Displaying items by tag: UltraTech Cement

India: On day six of India's coal block auction, 20 February 2015, UltraTech Cement won the Bicharpur coal block in Maharashtra for a price of US$48.2/t. The block contains coal deposits of 29.1Mt. UltraTech's parent company, Aditya Birla Group, has already won three blocks so far in the on-going coal block allocation auctions.

India: Day six of India's coal block auctions, on 19 February 2015, saw UltraTech Cement win the Bicharpur mine in Madhya Pradesh, which has 29.1Mt of coal reserves, for a bid of US$48.3/t. UltraTech beat ACC, Hindalco Industries, Jaypee Cement and OCL India, among others.

Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco Industries won the Gare Palma IV-5 block for US$56.3/t. The mine has estimated extractable reserves of 42.4Mt. It beat a number of rivals, including Ambuja Cement. Jindal Power Ltd won the Gare Palma IV-2 and 3 coal mines in Chhattisgarh, which have extractable coal reserves of 156Mt, for an estimated US$270m.

India: On the fourth day of India's coal block auctions, on 17 February 2015, Bharat Aluminium Co bid US$48.5/t to beat rivals Hindalco Industries and UltraTech Cement, among others, to win the Chotia mine in Chhattisgarh. The block has Grade C coal reserves with 1Mt/yr of production capacity. The price of imported coal of a similar grade is around US$72.2/t.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures won the Amelia North coal block in Madhya Pradesh for US$11.4/t, while agreeing to forego the mining cost. The mine has extractable reserves of 2.8Mt/yr and was previously owned by Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corp. OCL Iron & Steel won the Ardhagram mine in West Bengal at a price of US$36.9/t. The mine has extractable reserves of 400,000t/yr.

India: Following the start of India's coal mine auction on 14 February 2015, in which Reliance Cement won the Sial Ghoghri mine in Madhya Pradesh for US$22.5/t, more mines have now been sold.

On the second day of the auction, 15 February 2015, Reliance Cement lost out on a mine in Maharashtra to Sunflag Iron and Steel, which bid US$28.7/t. Similarly, Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco Industries, which bid US$45.9/t for the Kathautia mine in Jharkhand, beat UltraTech Cement. The mine has 26Mt of coal reserves.

On the third day of the auction, 16 February 2015, Jaiprakash Associates won the Mandla North mine, which has 143Mt of extractable coal reserves, for US$40.3/t. UltraTech Cement and Hindalco Ltd had also placed bids for the mine. B S Ispat won the Marki Mangli III mine in Maharashtra for US$14.7/t, beating several rivals, including JSW Cement. The mine has 4.2Mt of extractable reserves.

India: Jaiprakash Associates (Jaypee Group) has announced that it will sell two cement plants in Madhya Pradesh State to UltraTech Cement. The assets comprise cement plants and grinding facilities in Bela and Sidhi with a total capacity of 4.9Mt/yr, along with an associated 180MW power plant to supply them.

UltraTech will pay US$740m in non-convertible debentures (loan certificates) and shares worth US$16m for the facilities. It will also assume a net debt and negative working capital of US$128m associated with the businesses. This puts the overall value of the transaction at US$628m.

The sale is part of Jaypee's programme to pay-down debt. It has sold assets worth US$3.6bn in pursuit of this aim. This includes some US$1.6bn of assets in its cement business. However, it said that it remains India's third-largest cement producer, with a capacity of 22Mt/yr.

Jaypee's largest previous cement divestment was also to UltraTech. In 2014, it sold a 2.4Mt/yr cement plant in Kutch and a 2.4Mt/yr grinding plant in Wanakbori, both in Gujarat State, for US$620m. The deal was closed in June 2014. In September 2014, Jaypee announced the US$60m sale of its 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant in Panipat to Shree Cement. It also sold its 74% stake in Bokaro Jaypee Cement Limited, a cement joint venture with the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to Dalmia Cement for US$115m.

