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Displaying items by tag: ACC
India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal has set aside a US$945m penalty imposed on 11 cement firms by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on accusations of cartel behaviour and asked the fair trade regulator to resubmit the case. The Tribunal also allowed the cement manufacturers to withdraw the 10% penalty amount already deposited with the CCI, according to the Press Trust of India.
The judgement follows appeals filed by the cement firms and their industry body, the Cement Manufacturers Association, against the two CCI orders passed in June - July 2012. The cement companies included ACC, Ambuja Cements, Binani Cements, Century Textiles Ltd, India Cements, JK Cements, Lafarge India, Madras Cements, Ultratech, JP Associates and Shree Cements.
The CCI had passed the orders after an investigation into complaints, including from Builders Association of India (BAI), against alleged price collaboration between cement firms.
The orders were later challenged at the Competition Appellate Tribunal, which ordered that 'the impugned order is set aside and the matter is remitted to the CCI for fresh adjudication of the issues relating to alleged violation" of the relevant sections of the Competition Act.'
ACC’s third quarter 2015 net profit down by 40%
21 October 2015India: ACC has reported a 40% drop in its consolidated net profit to US$17.7m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015 as it was hit by a sales decline and subdued prices. It had posted a net profit of US$29.5m during the same period of 2014.
ACC's total consolidated income fell marginally to US$428m in the July - September 2015 quarter from US$432m in the same period of 2014. Its total expenses grew to US$405m from US$395m in the 2014 quarter. ACC said that cement sales were poor during the July - September 2015 quarter and added that the pace of India's economic revival has been slower than expected. ACC's cement sales fell to 5.61Mt from 5.62Mt in the same period of 2014.
"With subdued construction activity in most of the monsoon season, the industry witnessed weak off-take of cement in the quarter. As a result, our cement volumes were correspondingly flat. Selling prices were subdued," said ACC. While sales here was almost flat, there was improvement in input and energy costs.
Police raid fake cement factory in Maharashtra
05 October 2015India: The Madhav Nagar police raided an industrial unit manufacturing fake cement in the industrial area of Dewas Road, Maharashtra and arrested five people working in the unit on 3 October 2015. The accused allegedly filled empty UltraTech Cement bags with ACC cement and then passed it off on the market as original.
The police also seized hundreds of sacks of fake cement kept in the cement plant, a truck and equipment used in the process. According to the Indian National Press Bombay, the accused collected expired cement bags kept in storehouses and thereafter mixed spurious substances with it, then repackaged the bags with logos of a reputed cement company. They then sold it at a reduced price to the public and wholesalers. The police also found thousands of empty sacks of leading cement companies inside the factory premises.
ACC struggles amid rising costs
20 July 2015India: Rising costs have reduced ACC's profit substantially in the April – June 2015 quarter, despite its revenues meeting expectations.
In spite of selling more cement, ACC's net realisation fell by 3% compared to the January - March 2015 quarter and was also slightly lower year-on-year. The fall was attributed to low cement prices in the June 2015 quarter, which is normally robust considering the fast-paced pre-monsoon activity, as well as a significant rise in operating cost per tonne. ACC's June quarter performance reflects the trend of cost pressures and weak realisations across the sector.
Final public exchange offer results published for LafargeHolcim merger, Bernard Fontana steps down as Holcim CEO
10 July 2015Europe: The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has published the final results of the public exchange offer initiated by Holcim Ltd for the shares of Lafarge SA.
Following the settlement-delivery of the offer expected to occur on 10 July 2015, Holcim Ltd will hold 252,230,673 Lafarge SA shares, representing 87.46% of the share capital and at least 83.94% of the voting rights of Lafarge SA based on the total number of shares outstanding as of 8 July 2015. In accordance with the AMF general regulations, the offer will be re-opened during at least 10 trading days according to a timetable that will be published by the AMF.
Holcim has announced that in connection with the successful public exchange offer and the expected closing of the merger with Lafarge, Bernard Fontana will step down from his position as CEO of Holcim Ltd with the completion of the merger. He will also resign from all mandates in all Holcim Group entities.
"It has been a pleasure and honour to work with remarkable and passionate people throughout the past years at Holcim. I wish the new company LafargeHolcim and the entire team all the very best for the future," said Fontana. The board of directors has thanked Fontana for his leadership and achievements for the group, and in particular for the successful implementation of the Holcim Leadership Journey.
Andreas Leu, currently responsible for the Americas, will also leave Holcim with effect from 1 August 2015. Bernard Terver, currently responsible for Africa and the Middle East as well as South Asia, will assume the position as head of India for LafargeHolcim from the date of the closure of the merger. In this capacity he will continue his mandates in the boards of Ambuja Cements and ACC Limited in India. Holcim's board of directors and the executive committee have thanked Leu for his contributions to the success of the group and wish him all the very best for his future.
