Displaying items by tag: India

India: JSW Group plans to invest US$1.49bn over the next 5 - 7 years at Salboni in West Bengal. The investment would involve setting up a 1320MW coal-based power plant, a 4.8Mt/yr cement plant and a paints factory.

The projects are due to come up in phases on 4300 acres of land acquired by the company for a proposed 10Mt/yr steel project way back in 2007. The steel project is in cold storage since JSW failed to secure iron ore linkage. Sajjan Jindal Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel said that JSW Cement will start construction of a 2.4Mt/yr cement plant at Salboni shortly.

"Bengal is likely to emerge as a bastion of JSW Group. We are drawing up plans to double the capacity of the Salboni plant. This is part of JSW Cement's larger plans to add another 10Mt/yr of capacity in next two years for US$300m. We entered the cement business in 2009 and now have 6Mt/yr of capacity at present, having managed to turnaround some of the units," said JSW Group's Parth Jindal said. While the Salboni cement unit will cost US$120m in the first phase, the expansion project to double its capacity will require anther US$105m of investment.

Sajjan Jindal said that the group plans to enter into a power purchase agreement with the government for two 660MW power plants at Salboni with an investment of US$1.19bn. He added that the group is also exploring the option of entering the paints business and is considering setting up a modern paints factory at the site. The group is keeping its options open on whether to acquire an existing paints business or launch its own business from scratch. The group is also looking at the possibility of setting up downstream steel processing units at the site at a later stage.

India: In an attempt to service its US$5.99bn debt, Jaiprakash Associates has signed an agreement with Shree Cement to divest its stake in the 2.1Mt/yr Bhilai Jaypee Cement plant for an enterprise value of US$314 – 329m. Jaiprakash Associates is finding it difficult to service its debt due to various reasons, including a slowdown in the economy and some of its projects falling on the revenue front.

India: UltraTech Cement has appointed K K Maheshwari as Managing Director and Additional Director for a period of four years with effect from 1 April 2016. Maheshwari is a chartered accountant with over 38 years of experience.

The post was previously held by O P Puranmalka, who will cease to be the company's Managing Director on 31 March 2016, but will continue as a Non-executive Director from 1 April 2016.

India: Prism Cement Limited has appointed Joydeep Mukherjee as its Chief Executive Officer - HRJ (designate) and Key Managerial Personnel with effect from 16 December 2015. HRJ or H R Jhonson is a division of Prism Cement.

India: Lafarge India has submitted a revised proposal to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to sell its entire 11Mt/yr assets in India.

The decision comes after the company's plan to sell its 5.15Mt/yr cement capacity in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to Birla Corporation for US$749m ran into trouble. Investment bankers said that Birla Corporation was facing challenges in securing limestone mining rights for the two units.

In order to approve the LafargeHolcim merger in India, the CCI had asked Lafarge India to sell its 5.15Mt/yr of capacity in eastern India by 31 December 2015. In August 2015, Birla Corporation agreed to buy the proposed assets along with brands Concreto and PSC and mineral rights over adequate reserves of limestone. The deal was conditional on Birla Corp being able to secure mining rights that Lafarge had.

"Lafarge India has sought an extension of its deadline from the CCI to complete its divestment," said an unnamed investment banker. "Lafarge India has now put the entire company on the block, as the sale of the entire company will include transfer of mining rights."

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is examining a fresh complaint of alleged unfair business practices made against cement makers, according to CCI chairman Ashok Chawala. The development comes against the backdrop of the quashing of a US$949m fine imposed on them by the regulator in a previous case.

Chawla said that the CCI is looking into a fresh complaint filed against cement companies. The Confederation of Real Estate Developer's Associations of India (CREDAI), which has about 10,000 members, approached the CCI against the Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA) in September 2015. In October 2015, the CREDAI said that the association had filed a complaint against the CMA as prices have risen sharply despite low demand for cement.

"To control the cost of construction and make home prices work for the common man, the CREDAI has moved the CCI against cement manufacturers who have been unduly increasing the cost of cement," said the CREDAI. Despite low demand, the association had said that the prices of cement have jumped by 20 – 40% in major cities across India since October 2015.

Here are the major stories from the cement industry in 2015 as the year draws to a close. Remember this is just one view of the year's events. If you think we've missed anything important let us know via LinkedIn, Twitter or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Will the year of the mega-mergers pay off?
2015 showed a global cement industry that was consolidating. Amongst the multinational producers Lafarge and Holcim finished their merger and HeidelbergCement announced that it was buying Italcementi. Yet alongside this international trend the large Chinese cement producers, who represent over a quarter of the world's production capacity, have continued their own-government-favoured consolidation. The on-going boardroom scuffles at Shanshui have been a lively example of this.

Where this will leave the cement industry as a whole in 2016 is uncertain but mergers and consolidation are no 'magic bullet' for difficult market conditions. After the fanfare subsided from the launch of LafargeHolcim the first quarterly report emerged in late November 2015 reporting falling net sales, net volumes and profit markers.

BRICing it – growth stalls in Brazil, Russia, India and China
The economies of the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – have all suffered in 2015. Brazil and Russia are enduring recessions. Growth in China and India is slowing down. All of this has a knock on in their respective construction sectors.

Over in China, we report today that production capacity utilisation is estimated to be 65% and that cement companies lost US$2.63bn in the first nine months of 2015. The same source says that at least 500Mt/yr of production capacity needs to be eliminated. That represents nearly a third of Chinese total production capacity or about an eighth of global cement production capacity.

