Displaying items by tag: India

India: Dalmia Bharat Cement expects to improve its share of cement sales from south India by entering the Karnataka market.

"As we enter the lucrative Karnataka market, we expect to do well. The southern region has already witnessed 1.2% growth over the last year compared to the industry's country-wide sales growth of around 5%," said Mahendra Singhi, Dalmia Bharat Cement's CEO.

Dalmia Bharat Cement has commenced operations at its US$200m, 2.5Mt/yr greenfield cement plant in Belgaum and launched its 'superior grade cement' in the Karnataka market. Karnataka accounts for 5% of the total Indian cement market. "The company has engaged 300 dealers in the region, who will be supported with end-to-end marketing, technical and logistics support," said Singhi.

The plant in Karnataka is Dalmia Bharat Cement's 11th manufacturing plant in the country, making it the third-largest cement group in India with 24Mt/yr capacity. "We have a strong market presence in super-specialty cements used for oil wells, railway sleepers and air strips and are the country's largest producer of slag cement," said Singhi.

India: Industries Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and IT Minister K T Rama Rao have held consultations with cement manufacturers in Hyderabad to discuss the supply of cement for white topping roads and other civil works.

White topping is considered a cost-effective and sustainable construction method. The advantage of white topping technology is the reduced thickness, reduced / zero maintenance, and long life of 25 - 30 years without maintenance. It has not been used previously due to the non-availability of cement and mechanised equipment. Using this technology, one inch of the existing road is scraped off, concrete with fibre is laid, sprayed with powder, curing and groove cutting is done to avoid cracks and expansions.

The plan is to lay 400 - 500km road in Hyderabad in two months. The meeting was called to negotiate on the cement prices. The Ministers requested the producers to re-consider and give a lower quote, keeping in view the high amount of work that is being taken up for roads, as well as construction of houses.

The IT Minister also stated that they intended to take this technology to districts and villages and in future would convert all roads from BT to CC Road with white-topping technology.

India: CK Birla's Orient Cement has reported a 35.4% year-on-year decline in its net profit to US$4.32m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015 due to lower income and higher expenses and finance costs.

Orient Cement's net sales fell to US$54.7m in the quarter compared to US$59.2m in the same quarter of its previous fiscal year. The company's total expenditure rose to US$51m from US$49m in the same period of 2014.

As part of the growth plan to reach 15Mt/yr capacity by 2020, Orient Cement is setting up a 3Mt/yr capacity plant in Chittapur, Gulbarga for US$308m.

India: Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement has reported 3% year-on-year growth in its consolidated net profit at US$65.8m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, helped by increased sales and better operating margins.

UltraTech Cement's total income rose by 4% to US$927m in the quarter. Its domestic cement sales volume increased by 5% year-on-year. While operating costs were lower due to lower energy costs, the benefit was partially offset due to the District Mineral Foundation levy in terms of provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development) Amendment Act, 2015.

UltraTech said that its capital expenditure programme is on track. During the quarter, it commissioned a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant in Jhajjar, Haryana and a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant in Dankuni, West Bengal. "As a result, the cement capacity is enhanced to 64.7Mt/yr in India. The company also commissioned a 2Mt/yr bulk terminal on outskirts of Pune. With the further commissioning of a 5MW waste heat recovery system in Rawan, Chhattisgarh, power generation from waste heat recovery is augmented to 53MW," said the company in a statement.

UltraTech Cement expects cement demand to pick up in the October 2015 – March 2016 period. "With the governments' focus on infrastructure development, housing sector, smart cities and roads, among others, UltraTech Cement is well positioned across the country to meet the expected rise in demand and participate in the next phase of growth in the country," said UltraTech Cement.

India: Dalmia Cement Bharat plans to increase its market presence in Goa as part of its Indian expansion. The Goa market will be catered to by its newly-commissioned, US$201m, 2.5Mt/yr plant in Belgaum, according to M K Swaminathan, Executive Director - Sales.