This week we heard news of two potential bidders for Lafarge and Holcim divestments. However, for a change it was where they will not be bidding that was of interest: Brazil. India's UltraTech Cement and Colombia's Cementos Argos now seem to have no interest in developing their positions in South America's largest cement market, having both previously stated their interest.

The Brazilian assets to be sold are three integrated cement plants and two grinding plants that share a capacity of 3.6Mt/yr (as well as a one ready-mix plant). Cementos Argos came out and said that it would not be bidding. UltraTech's position is more of a rumour, given by 'a source close to the company' that was not revealed by local media. However, both stories suggest that Brazil is currently not a good place for cement producers to buy up assets.

The reasons for these decisions are related to the state of the Brazilian economy, which has seen sub 2% growth in the last 11 quarters. The economy actually contracted by 0.9% in the second quarter of 2014 and by 0.25% in the third quarter of 2014. A 0.2% rise in the fourth quarter will be negated by a fall of 0.28% in the first quarter of 2015. Over the course of 2015 the IMF forecasts growth of 1.4%.

Although Brazilian cement production has risen from around 40Mt/yr in 2006 to around 70Mt/yr in 2013, it has been growing by lower and lower amounts each year. In 2013, it rose by 1.5% year-on-year, down from a 6.7% rise in 2012, an 8.3% rise in 2011 and a near 16% rise in 2010. Taken along with the IMF's GDP growth forecast, there is a genuine chance that Brazilian cement sales could plateau in 2014 or 2015. There will certainly be better places to try to sell cement over the next couple of years, hence the eagerness with which Cementos Argos declared its position.

One country that Cementos Argos has said it's looking at Lafarge and Holcim assets in is Mexico. Its economy is anticipated to grow by 3.5% in 2015, more than twice as quickly as Brazil and far more than the Americas as a whole (2.2%). Another anticipated strong performer in 2015 will be the US (3.1%), where Cementos Argos acquired assets in 2013. This week also saw the news that the Portland Cement Association's 8.1% cement consumption forecast for 2014 will be met.

Taking this all together, it appears that economic growth, and hence cement demand growth, will return to North America in earnest in 2015. Meanwhile South America's largest market is starting to lag behind. How will the rest of the two continents fare in 2015 and beyond?

India/Brazil: UltraTech Cement is re-evaluating its decision to bid for the Brazilian assets of Holcim SA, according to local media. The Aditya Birla group company had submitted non-binding bids for the cement assets in October 2014. Any binding bids are due in January 2015.

The Brazilian assets on sale include three integrated cement plants and two grinding stations that share a total capacity of 3.6Mt/yr. There is also one ready-mix plant. Now, rather than investing in those assets, the UltraTech plans to focus and expand its domestic cement production, according to local media, but an UltraTech spokeswoman said that company does not comment on market speculation.

The decision to re-think the Brazilian investment may stem from weak demand conditions in the market. The Brazilian economy has seen sub 2% growth in the last 11 quarters. For the three months ending 30 September 2014, the Brazilian economy actually contracted by 0.24%.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has closed a case of alleged cartel activity among 11 cement companies due to a lack of evidence. The companies were named as Penna Cements, India Cements, Bharathi Cements, Dalmia (Bharat) Cements, Bhavya Cements, Zuari Cements, Ultratech Cements, Jaypee Cements, Ramco Cements, KCP Cements and My Home Cements.

India/Oman: UltraTech Cement Middle East Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of India's UltraTech Cement, has acquired a majority stake (51%) in Omani gypsum mining firm Awam Minerals LLC.

Awam Minerals has a license to mine substantial gypsum deposits in the south of Oman. It's gypsum mining license will serve as a captive mine for the network of cement plants owned by UltraTech Cement in India, two grinding units and a cement plant in the UAE, as well as a grinding unit in Bahrain through its Middle East subsidiary.

India: UltraTech Cement has appointed Atul Daga as Chief Financial Officer of the company in place of KC Birla with effect from 1 December 2014. The decision was made at a board of directors meeting on 18 October 2014. The term of appointment of the managing director OP Puranmalka was extended for a period of one year until 31 March 2016.