Displaying items by tag: JK Lakshmi Cement

India: Several cement producers have responded to the coronavirus pandemic with plant closures. Reuters has reported that India Cements has temporarily closed all of its plants. JK Lakshmi Cement has suspended cement production at its 4.2Mt/yr integrated plant in Jaykaypuram, Rajasthan and at three grinding plants. JK Lakshmi subsidiary Udaipur Cement Works has shut its 1.6Mt/yr integrated Udaipur plant, also in Rajasthan.

Dalmia Bharat refractory production subsidiary Dalmia-OCL’s CEO Sameer Dagpaal told the Business Standard newspaper that he expected the virus’ impact on the company to be ‘relatively limited,’ with a slowdown in demand from the cement sector lasting at most ‘a couple of months.’ He noted that there had been ‘some minor supply-side disruptions relating to a shortage of raw materials from China.’

On 24 March 2020 the all-India total number of coronavirus cases crossed 500, with nine dead, according to Al Jazeera. 200 cases are in the western states of Maharashtra and Kerala.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement’s revenue rose by 9% year-on-year to US$160m in its first quarter to 30 June 2019 from US$147m in the same period in 2018. Notably, its expenses fell by 2% to US$146m due to decreasing logistics costs. Its net profit grew significantly to US$7.58m from US$0.44m. The cement producer also said that it had commissioned a 20MW captive power plant at its Durg cement plant in Chhattisgarh.

India: JK Lakshmi improved its fuel consumption to 702kCal/kg of clinker in the October – December 2018 quarter from 705kCal/kg of clinker in the same period in 2017. Its revenue rose by 3.5% year-on-year to US$380m in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$368m in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 8% to US$45.4m from US$49.4m. The company said that it had been ‘facing pressure’ from increased petcoke and diesel prices. It also said that a 20MW thermal power plant and its Orissa grinding plant project were on schedule and are expected to be commissioned by March 2019.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has hired digital logistics company FarEye to improve its operations. The cement producer hopes to improve its distribution network through more information, better control of movements of goods and improved collaboration with third-party vendors, according to Dataquest. FarEye will use its proprietary platform to integrate internal and external stakeholders to provide real-time visibility at a trip level.

“On our wide distribution network handling volumes around 0.8Mt/month, pilferage and back-and-forward loading are some of the key operational challenges that we face. We believe that gaining better visibility into our vast network of multiple plants and about 10,000 destinations will help us control pilferage, optimize capacity and eventually help us deliver a superior customer experience,” said Shailendra Chouksey, a director at JK Lakshmi Cement.

FarEye also plans to add value by providing business insights across the value chain, which could help to increase efficiency, cut costs and increase profits. It will also digitise Vehicle Placement and introduce Electronic Proof of Deliveries.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement’s income fell slightly to US$250m in the first half of its financial year to 30 September 2018, from US$251m in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 13% to US$29.4m from US433.7m It has blamed the fall in its profitability on rising petcoke and diesel prices.

In its half-year report it added that work on a 20MW power plant at its Durg cement plant is expected to be completed by the end of March 2019. A cement grinding plant in Orissa is also expected to be finished from the start of 2019.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has recently ramped up the production capacity of its grinding units in the state to cater to growing cement demand in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The cement maker operates two grinding units in Gujarat, one at Kalol near Ahmedabad and one in Surat.

"Our combined capacity at both these locations has been raised to about 2.5Mt/yr from 1.5Mt/yr earlier," said Shailendra Chouksey, whole-time director of JK Lakshmi Cement. "We have been expecting reasonable growth in the cement sector largely driven by various government initiatives, as well as focus on infrastructure projects.”

India: The Supreme Court has been informed that the government is considering a ban on the use of petcoke by various industries. Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, representing the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told the court that a decision on the matter could be made within one month, according to the New Indian Express newspaper.

At present it is unclear whether the cement industry would be affected. However, if it was included in the ban, this potentially could be a problem for Shree Cement, which uses 100% petcoke in its fuels mix, according to India Infoline News Service. Additionally, UltraTech Cement, JK Cement, JK Lakshmi Cement and Mangalam Cement have petcoke usages in the range of 75 - 85% and would also be negatively affected.

India: The government has raised the import duty on petcoke to 10% from 2.5%. This follows the abolition of a ban on petcoke and furnace oil to the cement and power industries in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh by the Supreme Court, according to Reuters. The increase in import duty is expected to create a rise in coal imports as companies change their energy mix. Shree Cement, JK Cement, J K Lakshmi Cement, UltraTech Cement and Mangalam Cement are all expected to be particularly affected by the tariff change. India is the world’s biggest consumer of petcoke, with much of it imported from refineries in the US.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found seven cement companies guilty of bid rigging and cartelisation and imposed a total fine of nearly US$30m on them. The accused companies are Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC and JK Lakshmi Cement, according to the Times of India. The fines are based on 0.3% of each company’s average turnover for three financial years. Each company has also been ordered to cease and desist such behaviour.

The ruling relates to a tender floated by a Haryana state procurement agency in 2012 that the CCI started investigating in 2014. Evidence cited in the CCI’s order includes text messages and phone calls made between officials of the companies.

UltraTech Cement and Shree Cement have issued statements saying that they will appeal against the fine.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has received environment clearance to expand its limestone mine output in Sirohi, Rajasthan to 13Mt/yr from 8Mt/yr. The expansion will cost US$17.9m and the mined material will supply the cement producer’s Sirohi plant, according to the Press Trust of India.

Crushed limestone will be transported to the plant via a covered conveyor and no local transport infrastructure will be required for the proposed project. Water will be sourced from the West Banas dam. The company has a limestone mine lease area of 390.62 hectare. It is an opencast mine and the lease is valid up to 2030.

The mine expansion will subject to conditions, including acquiring any applicable clearances from the National Board for Wildlife and consent from the State Pollution Control Board. The company has also been asked to conduct hydro-geological study and to obtain the recommendations of Central Ground Water Authority.