Cement consumption in Goa is expected to receive a boost from ongoing infrastructure projects and demand will likely grow by 5 – 6% in the coming year. To grab a larger market share, Dalmia Cement has started beefing up its dealership network in the state through talks with 15 dealers initially. The company will support them with end-to-end marketing, technical and logistics support.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has gained approval to establish a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant with a 1000m³/day 10MW diesel generator (DG) set and autoclaved aerated concrete block unit in Kishanganj, Bihar for US$46.3m.

"Based on the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee, the Environment Ministry has given environmental clearance to JK Lakshmi Cement's proposed project in Bihar," said a senior Environment Ministry official.

The clearance was given with certain conditions. Among the conditions specified, JK Lakshmi Cement has been asked to develop a green belt in at least 33% of the area in and around the cement plant, as per the norms. The company has also been asked to install air monitoring devices, control secondary fugitive emissions and reduce the impact of transport of the raw materials and end products on the surrounding environment, among others.

JK Lakshmi Cement has more than 9Mt/yr of installed cement capacity in India. In the first quarter of its 2015-2016 fiscal year, the company reported a standalone net loss of US$3.62m due to the subdued market and higher costs, compared to a net profit of US$6.25m in the April - June period of the previous fiscal year.

India: Overseas investments or the outward foreign direct investment by Indian companies more than halved to US$1.24bn in September 2015, according to media reports. This compared to US$3.12bn in September 2014. In August 2015, the outward foreign direct investment by Indian companies stood at US$2.19bn.

Out of the total US$1.24bn invested abroad, some US$137m was invested in equity, US$366m through loans and US$738m in the form of issue of guarantee. Major investors overseas during the month included Ultratech Cement in the Middle East (US$234m), Tata Power in Singapore (US$90m) and Tata Communications in Singapore (US$67.9m).

India: Sagar Cements produced 122,642t in September 2015, up by 7% from 114,693t in September 2014. Cement sales grew by 6% to 115,225t in September 2015 from 108,611t in September 2014.

India: Reliance Infrastructure plans to sell its cement business as part of plans to cut debt through the sale of non-core assets.

As many as 10 global companies have been sounded for a 100% stake of Reliance Cement, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure. These include CRH, Cemex, HeidelbergCement, GE, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR. Local companies JK Cement and Prism Cement may also be interested. Reliance Group has appointed Morgan Stanley as banker to scout for buyers for Reliance Cement.

The sale of the cement business is aimed at reducing debt by selling non-core assets. Reliance Infra's debt stood at around US$3.86bn on 31 March 2015. Reliance believes that the sale will help reduce its debt by 20 – 25%. It is looking at a valuation of US$769 – 922m for Reliance Cement, which has a cement production capacity of 5.6Mt/yr.

Reliance Cement started operations in 2007 and has plants in Maihar in Madhya Pradesh (2.8Mt/yr), Kundanganj in Uttar Pradesh (2.2Mt/yr) and Butibori in Maharashtra (500,000t/yr). It is also developing a 5Mt/yr greenfield plant at Wani in Maharashtra.

India: The real estate developers' association Credai has moved the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against cement manufacturers that it claims have unduly increased the cost of cement. Credai has also highlighted the violation of CCI's 'cease and desist' order of 2012 by cement manufacturers, according to a statement from the industry body.

Credai said that the cost of raw materials used in cement manufacturing fell between January 2015 and September 2015, but that cement companies have not passed on the benefit to customers. Hinting at a cartel-like operation, it was also alleged that cement companies seem to be working together to control supply and prices. Housing and other real estate sectors account for nearly half of the cement demand in India. Despite low demand, cement prices have jumped by 20 – 40% in top cities across the country in the past couple of months.

"It is unfair that the cement manufacturers indulge in practices that control the prices of cement. The CCI has warned cement manufacturers in the past as well, but it is unfortunate that they seem to be continuing with their price and market manipulation," said Credai national president Getamber Anand.

At its annual general meeting in September 2015, Credai's board took the decision to stop procurement of cement from companies like UltraTech, Lafarge and others that unilaterally increased cement prices in the past month.