Displaying items by tag: India

India: The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has signed an agreement with the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) to share the power from a 75MW power plant to be built at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district in Assam. Fuel grade raw petroleum coke generated at the NRL after a capacity expansion will be used to generate power for the units with the surplus provided to the national grid.

"The proximity of the Bokajan (CCI) unit to the location of NRL's refinery provides the advantage of cheap rail transportation cost for both entities. This possible synergy will be economically favourable to both of the companies and will benefit the region as a whole," said NRL officials.

India: Konark Cement, a subsidiary of OCL India, is building a 1.35Mt/yr grinding plant at Salboni in West Bengal. The cement producer is also intending to use laminated polypropylene (LPP) bags at the unit to minimise wastage.

At present Konark Cement produces seven varieties of cement; OPC 53 grade, OPC 53-S grade, OPC 43 Grade, PSC, PPC (Flyash based), SRPC and masonry Cement, according to OCL India deputy executive director Indrajit Chatterji. OCL India has two cement plants at Kapilash and Rajgangpur in Orissa with a combined production capacity of 5.35Mt/yr.

India: Shree Cement reported a 24.5% dip in net profit for the July - September quarter at US$28m. The company, which has 13.5Mt/yr cement production capacity and 560MW/yr power generation capacity, had produced US$37m net profit in the same quarter last fiscal year. Total income of the company during the quarter fell to US$203m from US$211m in 2012. Revenue from both cement and power businesses of the company dropped during the quarter.

Expenses during the period went up to US$181m from US$163m in the July - September quarter of 2012 due to higher freight and other expenses. Freight costs of the company went up to US$41m for the quarter from US$35m in the year-ago period. Other expenses during the period went up to US$40m from US$33m.

India: Suman Mukherjee, CEO and Managing Director of Shree Digvijay Cement Company, has resigned from the cement producer due to personal reasons. His resignation takes effect from 31 October 2013. He will also leave the board of directors at this time.

India: Ultratech Cement has reported a 52% year-on-year drop in profits to US$43m for the quarter ending on 30 September 2013 from US$89m in the same period in 2012. It attributed the fall to lower prices due to reduced demand.

"The results of the quarter have been impacted mainly on account of lower selling price and subdued demand. Cement demand remained sluggish on account of prolonged monsoon and low offtake from the infrastructure and housing sectors," the Aditya Birla Group subsidiary said in a statement.

Net sales fell to US$731m from US$763m. Ultratech sold 9.1Mt of cement and clinker in the second quarter of 2013. Total expenditure rose to US$666m from US$638m.

Ultratech saw a benefit from a reduction in the price of coal minimised by the devaluation of the rupee. However, optimisation of the fuel mix helped to reduce power and fuel inputs. The Indian cement producer said that demand for cement may grow 5% during the current fiscal year, driven by housing and infrastructure spends.

India: Reliance Cement has said that it will commission its US$485m cement plant in Madhya Pradesh in October 2013. The company is due to complete the project in 22 months, five months ahead of its original schedule. The 5Mt/yr cement plant includes a 10MW waste heat recovery system. The plant is intended to target markets in central, eastern and northern India.

The Madhya Pradesh plant follows the company's 0.5Mt/yr cement plant in Butibori, Maharashtra that was launched in 2012.

India: Indian Railways has raised a freight tariff of 15% on all commodities, including cement, from 1 October 2013. Designated a busy season charge in a railway notification, the tariff is due to run until June 2014. The charge precedes a review of the fuel adjustment component (FAC), applicable after every six months to adjust fuel prices, that was also due on 1 October 2013.

India: The Indian Realtors' body CREDAI has said that cement prices across India had gone up by US$0.95-1.12/bag in the week to 23 September 2013 and that it was considering an approach to the fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging a cartel between the cement producers.

CREDAI chairman Lalit Kumar Jain said that cement prices in Pune had risen by 31% in just a week. "Considering that buyer sentiment is currently low, the cement price rise defies logic," he said. "We feel that there is a cartel. We are currently taking legal advice."

India: The Indian high court in Gujarat has ordered that a US$600m deal to sell the Kutch cement plant from Jaypee Cement to UltraTech Cement will be subject of outcome of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by local villagers.

According to the Times of India, the Kharai panchayat has filed a PIL complaining that the cement company has encroached upon grazing land, water bodies and public roads. The PIL demands that the encroachment should be removed and that the high court should intervene to make the area free from pollution caused by mining and the dumping of dust.

Counsel Mehul Sharad Shah contended that over 5000 hectares of land was given at a cheap rate to Gujarat Anjan Cement to create a cement plant for a lease period of 1997 to 2008 on the condition that the company would put up construction within two years. After not following the condition, it transferred the lease for US$120m to Jayprakash Associates, which merged with the J P Corporation. The PIL alleges that the company encroached on gauchar land, water bodies, public roads and began polluting by dumping alkali dust. Cuts in jobs for local labourers has also added to tension in the area.

The high court has said that the transfer of lease will be subject to final outcome of the PIL.

India: Mangalam Cement has started a trial run of a new 1.25Mt/yr grinding plant. In addition the Indian cement producer announced to the Bombay Stock Exchange that the kiln at its plant in Morak in Rajasthan had commenced operation after a break for renovation since May 2013. The cement plant's clinker production capacity has now risen to 2.21Mt/yr from 1.71Mt/yr.