Multinationals African plans accelerate
One consequence of all these international mergers is the transformation of the situation in Africa. Suddenly LafargeHolcim has become the biggest cement producer on the continent, followed by HeidelbergCement, Dangote and PPC. Africa becomes the big hope for the multinationals as established markets continues to flounder and growth in Asian and South American markets slackens. Perversely though, should African development growth slow it may cast a poor light on the mega-mergers of 2015 in the coming years.

Dangote Cement is growing fast and it may overtake HeidlebergCement soon as the second largest cement producer in Africa. Yet it may not be plain sailing for the Nigerian company. As we report today, sources in Gambia say that Dangote's plans to open a cement plant are on hold in part to protect its domestic suppliers.

The Gambian government has denied a licence to Dangote to open a cement plant. Dangote has built its empire in recent years by forcing out cement importers from Nigeria. As it expands in other countries in Africa it may now be facing a backlash to playing the nationalist card at home as other countries too desire 'self-sufficiency' in cement production.

Iran shakes off the sanctions
In July 2015 Iran and the P5+1 countries agreed to lift trade sanctions from Iran. The implications for the local cement industry are immense given that the country was the joint-fourth largest producer in 2014, based on United States Geological Survey data. Remove the sanctions and, in theory, the local economy should boom leading to plenty of construction activity. Notably, at the launch of LafargeHolcim the new CEO Eric Olsen was asked for the new group's position on Iran. It didn't have one but this will change.

China expands along the Silk Road
China's cement industry may be suffering at home but it has been steadily expanding in Central Asia. Notably Huaxin Cement has plants in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and it has new projects in the pipeline. Business may be down at home but steady advancement abroad may offer the Chinese cement industry the lifeline it needs.

Cop out at COP21?
And finally... The 2015 Paris Climate Conference announced a diplomatic coup d'etat in December 2015. However, it apparently forgot to include any binding targets. The Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) pre-empted the decision by announced its aim to reduce CO₂ emissions by clinker producers by 20 - 25% by 2030... Provided the entire cement industry follows its lead. Cement plants burning vast swathes of dirty fossil fuels may not have to worry quite yet.

For more a more detailed look at trends in the cement industry check out the Global Cement Top 100 Report in the December 2015 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

Global Cement Weekly will return on 6 January 2016. Enjoy the holidays if you have them.

India: Ambuja Cements, part of LafargeHolcim, has appointed Suresh Joshi as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with effect from February 2016. This followed the resignation of Ambuja Cements' former CFO Sanjeev Churiwala in October 2015.

In addition, Christof Haessig was appointed as an Additional Director (Non independent - representing the Promoter Group) on the Board of Directors with effect from 9 December 2015. Haessig, at present, is the Head of Corporate Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions at LafargeHolcim.

Ambuja Cements reported a 36% decline in its standalone net profit to US$23m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, compared to a net profit of US$35.8m in the same period of 2014. Its total standalone income fell by 4% to US$316m in the July - September 2015 quarter compared to US$330m in the same quarter of 2014.

India: The Government has prepared a revival scheme for the Cement Corporation of India.

The scheme, which was approved by the Government and ordered by the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), envisages the expansion and modernisation of three operating units and the closure and sale of seven non-operating units.

Out of seven non-operating units, six units have been closed with effect from October 2008. The Adilabad unit could not be closed due to an interim order of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh for maintaining the status-quo. Action for the expansion and modernisation of the operating units was taken. However, the results of the entire scheme for revival of the CCI could not reach the desired level because of the non-sale of the assets of non-operating units of the company, which has caused a shortage of funds for the revival.

India: The Joint Action Committee of the Meghalaya People's United Front (MPUF) and Jaintia National Union (JNU) have demanded that cement plants in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya should ensure that 60% of their work force comprise locals.

"We have demanded that the cement plants should ensure that 60% of jobs be guaranteed to local people. This is based on the agreement signed by them with all concerned," said MPUF's President D Wanmi Laloo. He alleged that the agreements have not been adhered to because not even 20% of those employed are locals, despite the increase in unemployment in the state. Laloo said that the non-governmental organisations (NGO) have already served a one-month deadline for eight cement companies to meet the demand.

Laloo also said that the NGOs would soon conduct an inspection of all the cement plants and seek proper information as to how many local people are employed in different job roles. Demanding proper advertisements to be issued by the companies regarding job vacancies, Laloo said that preference should be given to locals to fill posts, which include technical, electrical, mechanical and labour positions. Laloo has also demanded that companies source their raw materials from local sources and that the cement companies lower the price of their finished products by 30% in the state. "As of now, the price of cement that is being sold here and supplied to other states like Assam and West Bengal, is the same," said Laloo. "This is not acceptable considering the fact that they are depending on the state for raw materials."

Laloo opined that the cement companies are responsible for degradation of the environment and used the pollution of the Lukha River as an example. He said that the NGOs would be compelled to demand the state government shut down the cement plants if they prove to be of no benefit to the locals. "The frequent change of colour of the Lukha River has led us to strongly suspect that this is due to the pollutants released from the cement plants," said Laloo. "Though reports have pointed out coal mining as the reason, the question that arises is why this change in colour has occurred again despite the ban on coal mining for the past year."