Displaying items by tag: India
Birla Corporation records significant improvement
12 February 2018India: Birla Corporation has declared its results for the quarter and nine months that ended on 31 December 2017. The consolidated results include the financials of Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL), a wholly-owned material subsidiary of the Company.
The corporation made 3.06Mt in the third quarter, a 22% rise compared to the same period of 2016-2017. In the nine months to 31 December 2017 it produced 9.1Mt of cement, a 11.9% increase year-on-year. It despatched 3.04Mt of cement compared to 2.49Mt in the quarter and 8.98Mt in the nine month period, a 12% rise year-on-year.
In financial terms it took in US$215m in gross sales during the quarter, a 12.7% rise year-on-year. In the nine month period it took in US$667m, a 27.8% rise. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the three months were US$23.6m and for the nine months they were US$93.0m.
ACC profit rises dramatically
08 February 2018India: 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.
JK Cement receives approval for upgrade at Mangrol plant
05 February 2018India: JK Cement has received approval for an upgrade at its Mangrol cement plant near Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. The plant will have an investment of US$312m, according to Accord Fintech. Following the expansion the plant will have a cement production capacity of 4.2Mt/yr. Cement grinding will be supported by units in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
India: Jorge Alejandro Wagner has been appointed as an additional director of Votorantim’s subsidiary Shree Digvijay Cement. Sven Erik Oppelstrupp Madsen has retired as a director following his departure from the role as chief executive officer (CEO) of one of Votorantim’s subsidiaries in Spain
Wagner holds a Master of Sciences in Management (MBA) from Pardue University Indiana in the US and a mechanical engineering degree from the Universidad Nacional de mar del Plata in Argentina. He started working for Votorantim Cimentos in 2002 in Brazil, later becoming the CEO for Spain in 2012. Prior to working for Votorantim he held roles with Esso Sapa, the Argentinean subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, and McKinsey & Company.
UltraTech Cement gets green nod for limestone mining project
31 January 2018India: The Environment Ministry has approved a US$9.4m opencast limestone mine project by UltraTech Cement in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat. The cement producer has proposed to lease a 632 hectare site with a production capacity of 2.07Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. The mine has total mineral reserves of 63.6Mt with a lifespan of 32 years. Conditions of the approval include relocating 147 families and a group of local farmers.
Limestone from the mine will be used to support a proposed cement plant in Bhavnagar district. It will also be sent to UltraTech’s other plants in the state.
Nepalese cement producers import clinker via Narayanpur
30 January 2018Nepal: Cement producers in the Parsa-Bara industrial corridor have started importing clinker from the Narayanpur railway station in Bihar. The change in the supply chain has followed disruption in clinker imports via the Raxaul- Birgunj border crossing on environmental grounds, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. The longer route has raised production costs due to higher transport fees.
Dalmia Bharat set to buy Kalyanpur Cement
30 January 2018India: Dalmia Bharat is the frontrunner to buy Kalyanpur Cement following an auction for the Bihar-based cement producer. The bidding process follows a debt resolution plan for Kalyanpur Cement, according to the Economic Times. Dalmia Bharat’s winning bid has been submitted by the creditors to the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal for approval.
Kalyanpur Cement owes more than US$94m to its creditors and its was declared bankrupt in May 2017. It operates a 1Mt/yr cement plant at Banjari.
Worker killed at Ambuja Cement’s Maratha plant
30 January 2018India: A contract worker has been killed in an accident at Ambuja Cement’s Maratha plant in Maharashtra. An apparent electrical problem in a wagon loading machine caused the incident that crushed the 32 year old worker, according to the IndustriAll union. The union says that mechanical problems had been reported previously in the plant’s packing unit. LafargeHolcim, the owner of Ambuja Cement, reported 86 fatalities at its sites in 2016.
ACC says that petcoke import ban will raise cement prices
24 January 2018India: 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.
Nuvoco Vistas to spend US$157m on power plants and waste heat recovery for cement plants
23 January 2018India: Nirma Group’s subsidiary Nuvoco Vistas plans to invest US$157m on captive power plants and waste heat recovery systems for three of its cement plants in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. The cement producer plans to save around US$15m from the upgrades over the next two to three years, according to the Hindu newspaper. Nirma Group purchased three cement plants and two grinding plants from Lafarge India with a total production capacity of 11Mt/yr in 2016.