Displaying items by tag: India

India: Ambuja Cement’s standalone net sales fell by 2% year-on-year to US$1.37bn in 2016 from US$1.4bn in 2015. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 2% to 21.1Mt from 21.5Mt. However, its operating earnings before interest taxation, amortisation and depreciation (EBITDA) rose by 10% to US$251m from US$229m. It blamed the loss in sales on the government’s demonetisation policy and bad weather. Despite sales growth in the first half of the year, its sales volumes in the fourth quarter fell by 9% due to cash shortages.

“Our rapid adoption of cashless payment methods in the December 2016 quarter helped Ambuja to deliver a strong performance in 2016. In 2017 we are well placed to be part of the infrastructure development panned by the government and the new thrust on affordable hosing projects,” said Ajay Kapur, chief executive officer of Ambuja Cement.

The cement producer also reported that its operating costs fell in 2016 due to a reduction in energy costs, mainly due to an increased use of petcoke, higher usage of alternative fuels and general efficiency improvements.

India: Burnpur Cement plans to launch a new product PPC (Pozolona Portland Cement) from its Patratu plant in late April 2017. Following the launch the cement producer hopes to increase its capacity utilisation rate at the plant to 100%. Burnpur Cement operates two integrated cement plants in the east of the country.

Nepal: Data from the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) has shown that the value of imports of clinker has increased by nearly six times year-on-year to US$84m in the first six months of the Nepalese fiscal year to mid-January 2017 from US$14m in the same period in the previous year. Dhurba Thapa, president of the local Cement Manufacturers Association, told the Kathmandu Post that the surge in clinker imports was due to a market correction following a ban on exports imposed by India in the previous year. He added that imports of clinker from India account for around 35 – 40% of Nepal’s total consumption.

India: NTPC is looking for cement producers to help it build cement plants to take advantage of its fly ash and electricity. The power generation company is asking cement producers to submit expressions of interest for partnerships to build 1Mt/yr cement plants near its power stations, according to the Times of India. Partners will have to source their fly ash from NTPC but will be responsible for marketing their own products. NTPC has previously tried to enter the cement market since 2008 with both partners including the Cement Corporation of India and on its own. It produces 65Mt/yr of fly ash.

India: Birla Corporation has blamed demonetisation for falling cement sales in the quarter to 31 December 2016. The Indian cement producer reported that the revenue from its cement business declined by 3% to US$113m in the quarter to 31 December 2016 from US$117m in the same period in 2015. It blamed this on currency shortages negatively affecting rural construction and a localised embargo on sand and aggregate mining, according to the Economic Times newspaper. For the nine months to 31 December 2016 it said that its income had risen slightly year-on-year to US$415m from US$412m in the same period in 2015. Its net profit more than doubled to US$23m from US$9.3m.

India: Neeraj Akhoury has been appointed managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of ACC with effect from 4 February 2017. He joined the board of ACC in December 2016.

Akhoury has worked in the cement and steel industries for the last 24 years. Previously he was the CEO of Lafarge Surma Cement and the country representative for LafargeHolcim Bangladesh. He began his career with Tata Steel in 1993 and joined the LafargeHolcim Group in India in 1999. He was a member of the Executive Committee of Lafarge India, heading Corporate Affairs followed by Sales. In 2011, he moved to Nigeria as CEO and Managing Director of Lafarge AshakaCem. Subsequently he was appointed Strategy and Business Development Director for Middle East and Africa at the Lafarge headquarters in Paris, France.

India: A representative of Jaiprakash Associates’ bank ICICI has told local media that its sale of assets to UltraTech Cement should be concluded ‘soon.’ ICICI Bank's managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar made the comments to the CNBC TV18 television channel in an interview. He added that the transaction was moving well in terms of regulatory approval. The deal covers over 20Mt/yr of cement production assets that are being sold for a value of US$2.4bn.

India: ACC’s net sales have fallen by 4% year-on-year to US$1.63bn in 2016 from US$1.70bn in 2015. Sales volumes of cement fell by 2.7% to 23.0Mt from 23.6Mt and operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 7.5% to US$211m from US$229m. However, profit after tax rose by 2.7% to US$90m from US$87.5m. The company described the market conditions in 2016 as ‘challenging.’ It added that the economic slowdown following demonetisation was easing.

“The highlight of the year was strong cost saving measures, especially on fuel flexibility and raw materials. Focusing on our high quality, high performance product portfolio played an important role in the overall performance for the year. We are encouraged by the government's plans to invest in infrastructure," said Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director and chief executive officer of ACC.

The cement producer’s 1.35Mt/yr grinding plant at Sindri, Jharkhand was commissioned at the end October 2016, joining a 2.79Mt/yr integrated plant at Jamul, Chhattisgarh which was commissioned earlier in 2016. The new plants are expected to strengthen ACC’s market presence in the east of the country.

Sri Lanka: India’s Dalmia Cement Bharat has partnered with local import firm Oliver Impex to launch the Vijaya Cement brand. The SLS 107 certified product has a strength class of 42.5 N, according to the Daily News newspaper. AHM Fowzie, the State Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation, was the chief guest at the launch event.

India: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, a corruption body in the state of Kerala, has arrested Prakash Joseph, a legal officer at Malabar Cements, in relation to a loss of US$0.4m. The state-owned cement producer signed a contract with a company owned by businessman VM Radhakrishnan to sell cement, according to the Hindu newspaper. Staff at Radhakrishnan’s company withdrew a deposit for the deal without the knowledge of Malabar Cements. Prakash Joseph allegedly misinformed his employers about the location of the court handling a legal challenge to the withdrawal. Radhakrishnan has previously been investigated by police in connection to corruption charges at Malabar Cements.