Displaying items by tag: Investment

Philippines: Republic Cement & Building Materials has approved a five-year capital expenditure programme to increase its clinker and cement production capacity to meet local demand. One of the cement producer’s owners, Aboitiz Group, announced that it was making the investment to take advantage of infrastructure development plants by the Duterte administration, according to the Philippines Star newspaper. The upgrade is expected to increase the company’s production capacity by 1Mt/yr from its current level of 7Mt/yr. The investment will be spent on both production efficiency improvements at existing plants and by building a new kiln.

Bangladesh: The China Building Materials Federation has expressed interest in investing US$2bn in the country’s infrastructure. A 12-person delegation from China met with the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) to discuss the proposal that includes developing the cement sector. Both sides have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on the potential investment.

Tanzania: EAM, Mamba and Sungura are planning to invest in the cement industry. Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Charles Mwijage said that the companies have all requested to enter the industry at the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair, according to the Tanzanian Daily News. EAM wants to build a 3Mt/yr plant in the Tanga region on condition that the government lets it export cement internationally. It has also requested other conditions that are in discussion with the government. Mamba and Sungura are also in discussion with the government regarding their projects.

India: Sanghi Industries plans to raise US$180m towards increasing its production capacity. It has recently increased the production capacity at its Kutch cement plant by 1.2Mt/yr to 4.1Mt/yr, according to the Times of India. Following this the cement producer intends to increase its capacity to 8.1Mt/yr in the next three to four years. It plans to raise funds through a mix of internal accruals, debt and equity. The company is also building a 15MW waste heat recovery system that is likely to be commissioned by the end of 2018.

Kenya: ARM Cement intends to use US$138m investment from the UK government-owned fund CDC Group to finance the construction of a new cement plant in Kitui County. The cement producer is Chief executive Pradeep Paunrana said that more details on the proposed 2.5Mt/yr plant would be released after shareholders’ approval of the development finance institution’s proposed investment in return for a 40.66% stake in the cement manufacturer, according to the Daily Nation newspaper. The project is planned to be completed by 2021. Nigerian company Dangote Cement is also building a cement plant in the same area.

Russia: Eurocement Group plans to use part of the funds raised from China National Building Materials Group Corporation (CNBM) to reduce its debts. The cement producer told Interfax that, although negotiations are on going, it wants to use some of the funds raised through the Chinese company’s participation in its capital to restructure current debt. It will also use the funding to invest in new ‘high-return’ areas.

Eurocement signed a partnership agreement with CNBM on 25 June 2016 during Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to China. CNBM plans to develop its business in the construction materials market in Russia and the CIS, including by acquiring an equity stake in Eurocement Group. The total investment could be as high as US$5bn.

Kazakhstan: Chinese investors have proposed to build a 075Mt/yr cement plant in the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan. The proposal was revealed as part of 13 memoranda of cooperation worth US$451m signed between the Governor’s Office of Kyzylorda region and the People's Government of Jiangxi Province, China.

India: Piramal Enterprises has invested US$38m in Sanghi Industries. The investment has been made through non-convertible debentures to enable Sanghi to repay some of its debts ahead of schedule and reduce interest repayments.

Piramal Enterprises is a diversified international conglomerate that operates in the pharmaceutical, financial services and information management sectors. Sanghi Industries runs a 2.9Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Kutch, Gujarat.

Ireland: Irish building materials group CRH spent Euro8bn on acquisitions and disposed of Euro1bn worth of assets in 2015.

In a development strategy update, the company said that it made Euro430m from the sale of its clay and concrete products operations in the UK and its clay business in the US in 2015. It also gained about Euro530m through several additional divestments across Europe and the Americas. These included the sale of its 45% stake in French builders' merchant Doras and its 25% stake in Israeli cement producer Mashav. CRH had come under fire from some shareholders for retaining its stake in Mashav, as the company's cement has been used for a widely condemned security wall that divides Palestine and Israel.

During 2015, CRH completed 20 bolt-on acquisition and investment transactions. The company said that these deals, along with the acquisition of assets from Lafarge and Holcim, the CR Laurence acquisition and net deferred consideration payments, brought its development spend for 2015 to about Euro8bn.

"We are pleased with our progress in 2015, which brought cumulative proceeds from our multiyear divestment programme to almost Euro1.4bn, while our targeted bolt-on investments strengthened our existing businesses and complemented the major acquisition activity, which saw total acquisition spend of approximately Euro8bn in 2015," said CRH Chief Executive Albert Manifold. "Portfolio management, and in particular the reallocation of capital from lower growth areas into core businesses for growth, is a cornerstone of our value creation model."

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).