Displaying items by tag: India
ACC grows earnings in 2020 despite coronavirus
17 February 2021India: ACC’s net sales fell by 12% year-on-year to US$1.85bn in 2020 from US$2.11bn in 2019. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 3% to US$341m from US$332m. Cement sales volumes decreased by 12% to 25.5Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales volumes by 36% to 2.3Mm3. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim said that its cost efficiency program and working capital optimisation helped it to grow earnings and profits in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Vicat’s sales, earnings and net income rise in 2020
16 February 2021France: Vicat recorded full-year consolidated sales of Euro2.81bn in 2020, up by 2% year-on-year from Euro2.74bn in 2019. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to Euro557m from Euro526m. Consolidated net income rose by 8% to Euro172m from Euro160m.
The group said that organic sales were ‘strong,’ rising in all regions except in France, by 6% in total. It attributed the decline to a near-total shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March 2020, which lifted incrementally throughout the first half of the year. Vicat France’s cement business recovered ‘robustly’ in the second half of 2020, resulting in an operational sales increase of 3% for the year. Full stoppages of activity lasted for 33 days in India and for 30 days in Italy. Despite these challenges, business growth, cost-cutting and lower energy costs drove earnings growth, with ‘very sharp improvements’ recorded in the Americas and in Asia. Additionally, the ramp-up of a new grinding plant in Mali and production performance improvements in Senegal supported a ‘significant’ earnings increase in Africa.
Chair and chief executive officerGuy Sidos said, “Thanks to our employees’ tremendous efforts and commitment, the Vicat group strengthened its position amid the unprecedented current pandemic situation. Our resilience and flexibility allowed us to make organisational changes in order to reconcile our competing imperatives of keeping everyone safe and healthy, unlocking savings and making rapid adjustments, such as relocating our Paris head office to L’Isle d’Abeau in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Likewise, we made improvements to Vicat’s governance and stepped up our environmental and digital transformation programmes. Given the strength of our cash generation, we were able to resume key productivity investment programmes for the future. Despite the adversity we faced, our teams across all our various regions successfully delivered higher production efficiency levels and met market demand cost-effectively, paving the way for a solid increase in the Vicat group’s results.”
In 2021, the group plans to expand cement production and invest in new cement terminals in India and to continue with the upgrade of its Ragland cement plant in the US. It also says that it will ramp up projects aimed at meeting its carbon footprint reduction targets. The group expects its earnings to rise at constant scope and exchange rates over the full year.
ACC launches ECOPact concrete in India
16 February 2021India: LafargeHolcim subsidiary ACC has launched its ECOPact range of reduced-CO2 concrete products in Hyderabad and Mumbai. A full nationwide rollout will follow in February and March 2021.
Managing director Sridhar Balakrishnan said, "The innovative manufacturing process of the ECOPact range reduces CO2 emissions by up to 100% and further enhances our sustainable products offerings for the construction industry.”
India: JSW Cement has hired US-based Yalochat to supply software for transactions with trade customers. It says it is among the first Indian cement companies to introduce conversational commerce services to this marketing segment. The software promises to increase the company’s ease of doing business by integrating customer service into transactions via the WhatsApp messaging platform. The producer says that this will help differentiate it as it transitions to 25Mt/yr of production capacity by 2023 from 14Mt/yr.
Managing director Parth Jindal said, "Digital technology is shaping the long-term sustainable growth strategy of all JSW Group businesses. We are in a unique position to deliver integrated home-building solutions to Indian consumers. Our digital transformation will ensure the ease of doing business to our customers through continued improvements in the overall brand experience combined with efficient operations for well-synchronised and timely deliveries."
Dalmia Cement completes new school building in Barunia
12 February 2021India: Dalmia Bharat subsidiary Dalmia Cement has inaugurated a new school building that it has built in Barunia, Odisha. The Orissa Diary newspaper has reported that the work was part of a US$7690 project which also included the refurbishment of two existing classrooms.
Projects executive directorRamawatar Sharma said, "The access to quality education is a basic human right. As a company, we have always believed in providing opportunities to the best of our capacity and helped in laying the foundation for a better life for everyone. We are optimistic that with the renovation of the school infrastructure, the students will feel motivated to attend classes and continue working towards building a better future for them."
India: Denmark-based Hasle has supplied a Hasle D59A coating-resistant castable to Asian Cement for use on the inlet chamber and riser duct at its cement plant. The supplier supervised installation. It said that the castable will reduce the required lining materials of the equipment, resulting in savings.
Ambuja Cement implements biofuels for shipping
10 February 2021India: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Ambuja Cement has begun a trial of bio-diesel fuel blends for its shipping fleet. It says that the fuel change will reduce the fleet’s CO2 emissions by 25%.
Managing Director and chief executive officer Neeraj Akhoury said, “With the introduction of bio-diesel blends, we are significantly contributing towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by introducing a suitable alternate green fuel that helps achieve our parent, LafargeHolcim’s, sustainability vision of ‘net zero pledge 2030’.”
JK Cement increases nine-month consolidated sales and post-tax profit in 2021 financial year
09 February 2021India: JK Cement’s consolidated revenue from operations in the first three quarters of its 2021 financial year rose by 5% year-on-year to US$614m from US$584m. Its consolidated profit after tax rose by 52% to US$67.1m from US$44.3m, while standalone earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 29% to US$147m from US$115m. Its sales volumes of cement grew by 9% to 7.75Mt from 7.12Mt.
The group reported that it had two projects on-going in the period with a combined cost of US$267m at 31 December 2020. These were the installation of an overland belt conveyor for limestone at a 4.2Mt/yr cement plant expansion and the upgrade of Line 3 of its Nimbahera cement plant in Rajasthan.
ACC breaks ground on 2.7Mt/yr Ametha cement plant project
08 February 2021India: Ambuja Cements subsidiary ACC has held the groundbreaking ceremony for its upcoming 2.7Mt Ametha integrated cement plant near Kymore, Madhya Pradesh. The company says that the plant will be equipped with an additional 1Mt/yr grinding unit and a 15MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant. It estimated that the new plant will generate over 5000 indirect jobs. The producer currently operates 3.6Mt/yr of clinker production and 2.7Mt/yr of grinding capacity in the state.
LafargeHolcim India chief executive officer and Ambuja Cements managing director and chief executive officer Neeraj Akhoury said, “Our Business Excellence Journey has been successful on account of the continuous support and guidance rendered to us by the State Government. It is a great privilege and honour for us to be one of the pioneers in the industrialisation journey of Madhya Pradesh. The new project will further strengthen our partnership and propel the growth of the State.”
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant may establish slag cement plant
08 February 2021India: State-owned Visakhapatnam Steel Plant may use available land at its steel plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh to establish a slag cement plant. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has decided to privatise the public sector unit. The state government opposes the decision and has proposed a merger with the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) instead. This would integrate Visakhapatnam Steel Plant within the management chain of other resources used in cement production.