Displaying items by tag: Investment

Pakistan: Cherat Cement expects cement consumption in Pakistan to fall by 3 – 4% year-on-year in the 2023 financial year, which will end on 30 June 2023. Amid the general decline, the company foresees a slight rise in areas devastated by recent flooding with the onset of repair and rebuilding works during the second half of the financial year. Exports are expected to fall by 20%, with prices remaining level while costs increase due to the high price of imported coal.

Pakistan Business News has reported that Cherat Cement is reappraising the investment cost and planned commercial operation date of its upcoming 8000 – 9000t/day new cement plant. It previously valued the project at US$158 – 173m.

UK: Cemex UK has invested in a new Canning Conveyor conveyor system at its Swinderby sand and gravel quarry in Lincolnshire. The 1.6km-long system will convey extracted materials to a new processing plant. The new plant will double the quarry’s aggregates production capacity. The system includes a 20t hopper feeder and a radial stockpile, also supplied by Canning Conveyor. The company producer says that the new equipment will cut 50% of the operations’ CO2 emissions by eliminating diesel-powered dumpster use and saving 300,000l/yr of fuel, in line with Cemex’s Future in Action sustainability programme. It will also reduce dust and noise at the quarry. The investment is due for completion in early 2023.

US: Lehigh Hanson has secured US$3.7m-worth of funding from the US department of energy for its planned front-end engineering design (FEED) installation of a carbon capture system at its Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. The funding was part of a total US$31m pot awarded to 10 different carbon capture projects across multiple industries. All of the projects have the capacity to capture over 95% of emissions from their respective plants.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America is supplying its carbon capture system for use at the Mitchell cement plant, at a total project cost of US$4.8m.

US: Argos USA has invested US$40m in 200 new ready-mix concrete mixer trucks, as the first phase of a five-year fleet expansion and replacement plan. The company says that the vehicles have a useful life of 8 – 10 years, or 53,500m³. It expects to make its next truck purchases in early 2023.

Argos USA ready-mix president Richard Edwards said "With the acquisition of these new assets, we continue our dedication to delivering extraordinary solutions to customers, helping facilitate the progress and development of the cities and communities where we have a presence. Our new trucks have a capacity of around 7.5m³ of concrete, are approximately 15% more fuel efficient than our previous trucks, and result in lower atmospheric emissions. They are also vehicles with the latest safety equipment, to continue ensuring the safety of our employees and everyone we share the road with daily."

India: The board of directors of UltraTech Cement has approved the addition of an extra 22.6Mt/yr-worth of cement production capacity across the company's footprint. The new additions will span all of India and consists of both new plant builds and expansions. New capacity will commence production in a phased manner from mid-2024. UltraTech Cement expects to invest US$1.61bn in the growth phase.

Chair Kumar Mangalam Birla said "The Aditya Birla Group’s pace of activity, range of businesses and depth of global presence provide a useful compass to navigate this age of disruption. Against the backdrop of our long history as a group, dynamism leaps out as a common theme. Over the years, we have witnessed multiple business cycles. Across businesses and markets, our evolution is a story of continuous renewal and regeneration, as we aggressively invest in growth and create long-term value for all stakeholders."

Sri Lanka: Insee Cement has broken ground on its construction of a 45,000m³-capacity storage facility at Hambantota International Port. When commissioned in early 2023, the facility will store ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for use in Insee Cement's cement production. Daily News has reported the cost of the facility's construction as US$3m. At 17,300m², the Hambantota storage facility will be the largest warehouse at any port in Sri Lanka.

Insee Cement chair and CEO Nandana Ekanayake said "Hambantota Port is a vital link in our raw materials supply chain. Insee Cement has been using this port since 2018 and so far we have cleared around 1.7Mt of bulk cargo through the port, of which we did a little over 1Mt in 2021. Today, we laid this foundation as another step to strengthen our partnership with Hambantota International Port Group." Ekanayake concluded "We see great potential in developing channels through Hambantota International Port and we will double our investment in the future."

US: GCC plans to invest US$750m in an upgrade to its 0.9Mt/yr Odessa cement plant in Texas. The Milenio newspaper has reported that the upgrade will more than double the plant’s capacity to 1.9Mt/yr and lower its CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement by 13%. GCC expects the new capacity to be operational by 2025.

The group said “GCC will carry out the project at the Odessa plant because the US market is developing faster and represents savings in freight compared to the plant located in Chihuahua, Mexico.”

India: Ramco Cements reported consolidated sales of US$225m in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, up by 44% year-on-year. The producer recorded ‘weak’ cement prices in the quarter, during which time fuel costs rose ‘sharply.’ Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 17% to US$39.2m, while its net profit fell by 34% to US$14.4m.

Ramco Cements’ capital expenditure during the quarter totalled US$61.3m.

India: Adani Group has secured US$5.25bn-worth of bank loans from Barclays, BNP Paribas and Citigroup for its acquisition of Holcim’s Indian cement businesses ACC and Ambuja Cements. The Business Standard newspaper has reported that the group plans to expand its cement capacity by 43% to 100Mt/yr from 70Mt/yr.

US: Calucem, part of Cementos Molins, plans to establish a new calcium aluminate cement plant in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company will invest US$35m in the project and expects to commission the plant in mid-late 2023. It expects to create 70 new direct jobs and a total of 228 new jobs locally.

Calucem president and chief executive officer Yuri Bouwhuis said “Calucem is taking on a new investment that will support our growth and diversification in the US and ensure that we continue to offer high-value products to our global customers. Our choice of Louisiana for our first all-new manufacturing project in the US is due to the availability of strategic raw materials such as limestone and natural gas, access to waterways and skilled labour and the long history of using speciality cement products in the US.”