Displaying items by tag: Tokyo Cement

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has resumed importing clinker from Japan. The clinker will be used to make the producer’s NIPPON-PRO branded cement.

"We at Tokyo Cement having identified the demand for a high performance cement tied up with a leading Japanese manufacturer to import clinker with high specifications," said Dashantha Udawatte, Group Marketing Manager at Tokyo Cement.

Tokyo Cement operates a 2.4Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Trincomalee.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Group has launched 'Nippon Cement - Pro'. This new brand of cement is targeted at the builders of large-scale projects such as a high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. Tokyo Cement Group is Sri Lanka's largest cement producer operating a 2.40Mt/yr cement grinding plants in Trincomalee, Eastern Province.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has added a fifth vessel, MV Mohar, to its fleet of cement transport ships in August 2015. The ship is a 22,000t pneumatic bulk cement carrier.

"Logistics is an integral part of our business and the increase in local demand has required us to enhance our capacities not just in transportation, but manufacturing and energy generation. We are always striving to improve our business performance because doing so is Tokyo Cement's contribution to building Sri Lanka and ensuring strong, sustainable development," said Tokyo Cement Group Managing Director S R Gnanam.

With a 1Mt/yr production capacity increase in Trincomalee, the new vessel will transport cement to the Colombo Port in order to distribute more efficiently. "The cement industry is often described as a barometer of a country's march to economic development and prosperity. What we are currently seeing is a surge in demand for products and services, which is a good indicator of market confidence. Over the last three decades, Tokyo Cement has built itself up to become one of Sri Lanka's most valuable brands, with an installed capacity of over 2Mt/yr of cement, over 600 employees and US$149m in assets. Our success reflects the continuing growth of Sri Lanka and its economy," said Gnanam.

Singapore/Sri Lanka: The Ceylon Institute of Builders has awarded Tokyo Super Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) with a 'Green Mark.'

The Green Mark is a Singaporean product label, accredited internationally by the Building Construction Authority (Singapore), the Green Building Council (Singapore), the Chartered Institute of Builders (UK), as well as locally by the Ceylon Institute of Builders, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Construction and the Central Environmental Authority. Tokyo Super PPC is the only cement brand with a sustainable accreditation and is frequently recommended by sustainable building consultants as, 'The highest quality product, with minimal environmental impact, on the market.'

Tokyo Super PPC was given the green accreditation for the following reasons:

- Its local manufacturing is powered by carbon-neutral biomass energy that is locally-generated with the repurposing of agricultural waste;
- It is a renewable energy project in compliance with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) standards and is awarded carbon credits annually;
- It uses coal fly ash from Norochcholai power plant, recycling locally-generated waste in a useful manner;
- It minimises the energy required in cement grinding by using fly ash;
- It minimises CO₂ emissions by substituting clinker with non-limestone based material, thereby reducing the energy requirement for kilning;
- It has International Certification in Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and Quality Management Systems (ISO 9000) and was the model from which local standards were set (SLS 1427);

Tokyo Super PPC, although less expensive than Ordinary Portland Cement, is not just the greener choice but also the stronger one. It offers as much as 10% higher strength after 98 days.

Sri Lanka: Fuji Cement, one of the subsidiaries of Tokyo Cement, which functions as independent company, will go for a strategic merger as a single entity with effect from February 2015. Harsha Cabraal has become the new chairman of the company.

After the merger, the new entity will be named Tokyo Cement Company Lanka Plc. For the merger the companies will cancel the status capital and asset and liability of Fuji Cement and are now waiting for the Company Registrar's approval to go ahead with the merger.

Tokyo Cement (Lanka) plc is a Sri Lanka-based company engaged in the manufacturing and selling of cement and ready mixed concrete to the local market. Its product lines include Nippon Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Tokyo Super Ordinary Portland Cement, Tokyo Super Portland Pozzolana Cement and Tokyo Super Masonry Cement.

As of 31 March 2012, Tokyo Cement had four subsidiaries, namely Tokyo Super Cement Company Lanka (Pvt) Limited, Fuji Cement Company (Lanka) Limited, which were both engaged in manufacturing and selling cement; Tokyo Cement Power (Lanka) Limited, which was still in gestation stage and Tokyo Cement Colombo Terminal (Pvt) Limited, which was active in the import and distribution of cement.

Sri Lanka: W Christopher Fernando has been appointed as an executive director to the board of Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) with effect from 30 October 2014.

