Displaying items by tag: India

India: Ambuja Cement sales have benefited from more infrastructure projects, improved sand availability and increased government spending. Its sales volumes of cement grew by 6% year-on-year to 26.9Mt in the first half of 2018 from 25.4Mt in the same period in 2017. Its net sales increased by 10% to US$1.89bn from US$1.72bn and its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 7% to US$328m from US$306m.

"Ambuja is well positioned to benefit from the upsurge in rural demand and the encouraging external environment. Our consistent customer-connect initiatives, pursuit of operational excellence and continued focus on the retail segment is helping us reduce the impact of rising cost pressures," said Ajay Kapur, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ambuja Cement.

India: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed an appeal by cement producers against a US$975m fine for alleged cartel-like behaviour. The Competition Commission of India penalised 11 cement companies in August 2016, according to the Press Trust of India. The companies included UltraTech Cement, ACC, Ambuja, Ramco and JK Cement and the Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA). UltraTech Cement has been fined US$171m, the highest amount in the group.

India: ACC’s net sales rose by 14% year-on-year to US$1.06bn in the first half of 2018 from US$934m in the same period in 2017. Its net profit after tax rose by 8% to US$125m from US$108m. Its sales volumes of cement increased by 8% to 14.4Mt from 13.3Mt.

Neeraj Akhoury, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of ACC, said that input prices, such as fuel and slag, and logistics costs were continuing to mount. However, the company has made operational and productivity efficiencies that had partly offset this.

India: Orient Cement plans to upgrade its Devapur in Adilabad District, Telangana. It will invest US$290m towards more than doubling the unit’s cement production capacity to 7.5Mt/yr from 3Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. The cement producer obtained first stage clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to expand the existing integrated cement plant. However, final clearance from the Ministry is still awaited.

India: Birla Corporation plans to increase its cement production capacity to 20Mt/yr by 2021. At present it has a capacity of 15.5Mt/yr, according to the Hindu newspaper. The company plans to increase its capacity by both expanding existing units and building new ones. It acquired Reliance Cement in mid-2016.

India: UltraTech Cement plans to build five waste heat recovery (WHR) units with an investment of US$72.6m. The new WHR units will have a capacity of 63MW and they will take the company’s total WHR capacity to 121MW, according to the Hindu newspaper. It is anticipated that the cement producer will be able to meet half of its power requirements from its WHR plants. They are also intended to protect the company from changes in the price of coal.

UAE: India’s JSW Cement plans to invest around US$150m in a new integrated 1Mt/yr plant in Fujairah. The project will also include a captive power plant, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The company expects to commission the new plant by December 2019. The project is part of the group’s target to reach a production capacpty of 20Mt/yr by 2020.

India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement has temporarily suspended operations at its Sidheegram plant in Gujarat due to heavy rain. It said that suspension was a ‘precautionary measure.’ All operations of the kiln and upstream equipment has been stopped. However, cement grinding and despatch will constine to operate.

India: Shree Digvijay’s income rose by 11% year-on-year to US$17m in the quarter to 30 June 2018 from US$15.4m in the same period in 2017. It profit for the period increased by nearly four times to US$0.86m from US$0.22m.

India: Roads and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has threatened implementing price controls on cement. He blamed problems his ministry has faced building concrete roads on alleged price collusion, according to the Telegraph India newspaper. During questions at the Indian Parliament he said that if cement producers did not ‘fall in line’ then he would propose placing cement under the Essential Commodities Act.