Displaying items by tag: Investment

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has commissioned its second cement plant, with 20,000t/day in capacity across two clinker lines. The producer invested US$1.25bn in the plant's construction, which was carried out by Germany-based ThyssenKrupp. The facility is equipped with seven raw materials crushers, a 3.7km-long limestone conveyor belt, 110,000t of storage capacity, four Quadropol roller mills, two Dopol preheater towers, two Polro rotary kilns, two Polytrack clinker coolers, three 100,000t clinker silos, four Polycom high-pressure roller mills, six 22,590t and 25,000t cement silos and 22,000m³
in water storage basins. The new plant is situated in the eastern Arabian Desert, 80km from Riyadh.

Yamama Cement also operates the 6.4Mt/yr Al Karj Cement plant, 70km from Riyadh.

India: UltraTech Cement has projected six-month cement capacity growth of 8.2% to 131Mt/yr by 31 March 2023, the end of the 2023 financial year. At the end of the first half of the 2023 financial year on 30 September 2022, its capacity was 121Mt/yr. In the third quarter of the 2023 financial year, UltraTech Cement expects to commence commercial operations at its upcoming 3.5Mt/yr Pali, Rajasthan, cement plant and upgraded Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, cement plant, to which it is adding 4.2Mt/yr in new capacity. The remaining new capacity consists of smaller capital expenditure investments in various sites across India. UltraTech Cement's chief financial officer Atul Daga forecast that the producer will invest a total of US$731 - 853m in capacity expenditure throughout the 2023 financial year.

The Business Standard newspaper has reported that UltraTech Cement expects to further increase its cement production capacity by 22% over the three years up to the 2026 financial year, to reach 160Mt/yr.

Nepal: Udayapur Cement has urged the Nepalese government's Ministry of Finance to process its application for a loan of US$3.82m. The Kathmandu Post newspaper has reported that the producer plans to invest in an upgrade to its 800t/day-capacity Gaighat cement plant in Province No.1. The plant is reportedly unable to meet its capacity due to frequent issues with its 33-year-old equipment. The producer hopes that an upgrade will increase the plant's production capacity by 41% to 2.5m bags/yr. It also expects its expenditure on coal to fall by 25% as a result.

Director general Gopi Neupane noted the Gaighat cement plant's access to high quality limestone not available elsewhere in the country. He said "We will turn the factory into a profit-making enterprise if the additional investment is provided. We have huge scope for exporting cement to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (in India)."

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has recorded first-quarter sales of US$67.2m in its 2023 financial year, up by 27% year-on-year from US$52.9m during the first quarter of the previous financial year. The producer's cost of sales was US$47.9m, up by 29% from US$37.3m, and it recorded a profit for the period of US$10.6m, up by 10% from US$9.62m.

Fauji Cement is currently undergoing a transition into the third largest cement producer in Pakistan, through a US$122m 2.05Mt/yr expansion to its Nizampur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, cement plant and a US$148m 2.05Mt/yr expansion to its Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant. Together, Fauji Cement will fund the projects through US$171m-worth of debt, US$54.9m-worth of internal cash generation and US$45.7m-worth of equity.

Pakistan: Askari Cement has ignited the newly installed 6500t/day kiln at its Nizampur cement plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The kiln increases the plant's capacity by 73% to 4.85Mt/yr. The project, along with parent company Fauji Cement's construction of a new 2.05Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Dera Ghazi Khan, cost US$339m. Fauji Cement took a US$212m loan to support the works in January 2022. The group expects both projects to raise its capacity by 56% to 10.5Mt/yr and to increase its market share to 13%.

Fauji Cement's upcoming Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant is scheduled for commissioning in mid-late 2024.

Spain: Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos' Córdoba, Niebla and La Araña cement plants in Andalusia are at the centre of a planned Euro1bn decarbonisation project by the company. Votorantim Cimentos will publish details of its plans, which include renewably powered green hydrogen and biofuels production, in early 2023.

Votorantim Cimentos Europe, Asia and Africa CEO Jorge Wagner said "We need agility with the administration, because the investments are stratospheric and long-term. We want to obtain subsidies, taking advantage of European funds." He concluded "We have the opportunity to carry out a very beautiful project in Andalusia and beat the Americans."

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas plans to make Euro6m-worth of investments in its Alcalá de Guadaira cement plant in Seville. The funds will go towards the construction of a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) line to help reduce the plant's petcoke consumption, as well as the renewal of the plant's mining licence for its quarry.

India: Adani Group and Jaiprakash Associates are reportedly in 'advanced talks' over the latter becoming Adani Group's latest cement sector acquisition at a price of US$606m. Reuters News has reported that Jaiprakash Associates' board of directors approved the sale of the company on 10 October 2022. Adani Group plans to buy the business via one of its newly acquired cement subsidiaries.

Adani Group is also planning a US$7.9bn investment package in a Rajasthan cement plant expansion, solar power plant project and airport upgrade. The solar power plant has a planned capacity of 10GW. Adani Group owns the 1.8Mt/yr Rabriyawas cement plant and the 5Mt/yr Lakheri cement plant in Rajasthan. The group plans to raise US$10bn to fund its growth plans. Potential investors in 'early talks' with the group include Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.

Adani Group completed its acquisition of ACC and Ambuja Cements for US$10.5bn in September 2022.

Peru: Grupo Gloria subsidiary Yura says that it is contemplating a cement production capacity expansion. The producer says that process optimisation across its Arequipa and Southern Peruvian cement footprint might go some way towards achieving the envisioned growth. It added that any such projects would go hand in hand with a reform of its customer service practices. Yura is also evaluating possible new limestone mining projects at Pampas del Pongo and Zafranal, and an expansion of its lime production.

DF Sud News has reported that Yura expects to increase its Peruvian cement deliveries by 8 – 10% year-on-year in 2022. Its cement, concrete and lime director for Peru, Chile and Bolivia, Julio Cáceres, forecasts that Peru’s construction demand will continue to grow at twice the rate of gross domestic product. He acknowledged that the company’s 2023 results will likely reflect the country’s expected muted growth compared to 2022. Cáceres said that US$700m-worth of private investment across 30 residential projects in Arequipa is currently suspended, pending the publication of the city’s revised metropolitan development plan.

India: Ramco Cements has commissioned its new US$366m Kolumigundla cement plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool District. The Hindu Business Line News has reported that the plant has a clinker capacity of 2.25Mt/yr. It will be equipped with a 12.2MW waste heat recovery plant, 6MW-worth of which will be commissioned in October 2022, with the remainder to follow in 2023. A dedicated fossil fuel-fired power plant and 35km-long railway siding will follow some time in the 2024 financial year.