Displaying items by tag: India

India: HeidelbergCement India will sell its 0.6Mt/yr cement grinding unit in Raigad, Maharashtra, to JSW Ispat Steel, part of the JSW Group.

"The disposal is in line with HeidelbergCement's philosophy of divesting less strategic assets with lower margins to focus on more strategic and key operations in central India where the company had recently expanded its cement capacity from 2Mt/yr to 5Mt/yr," said Ashish Guha, chief executive and managing director of HeidelbergCement India, in a statement.

The parties are negotiating and finalising the terms of the business transfer agreement, HeidelbergCement India said in a regulatory filing. The transaction will be finalised only after obtaining all relevant approvals, including that of shareholders.

India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPACT) has ordered cement producers to pay 10% of a US$1.15bn fine imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a price-fixing cartel. The tribunal asked 11 Indian cement producers to pay the fine within 30 days otherwise their appeal against the fine will be dismissed.

COMPAT had reserved its order over a batch of petitions filed by various cement producers and the Cement Manufacturer's Association (CMA) on 18 March 2013 after hearing them on an interim plea. In the petitions, the cement producers had challenged US$1.15bn penalty imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and a US$133,000 fine imposed on the CMA. The cement companies charged with cartel behaviour include Lafarge India, India Cement, JP Associates, Binani Cement, Ambuja Cement, Madras Cement and J K Cement.

The CCI had found cement producers were in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements, including cartels. The order was passed following probe by CCI Director General (Investigation) on a complaint filed by Builders Association.

India: Lafarge has signed an agreement to sell a 14% minority stake in its Indian subsidiary, Lafarge India, for Euro200m to Baring Private Equity Asia. The transaction, which is subject to the approval of local regulatory authorities, is intended to accelerate Lafarge's growth plans in India in all its product lines, inlcuding cement, aggregates and concrete.

India: Sanghi Industries has posted a 234% increase in net profit to US$7.65m for the third quarter of its 2012 – 2013 financial year, compared to US$2.28m for the same period in 2011 – 2012. Net sales remained stable at US$54.4m.

For the financial year to date, profit after tax rose to US$14.9m in 2012 – 2013 from a loss of US$3.98m in 2011 – 2012. Net sales rose by 17.3% to US$146m from US$124m.

Commenting on the financial performance of the company, director Alok Sanghi said that the company's strategy of diversifying sales to markets in Maharashtra and Rajasthan outside of its core market of Gujarat had begun to pay off as the company operated at near full capacity. Additional cost saving measures such as debt reduction, higher captive power generation and increasing utilisation of cheaper sea route for transport of cement had further boosted profit margins.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating a complaint against a Chinese company offering waste heat recovery (WHR) solutions for the cement industry. This case is believed to be the first instance where a Chinese company has been affected by Indian competition law.

According to sources quoted by the Financial Express, Transparent Energy Systems (TESPL) filed a complaint against the Indian operations of Nanjing Triumph Kaineng (NTK). The complainant alleged the Chinese firm is severely impacting its business by quoting prices for tenders much below the market rates.

NTK specialises in WHR and accounts for a 30% market share of WHR power generation in the Chinese cement industry. It entered the Indian market in 2011 through a joint-venture with Tecpro Systems.

India: Shree Cements' net profit rose by 140% to US$51m for the quarter ending 31 March 2013, from US$21.3m in the same period in 2012. Its revenue rose by 7% to US$274m from US$256m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 9% to US$75.4m from US$69.4m.

India: Baring Asia is in advanced talks with Lafarge India to invest around US$240m in the cement producer, according to private sources quoted by Reuters. Private equity firm Baring Asia is negotiating the investment for a minority stake.

Lafarge has four cement plants in India with a combined production capacity of 7.75Mt/yr. It has been selling assets around the world as part of an on-going debt reduction programme. Recent sales include that of a Ukrainian plant to CRH in late April 2013, the sale of a portfolio of its UK operations to Mittal Investments for US$439m in November 2012 and the sale of two of Lafarge's cement plants in North America to Eagle Materials for US$446m in September 2012.

India: UltraTech Cement has reported that its profit after tax for the year ending 31 March 2013 rose by 8.5% to US$489m from US$450m. Net sales rose by 10% to US$3.69bn from US$3.34bn.

Although the Aditya Birla subsidiary offered no explanation for its performance it did state in its financial results that the year had seen continuing pressure on input and logistics costs from increases in railway freight and diesel prices, although the price of imported coal had declined. Combined cement and clinker sales of grey cement remained flat at 40.7Mt.

For the fourth quarter of the 2012 -2013 year, UltraTech reported that its profit after tax fell by 16.3% year-on-year to US$134m from US$160m. Net sales remained flat at US$991m.

With the commissioning of new projects in 2012 -2013, the cement producer's production capacity has increased by 4% to 50.9Mt/yr from 48.8Mt/yr. In its report UltraTech mentioned projects it had initiated during the year including a 3.3Mt/yr clinker plant at Rawan in Chhattisgarh, a 1.55Mt/yr grinding unit at Hotgi in Maharashtra and a cement production capacity increase of 0.60Mt/yr at a plant in Gujarat.

Future projects include a 3.3Mt/yr clinker plant in Karnataka that is expected to start operation in the first quarter of the 2014 - 2015 financial year. A 2.9Mt/yr capacity expansion at Aditya Cement Works in Rajasthan, costing US$368m, is expected to be commissioned by March 2015.

In its outlook UltraTech predicted that long-term cement demand is likely to grow by over 8% in line with GDP growth, driven by housing demand and infrastructure development.

India/China: Sinoma International Engineering (Hong Kong) Co Ltd, part of the National Materials Group (Sinoma), has entered the Indian cement equipment production industry with the acquisition of a major stake in LNV Technology Pvt Ltd, based in Chennai, India for US$23.9m.

According to the agreement, Sinoma International Engineering now has a 68% share in LNV Technology, which has become a member of the Sinoma Group. The earlier joint venture partners V C Rao, managing director of the company and LV Technology Public Co Ltd, retain around 16% equity each. 

Liu Zhijiang, group chairman of Sinoma said that the Chinese firm would bring in its expertise in research and development, design, manufacturing, installation and after sales service to the Indian joint venture. With the venture, LNV Technology expects to be the leading supplier of cement equipment in India in the next five years.

Rao said that LNV Technology would look at setting up engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) capabilities, which are not prevalent in the Indian cement equipment industry. "Sinoma is the only company in the world to do this kind of EPC in the segment. That model is not available in India now, which will be brought in through LNV Technology," he said.

Globally 80% of the cement equipment market is cornered by just four companies: Sinoma International, FLSmidth, Polysius AG and KHD.

India: Local villagers have been accused of setting fire to the JK Lakshmi Cement plant at Malpuri Khurd in Durg district on 4 April 2013. Police arrested 50 people following the disturbance.

Villagers of Malpuri Khurd, located around 50km from the state capital, were staging demonstrations in demand for jobs at the cement plant in exchange for their farmland. According to police reports the protest turned violent as around 200 protesters set fire to infrastructure including the cement plant, cars and tractors on the on the 80-acre site.

A company official for JK Lakshmi Cement estimated the loss in the fire to be around US$92m to US$128m, stating that almost 50% of the plant was gutted in the fire. The plant 's employees and officers also alleged that they were attacked by the mob.

However, villagers claim they did not set fire to the plant. Some villagers have been reported as having left their homes fearing police retaliation and local media has reported claims of intimidation by the plant management.