Displaying items by tag: ACC

India: ACC’s earnings before taxation, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) fell by 26% year-on-year to US$83.1m in the first quarter of 2022 from US$113m in the same period in 2021. Net sales rose by 3% to US$566m from US$552m. Sales volumes of cement dropped by 3% to 7.71Mt but volumes of ready-mixed concrete grew by 5% to 0.87Mm³. The subsidiary of Ambuja Cement and Holcim said that its costs had been negatively affected by a global rise in fuel costs caused by ‘geopolitical events.’

The cement producer said that its new integrated plant at Ametha in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2022. It commissioned an upgrade to its Tikaria grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh in February 2022. Waste heat recovery unit projects at its Jamul and Kymore plants are ‘on track’ and the board of ACC has approved the next phase of similar projects at its Chanda and Wadi plants.

India: Switzerland-based Holcim is reportedly in the early stages of selling its subsidiaries Ambuja Cement and ACC. The company has held discussions with JSW, Adani Group and others, according to sources who have spoken to the Economic Times newspaper. Multinational building material producers have also been approached. Holcim has not commented on what it described as ‘rumours.’ Ambuja Cement and ACC have a combined cement production capacity of 66Mt/yr

India: Aumund Engineering India has been selected by ACC to refurbish a 175.3m high bucket elevator, the tallest in the world. The elevator is installed at ACC’s Wadi Cement plant in Karnataka where it is used for raw meal pre-heater transport at a rate of 600t/hr.

Originally, the machine was fitted with a steel cord belt of width 1320mm and tension rating of 3150N/mm. Aumund has decided to offer an alternative based on its own design concept resulting in a belt width of 1300mm but with higher tension rating of 4000N/mm with a bucket size of 1250mm at bucket spacing of 450mm. The Aumund belt concept will use continuous close pitch longitudinal ropes without rope free bucket mounting spaces. However, it will use additional wire ropes running laterally across the width of the belt adding lateral stiffness without significantly changing the belt longitudinal flexibility. This cross-stabilised construction is intended to improve stability to the belt with improved bucket fixing.

To make the necessary belt punching, Aumund has developed a special punching machine design which gives clean fixing holes that are accurately aligned relative to the belt edge and at precisely the correct pitch. The belt is held in a cassette and advanced automatically under the punching frame using a precision encoder to measure the pitch. The belts are prepared at the Aumund production in Rheinberg, Germany and shipped to site at the exact required dimensions including a prepared joint and the required clamping connection.

In addition to the new belt the elevator will also be fitted with new drive pulley including friction linings and rubber bucket mounting strips. The casings, inlet and outlet plus the complete drive unit remain unchanged.
No commissioning date for the project has been announced.

India: ACC’s Chaibasa cement plant in Jharkhand has received its first instalment of fly ash for use in cement production from Vedanta Aluminium subsidiary Vedanta Jharsuguda. Global Cement News previously reported that Vedanta Aluminium had been seeking a cement industry fly ash and bauxite residue buyer for a long-term collaborative partnership in July 2021.

In the 2022 financial year, Vedanta Aluminium supplied 190,000t of fly ash to Indian cement producers.

India: ACC has launched its new Concrete Direct app for booking and live tracking concrete deliveries. The producer says that the app reduces operational follow-up calls.

Managing director and CEO Sridhar Balakrishnan said “At ACC, we recognise the need to improve and lead through digitalisation. We are happy to launch Concrete Direct, a premium digital tool that saves time and money for our customers. With such innovations, we want to enhance customer experience and build a strong ecosystem of partners to support them.”

India: ACC has commissioned its Tikaria grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh after completing work to expand its capacity by 69% to 3.91Mt/yr. The plant will help ACC to serve the country’s increasing demand and increase its presence in Central India, according to the producer. The United News of India newspaper has reported that the company commenced the project in January 2021.

CEO and managing director Sridhar Balakrishnan said "ACC's strong belief and resilience in these difficult times enabled the team to commission the additional capacity at the Tikaria grinding plant. Meticulous planning and the collaborative approach of the Tikaria team has been the driving force in ACC’s setting a new benchmark in these unprecedented times."

India: ACC has announced its successful purchase at auction of the Kannur limestone block mineral reserve in Wadi, Kalaburagi District, from the Karnataka government. The producer plans to use the block to supply limestone for its Wadi cement plant.

India: UltraTech Cement has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% ownership of National Limestone Company for US$3.09m. National Limestone Company’s parent company Ghadiya Group bought it from Holcim subsidiary ACC for US$2.5m in November 2020.

India: The nine-year-old son of an ACC executive has returned home after being kidnapped in Bargarh, Odisha. The child was playing locally on the evening of 2 January 2022 when two men on a motorcycle abducted him, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. They left a ransom note demanding around US$13,400 for his return. Following a search, police found the boy roaming the countryside shortly before midnight on the same day. They believe the assailants abandoned their plans after learning that the authorities had effectively prevented their escape by sealing the local area. The hunt for the suspects continues.

India: ACC has been awarded a five star rating for sustainable mining by the Ministry of Mines. Pralhad Joshiand, the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs of India, and Raosaheb Patil Danve, the Honourable Minister of State for Ministry of Mines, Coal and Railways, presented ACC with the award at the fifth National Conclave on Mines and Minerals held in Delhi.

The award is a recognition of the company’s efforts towards sustainable mining at the Govari Limestone Mine, the Wadi Limestone Mine, the Gagal Limestone Mine, the Jamul Limestone Mines and the Kymore Limestone Mines from amongst 1029 mines in all over India. The mines were rated from one star to five star on the criteria including: mining methodology; resettlement and rehabilitation issues; community engagement; use of green energy sources, digitisation; and data reporting.

Rajat Prusty, the Chief Manufacturing Officer of ACC, said, “Sustainability is deeply embedded in ACC’s business model. It’s a proud moment for the company to be recognised for its efforts in sustainable mining.”