India: UltraTech Cement has cuts its capital expenditure budget to around US$130m due to the coronavirus pandemic. Work on its 2.2Mt/yr Cuttack grinding unit, which was scheduled for commissioning in March 2021, has been slowed down. Upgrades at its West Bengal and Bihar grinding plants are nearly completed and a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) at its UltraTech Nathdwara Cement subsidiary will be completed in the current financial year.
The leading Indian cement producer said that government directives in response to the health crisis had ‘adversely’ affected revenue. Since ‘select’ activities were allowed to re-open from 20 April 2020 and the company says it is now, ‘dispatching cement from all locations.’ It added that the majority of demand was currently coming from retail markets as some institutional projects restart construction. It operates 22 operational integrated plants, 23 grinding units and 6 bulk terminals. The company said that ‘conserving cash’ is its motto in 2020.
