti-competitive agreement' was not only detrimental to consumers but also to the economy, as the building material is a critical input for infrastructure projects. The regulator asked the companies to pay the fine within 90 days. The companies can challenge the regulator's orders in the Competition Appellate Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body and can then appeal to India's Supreme Court.
In response UltraTech said that it hasn't indulged in any cartelisation and that it would appeal against the order in the appellate tribunal. In Zurich Holcim said it would, "contest the allegations and findings against (ACC and Ambuja) in the order and will pursue all available legal steps to defend their respective positions." In Paris Lafarge said, "We will see the detailed report and decide the suitable actions to take. Lafarge has a strict policy to comply with competition laws."
The CCI started accepting cases in 2009, replacing a relatively toothless antitrust body that had been in place since 1970, and has been becoming increasingly assertive. The biggest penalty it had imposed so far was in 2011, when it ordered DLF Ltd., India's biggest property developer by sales, to pay US$120m for abusing its dominant market position by changing agreements signed with some property buyers.
The judgement comes at a bad time for cement companies, as demand for construction materials is weak due to sluggish economic growth and a fall in spending on infrastructure projects. The cost of raw materials such as coal is on the rise as well, pressuring margins.
UltraTech and Ambuja prop up Indian market's hopes
06 June 2012India: Strong sales from India's two largest cement makers, Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech and Swiss major Holcim's Ambuja Cements, in May 2012 are likely to return the industry to growth figures above 10% after a gap of two months.
Following India's 'disappointing' GDP growth of 5.3% for the first quarter of 2012, strong dispatches just before the start of the monsoon season has given hope to cement industry experts for better growth in 2012-13.
Ambuja Cements sold 1.93Mt in May 2012 against 1.73Mt in May 2011, a rise of 11.9%. UltraTech Cement, registered sales growth of 10.6%. However, Ambuja's sister concern, ACC, could not match up with the other key producers and reported a growth of 3%. It sold 2.05Mt compared to 1.99Mt in May 2011.
"With 10-12% growth from country's two top cement makers, it seems the industry will hit growth of 11-13% in May 2012," said the research head of a Mumbai-based brokerage firm.
The Indian Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA) will be releasing the sector's overall statistics in June 2012. UltraTech Cement, ACC and Amubja Cements collectively control close to one-third of the country's cement market, which has an overall capacity of 330Mt/yr.
Onne van der Weijde joins Holcim senior management
04 January 2012Onne van der Weijde, currently CEO of Ambuja Cements Ltd in India, has been appointed as an area manager and a member of the senior management of Switzerland's Holcim Ltd. He took on his new role on 1 January 2012. Mr van der Weijde remains CEO of Ambuja Cements Ltd and reports directly to Holcim's executive committee member Paul Hugentobler, who is responsible for Holcim operations in South Asia, excluding the Philippines.
A Dutch citizen, Mr van der Weijde holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and an MBA from the University of Bradford in the UK.
Mr van der Weijde was CFO at Holcim Indonesia from 2001 to 2005. In 2005 he was appointed General Manager of Holcim India Ltd and in 2006 he also assumed the CFO function at ACC Ltd until October 2008. Since November 2009 he has been CEO of Ambuja Cements Ltd.
Indian production challenged by local coal shortage
17 October 2011India: Indian cement companies are facing a shortage of coal from Coal India Ltd, the country's largest producer. However they are unlikely to be affected by this due to the high levels of imports, a cement trade official has said.
"Most cement companies import up to 70%-75% of the coal needed to run their captive power plants. As of now, I don't expect cement supply to be affected by the coal shortage," said Sanjay Ladiwala, president of the Cement Stockists and Dealers Association of Bombay.
A brokerage report by Emkay Securities has stated that large cement companies such as ACC, Ambuja Cements and Ultratech Cement source around 20% of their thermal coal needs from Coal India's monthly electronic auctions. The report also said that Coal India has diverted the 4Mt for auction in October 2011 to power generation companies. This could lead to some cost escalation for cement producers as they have to rely on higher-priced imported coal.
Separately, Ladiwala said that cement prices rose across most of the country in October 2011, except in southern regions, as demand from the construction sector revived after the summer monsoon rains ended.
Ambuja buys large stake in fly-ash producer
15 September 2011India: One of the leading cement makers in India, Ambuja Cements Ltd., has announced that it has acquired a 60% equity stake in fly ash maker Dirk India Pvt Ltd for USD3.5m. Ambuja Cement said that after the transaction is completed, Dirk and its subsidiary Dirk Pozzocrete will become units of the company.
Fly ash, which is produced by burning coal, can be added to cement as a supplementary material, enabling reductions in both production cost and the amount of carbon dioxide produced from cement manufacture.