India: According to Cogencis MoneyWire, the Madras High Court has dismissed ACC's writ petition against a demand notice regarding a 50% royalty due over a mining lease for limestone removal from government-owned lands.
The royalty demand was for US$1.17m for 1988 - 1998. ACC was granted the lease to mine limestone from 140,000m2 of land at Madukkarai Village in Tamil Nadu and was subsequently granted another mining lease. According to local media, initially a lessee has to pay royalty at the rate of 50%, after which it was obligatory on the part of every leaseholder to pay 100% royalty.
India: According to the United News of India, ACC has suspended limestone mining operations at its Chaibasa plant in Jharkhand because of regulatory issues. ''The limestone mining operations at the Chaibasa plant have been suspended on account of the requirement of further clearances from the government of Jharkhand,'' said ACC in a statement.
The company is in discussion with the concerned authorities and expects that limestone mining operations would resume shortly. Cement grinding continues with the transfer of clinker from sister cement plants and the purchase of clinker. ACC said that the impact of the closure of the mining operations at Chaibasa is not expected to be material.
ACC resumes limestone mining operations at Bargarh
18 June 2015India: ACC resumed limestone mining operations at Bargarh, Odisha, after about nine months, on 17 June 2015.
ACC stopped mining at Bargarh in October 2014 following a government notice to suspend operations at the plant. The company stopped clinker production at its Chaibasa, Jharkhand, and Bargarh plants, but continued to operate the grinding units associated with these. "The impact of the closure was not material since cement grinding continued with the transfer of clinker from sister works and clinker purchases," said ACC.
State governments were issued orders to stop mining, following a Supreme Court judgement in the matter of Goa Foundation versus Union of India and Others and in Common Cause versus Union of India on the deemed renewal of mining leases and a subsequent amendment to The Mineral Concession Rules 1960.
ACC resumed limestone mining operations following terms of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Ordinance 2015.
India: According to the Economic Times, the waste from city kitchens will soon be recycled into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at waste processing plants in Kalaburagi City, Karnataka. The RDF from the 10 upcoming waste processing plants in Kalaburagi will be given to cement companies for use as fuel and the biodegradable waste will be used as manure by farmers.
The joint initiative taken up by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development & Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has had agreements with cement manufacturers such as ACC, Vicat Sagar and UltraTech in Kalaburagi.
"Plastic-like material is a good alternative for fossil fuel as it can replace up to 20% of fossil fuel in terms of energy," said KSPCB chairman Vaman Acharya. The pact is yet to be signed and talks between the stakeholders is in the final stages. Transport costs for the RDF are estimated to be less than US$0.016/kg.
The idea to use RDF instead of fossil fuel in Kalaburagi cement plants was first conceived by Hasiru Dala, a Bengaluru-based non profit organisation working on waste management. It has provided 100t of combustible waste to Zuari Cements' plant in Andhra Pradesh in the past two months. Nalini Shekar, founder of Hasiru Dala, said that the material was not sold to the cement plant for a price, but Zuari paid for packaging and transportation. Households have been asked to segregate waste and hand it to BBMP garbage collectors to make the process easier.
ACC’s net profit hit by low demand
15 April 2015India: ACC has reported a 40.8% drop in its consolidated net profit to US$37.9m for the quarter that ended on 31 March 2015 owing to slack demand in the domestic market. It had posted net profit of US$64.1m during the same period of 2014.
"With slack demand for cement from infrastructure and the general construction sector in the January - March quarter, the overall cement sales volumes registered a decline compared with the corresponding period of 2014," said the company in a statement. "The overall operating costs for cement business registered an increase of 3.6% year-on-year."
The company's total consolidated turnover for the quarter saw a 2.75% decline to US$462m compared with US$475m in the same period of 2014. Sales volumes declined to 5.82Mt as against 6.48Mt in 2014. Its total income from operations increased by 1.75% year-on-year to US$493m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 18.3% to US$79.7m. "EBITDA for the quarter reflects continued margin improvements," said ACC's statement. During the quarter, ACC also received US$22.4m as an incentive from the Jharkhand government following a high court order, which helped push up its EBITDA.
ACC is hopeful that cement demand will improve in the next two quarters and said that its focus will continue to be on performance. "We see a modest but steady revival for the Indian economy in 2015. This will have a positive impact on infrastructure, housing and construction sectors and will increase the demand for cement," said ACC chairman NS Sekhsaria. The company is now looking forward to commission its clinker plant and allied grinding plant at its Jamul plant in Durg, Chhattisgarh by the end of 2015.