Fernando was appointed as Group General Manager of the company in 1991. He is also a director of Fuji Cement Company (Lanka), Tokyo Super Cement Company (Lanka), Tokyo Cement Colombo Terminal, Tokyo Cement Power (Lanka) and Tokyo Eastern Cement Company. He holds degrees in economics, is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants (FCMA), Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA) and an attorney-at-law.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement's profit rose by 660% to US$4.6m in the quarter ending 30 June 2013 compared to the same period of 2012. The company said that this was due to lower raw material costs.

Tokyo Cement said that its revenue rose by 4% to US$50.8m and that direct costs fell by 5% to US$47.1m. This allowed its gross profit to increase by 87% to US$9.5m. Unspecified other income also rose by 87% to US$1.2m.

Tokyo Cement, which imports clinker for grinding, was hit badly in 2012 as its raw material costs rose and the government, which controls cement prices on the island, delayed a price increase. Now, with higher sales prices and an easing of international commodity and energy prices, clinker prices have fallen. The Sri Lankan Rupee was also more stable in the June 2013 quarter than in the 2012 quarter.

Sri Lankan cement demand fell in the first half of 2013. Yet this doesn't seem to be stopping the cement industry's slow recovery following the civil war that ended in 2009.

As reported by Sri Lankan media around the launch of Holcim Lanka's 2012 Sustainability Report, the local cement industry has seen volumes fall by 7% but this is expected to improve in the second half. Tokyo Cement, a grinding plant operator, confirmed a similar drop in the first quarter of 2013.

Despite the talk of downturn so far in 2013, Tokyo Cement has announced plans for a 1Mt/yr cement plant costing US$50m complete with its own captive biomass power plant. In addition, plans have emerged of a joint venture involving Pakistan's D.G. Khan Cement to build a grinding plant at Hambantota in the south of the island. Costing US$15m, the plant is intended to process exports to South Africa and Kenya.

The explicit intention to produce clinker in Pakistan and then grind it in Sri Lanka before export to a third destination makes an interesting notion. The Pakistan cement producer may benefit from being able to export cement from Sri Lanka with the added security of knowing that the grinding plant is located in a growing market itself. A helpful strategy given Pakistan's cement production overcapacity.

The Hambantota project is also noteworthy because another Pakistan-based company, Thatta Cement, announced in April 2013 that it had signed an agreement with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to a build a grinding and bagging plant at Hambantota. Also in 2013 the Nepali entrepreneur Binod Chaudhary submitted a US$75m plan for a cement plant in the north of the island.

Of course all of this appears miniscule in comparison to the level of investment Semen Indonesia has chalked up to spend between now and 2016: up to a whopping US$2bn.

Elsewhere in the news this week the price of extending a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deadline has revealed itself to be US$1.5m. Lafarge North America has succeeded in pushing back pollution controls at its Ravena plant by over a year in exchange for interim limits and an investment in air pollution projects in the local community. It's not a fine but the announcement follows other pollution-related payments at cement plants run by Holcim and Ash Grove. Let's hope that any new plants in Sri Lanka avoid these kind of payments.

Sri Lanka: The Tokyo Cement Company intends to build a US$50m cement in Trincomalee, Eastern Province a top official has said. The new 1Mt/yr plant will be called the Tokyo Eastern Cement Company. The build will also include a captive 10MW biomass power plant.

"We are currently in the process of finalising a 33-year lease agreement with the government for the land to construct the factory," said Tokyo Cement Managing Director (MD), S R Gnanam. Tokyo Cement has received tax breaks on the investment that will be financed by internal funds and bank loans. The company anticipates a 10% year-on-year growth in cement demand in the medium term.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's cement demand will pick up in the second half 2013, ending a slump that began in 2012, according to Philippe Richart, the head of Holcim (Lanka) Ltd. However, he added that cement volumes were 7 - 9% down year-on-year in the first half of 2013. In 2012 the firm posted revenues of US$152.9m.

"We expect the second half to be better, whereas 2012 saw a little bit of a decline," said Richart. "Overall we think the market this year will be probably down by 2%."

Tokyo Cement, another Sri Lankan firm which operates grinding plants had also said demand has fallen by 7% in the first quarter but that an improvement was expected.

Official data shows that Sri Lanka's domestic cement production was down by 3.4% year-on-year to 320,000t in the first two months of 2013. Imports were down by 34% to 593,000t. However, production picked up in March 2013 and first quarter production was up by 0.7% year-on-year. Imports for the first quarter also surged by 118% to 854,000t.