Displaying items by tag: ACC

India: LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary ACC is in talks to buy Jaiprakash Associates’ remaining cement business. It plans to buy the production capacity of 5.5Mt/yr for US$763m by mid-2018, according to sources quoted by the Economic Times newspaper. Jaiprakash Associates is selling the last parts of its former cement assets to reduce its debts.

The proposed deal includes plants in central India with clinker production capacity of 4.4Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of about 3.3Mt/yr, the company's 74% stake in Bhilai Jaypee Cement, a joint venture with Steel Authority of India, and the Nigrie grinding plant.

Jaiprakash Associates previously agreed to sell three cement plants to Orient Cement in mid-2017 but this deal was cancelled after a delay of one year. Prior to this the company sold six integrated cement plants and five grinding plants to UltraTech Cement for US$2.5bn in 2017. Following the sale of its remaining cement assets, the company will primarily an engineering, procurement and construction contractor in road and hydroelectric power.

India: ACC forecasts that demand for cement will grow by up to 7% in 2018. However, intense competition and insufficient consumption will lead to excess capacity it added, according to the Press Trust of India. Demand is expected to benefit from government-based infrastructure projects, rural development and affordable housing schemes.

Around 66% of ACC’s cement demand came from the housing sector, followed by infrastructure with 18% and 16% from the commercial sector. The country has a total cement production capacity of 465Mt/yr but it is only producing 305Mt/yr, giving it an utilisation rate of 66%. Cement plants in the south of the country are pulling the rate down compared to northern, central and eastern regions. Excess capacity is expected to continue until 2019, with the increased outlays on housing, infrastructure development and agricultural sector initiatives.

India: With a merger of LafargeHolcim subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cement on hold, the two companies have proposed entering into a Master Supply Agreement (MSA) with each other with the aims of increasing synergies, reducing operational costs and increasing the companies’ joint sustainability.

This agreement is for supply of cement, clinker, raw materials (including fuel, fly ash, slag, gypsum etc), spare parts and for providing toll grinding services at certain plants. This will be executed through purchase orders, subject to a pricing formula. This will enable each company to optimise the cost of servicing markets by using each other’s plant’s capabilities, maximise the utilisation of assets to generate additional sales for each company and make best use of their joint spare inventory.

India: ACC and Ambuja Cements, the two Indian subsidiaries of LafargeHolcim, have put their merger plans on hold. ACC said that its board was of the opinion that there were ‘certain constraints’ blocking its merger plans, according to the Press Trust of India. However, it added that a merger was its ‘ultimate’ objective. Ambuja Cements made a similar statement. Both companies joined Holcim in 2005, before becoming part of LafargeHolcim in 2015.

India: Cement maker ACC Ltd has announced that its fourth-quarter profit for 2017 was more than double that of the same period of 2016. Its profit rose by 126% to US$32.1m in the quarter that ended on 31 December 2017, from US$14.1m in 2016. Its net sales for the quarter were 30% higher at US$531m.

India: Neeraj Akhoury, the managing director and chief executive officer of ACC Cement, says that a ban on imported petcoke to the National Capital Region will increase the cost of cement. Akhoury told the Business Standard newspaper that the cement producer would be able to cope with the restriction through the use of alternative fuels. The Environment Ministry put the ban into effect on 19 January 2018 to control air pollution. This follows a relaxation of a temporary ban on petcoke in December 2017 by the Supreme Court to the cement industry.

India: ACC has appointed Jan Jenisch as an additional director to its board. Jenisch, a German national, was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of ACC’s parent company LafargeHolcim in mid-2017. Previously he was the CEO of Sika. He graduated from the University Fribourg, Switzerland and holds an MBA degree.

India: ACC’s cement sales rose by 18% year-on-year to 5.96Mt in the third quarter of 2017 from 5.07Mt in the same period of 2016 as its Jamul and Sindri plants have come online. Its sales volumes increased by 10% to 19.3Mt in the first nine months of the year. Net sales rose by 16.5% to US$1.46m in the first three quarters and its net profit after tax rose by 27% to US$110m.

Despite its positive result the cement producer warned against rising import costs from higher slag prices and fuel costs. Higher usage of imported and auctioned coal, caused by a limited availability of linkage coal, adversely affected fuel costs. However, the company said that it partly mitigated this through improved raw material mixtures and fuel mix optimisation.

India: ACC’s sales have risen as its Jamul cement plant in Chhattisgarh has ramped-up production increasing its presence in the east of the country. Its sales rose by 12.7% year-on-year to US$1bn in the first half of 2017 from US$888m in the same period in 2016. Its cement sales volumes rose by 6.9% to 13.3Mt from 12.5Mt. Its net profit after tax rose by 12.5% to US$83m from US$74m. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim also launched two new brands – ACC Suraksha and ACC HPC – in the preceding quarter.

India: LafargeHolcim’s subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cement have started exploring the options for a merger. The cement producers have initiated a study to assess the benefits of the move. A special committee of directors, of which the majority are independent directors, has been constituted to commence the evaluation. The boards of both companies will make a decision once a recommendation is received from the special committee of directors and the Audit Committee.