Displaying items by tag: India

India: The credit ratings agency ICRA has downgraded its forecast for cement demand growth to 3.5 – 4% for the 2017 - 2018 financial year due to a slow first half of the year. It blamed the slow first half on a sand shortage in some regions, the implementation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority and slowed construction activity in the west, according to the Press Trust of India. The agency expects demand to be subdued during the second quarter of the year due to weather and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

However, it forecasts demand to rebound afterwards as housing demand and infrastructure projects pick up. In July 2017 the agency had predicted a growth rate of 5%.

India: KEC International has secured various orders with a value of up to US$10.7m for structural and civil work on cement plants. The package also includes work on a car factory. The orders have been announced as part of a wider group of orders worth US$156m that are mainly in the power transmission, cable and railway industries.

India: FLSmidth has signed a contract to deliver an OK 52-4 cement mill system for India Cements’ Shankar Nagar plant in Tamil Nadu. The engineering company will carry out the system engineering, procurement and supply machinery for a cement production capacity of 200t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement at 3500 Blaine. The supply also includes a ROKSH 82 separator and gear units from FLSmidth product company, MAAG Gear.

"This contract reflects the strong relations we have had with the India Cements for almost a decade and our extensive knowledge in the region. We are happy to partner with them again," said Country Head of FLSmidth India, Carsten Riisberg Lund.

The new mill will replace the existing ball mills at the plant. The contract is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.

India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement has extended the shutdown period of its Sidheegram plant until 28 September 2017 due to additional maintenance work on the kiln and coal mill. The maintenance period was originally scheduled to last until 25 August 2017. The cement producer said that cement grinding and packing operations will continue as normal and that the plant will meet all despatch requirements. Cement sales volumes are expected to be unaffected.

India: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) says that the local cement industry has 100Mt/yr of excess production capacity out of a total 425Mt/yr. The sector is sitting on over US$9.4bn of ‘sunk investment in surplus capacities’ but the CMA expects infrastructure schemes including railway projects to increase demand, according to the Press Trust of India. CMA President Shailendra Chouksey added that initiatives such as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train could raise cement consumption by 3 – 5Mt/yr.

In separate comments M P Rawal, the company administrator of JK Cements, confirmed the CMA’s assessment of the sector by saying that a slowdown in the construction industry in 2016 had led to a 70% utilisation rate of the country’s cement plants. He expected the same situation to persist in 2017. However, he warned that one bullet train project was unlikely to have a big impact on the situation.

India: JK Cement plans to invest up US$234m over the next 3- 4 years on an expansion project to increase its cement production capacity by over 30% to 14Mt/yr. Rajnish Kapur, the head of the company’s cement business, told the Press Trust of India that the cement producer is considering expanding existing plants and building new ones due to anticipated government infrastructure spending and a good monsoon. He said that it is in the process of evaluating expansion opportunities at its Mangrol plant in Rajasthan. It is also looking to build a new plant in Panna, Madhya Pradesh. It intends to finance the expansion through a mixture of internal funds and via loans.

India: Two workers have died in an accident at Ambuja Cement’s Bhatapara plant in Baloda Bazar Tehsil, Chhattisgarh. Five labourers were inside a crushing mill at the site making repairs when it suddenly started operating, according to the Press Trust of India. Two of the workers, identified as Dhirendra Verma and Dilip Kumar Verma, came in contact with the machine leaving them with critical injuries. They subsequently died in hospital. A police investigation is underway.

Nepal: Ghorahi Cement has ordered a vertical roller mill from Gebr. Pfeiffer for its Kapilvastu Cement Udhyog grinding plant at Sonparwa, Barkalpure in the Kapilvastu District. Ordinary Portland Cement will be ground on a type MVR 3070 C-4 mill with a capacity of 70t/hr. The mill will be equipped with a SLS 2650 BC classifier. The grinding plant can also be used for the grinding of mixed cements with granulated blast-furnace slag or fly ash.

The core components of the MVR mill and a 1250kW gearbox will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer from Europe. The remaining components of the mill and classifier will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer (India), which will also provide most of the components for plant such as handling equipment for feed and take-away, plant filter, plant fan, hot gas generator, motors, frequency converters, proportioning belt scales and so on. The Indian subsidiary will also be responsible for any plant engineering. The scope of supply of Gebr. Pfeiffer also includes monitoring and coordination of erection as well as commissioning of the grinding plant. No value for the order has been disclosed.

UAE: India’s Thermax Group has won a contract worth US$43m to build a captive power plant for a cement company in the UAE. The scope of supply for the unnamed customer includes design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and commissioning of the solid fuel based power plant with two circulating fluidised bed combustion (CFBC) boilers. It will also supply emission control equipment and a water treatment plant for the project, which will be commissioned by mid-2019. The order is Thermax’s first in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

India: Emami Cement plans to commission it 2Mt/yr Jaipur grinding plant in Odisha by March 2018. It has spent US$94m on the unit. Once completed the new plant will bring the company’s cement production capacity to 6Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. It operates an integrated plant at Risda in Chhattisgarh and a grinding plant at Panagarh in West Bengal. The company also plans to increase the market share of its Emami Double Bull Cement product by 10% in all the regions of its operations by March 2019.