Displaying items by tag: delay

India: JSW Group has delayed the initial public offering for its subsidiary JSW Cement to 2022 from December 2020 due to lack of demand for cement. Mint News has reported that the company will increase its cement production capacity during the intervening period by 43% to 20Mt/yr from 14Mt/yr.

Managing director Parth Jindal said, “A second consecutive year of decline in cement demand has delayed our expansion plans.” He added, "We will restart capital expenditure projects worth US$160m in October 2020. We're adding 1.5Mt/yr of integrated capacity and 3.0Mt/yr of grinding capacity."

JSW Cement’s cement production fell by 30% year-on-year in the three months that ended on 30 June 2020.

India: Dalmia Bharat says that price rises and cost cutting helped it to improve its profits in the first quarter of the Indian financial year. Its income from operations fell by 22% year-on-year to US$263m in the quarter to 30 June 2020 from US$338m in the same period in 2019. Its cement sales volumes dropped by 20% to 3.66Mt from 4.55Mt. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 8% to US$81.9m from US$88.9m. However, its profit after tax grew by 24% to US$25.1m from US$20.3m.

The group said that, once the coronavirus-related lockdown in April 2020 ended, cement demand picked up due to infrastructure projects and the residential sector, especially in east India, with an emphasis on rural markets. It also reported that the ongoing upgrade to grinding plants has been delayed by the health situation with completion rescheduled to December 2020.

India: JSW Cement has said that it will delay a planned US$382m expansion of its installed capacity of 14Mt/yr to 25Mt/yr in 2023 until at least January 2021. The Business Standard newspaper has reported that JSW Cement previously postponed work to raise its capacity to 20Mt/yr in 2020, and that the economic situation following the coronavirus lockdown is “not conducive to the construction agenda.” JSW Cement chief executive officer (CEO) Nilesh Narwekar said, “The plans are being deferred by 6 – 12 months but we are not sure that they will happen.” Financing for the work was due to be split 50:50 between internal accruals and bank loans.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group’s (SCG) planned sale of up to 30% of shares in its subsidiary SCG Packaging has received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission. SCG is awaiting better market conditions for the sale, after it postponed the initial public offering (IPO) in mid-March 2020 following the coronavirus outbreak. The company said, “Once the overall situation becomes clearer and more conducive, SCG will proceed with its IPO and the listing of its shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.”

SCG said that it is selling the shares to raise funds for ‘international and domestic business expansion.’

India: Construction has stalled in Tamil Nadu because consumers are reportedly unable to buy cement. The supply chain has been disrupted because police have shut shops across the state following breaches of social distancing rules after the partial easing of the coronavirus lockdown.

Ramco Cements Managing Director Arrakundal Dharmakrishnan said, “We have instructed our dealers that they must follow social distancing norms.”

In neighbouring Telangana, chief minister Kalvakuntla Rao has extended the lockdown period to 29 May 2020, subject to a review on 15 May 2020 that may result in the resumption of construction works and the re-opening of non-essential shops.

China: Shanshui Cement has said that it expects its first-quarter losses to rise year-on-year in 2020 due to coronavirus. ET Net News has reported that, though losses are normal in the quarter containing the winter shutdown, they are expected to have been greater than usual in 2020 due to decreased sales and delays to startup caused by the outbreak.

EU: The European Union (EU) has ignored lobbying calls from the cement industry in upholding the 31 March 2020 deadline for companies to submit emissions reports for 2019. EurActiv News has reported that “firms are struggling to have their reports verified” due to the coronavirus.

After reports are submitted, producers will have until 30 April 2020 to surrender any Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) credits needed to cover their reported emissions.

Thailand: The coronavirus pandemic has caused Siam Cement Group (SCG) to postpone its initial public offering (IPO) for 30% of its packaging subsidiary SCG Packaging at a value of US$1.0bn, which was reportedly due to take place in early 2020. Reuters News has reported that the company has yet to set a new date for the IPO.

Bolivia: Antonio Pino, Vice Minister of Hydrocarbons, says that a new gas pipeline will have to be built to supply the Potosí cement plant at Chiutara. This may delay the start of the new plant to as late as early 2022, according to the El Potosí newspaper. The 1.3Mt/yr integrated unit was previously planned to start operation in February 2020.

The project was supported by the country’s previous government administration through the creation of Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL. The plant is being built by Sociedad Accidental Imasa Polysius, a joint venture created by Polysius and Imasa.

India: The India Cements, south India's largest cement maker by volume, has stated that it may have to delay its planned capital expenditure projects, if the Indian economy continues its relative ‘slump.’ The company’s proposed projects include an investment of US$195m on a greenfield plant in Madhya Pradesh and a grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh.

India is going through what many consider to be a ‘unprecedented’ economic slowdown following GDP growth of ‘a mere 5% in the third quarter of 2019, a six year low. This has led to a slowdown in government spending, directly affecting cement consumption and capacity utilisation rate at The India Cements’ plants.

“We may hold back capital expenditure," said N Srinivasan, the company’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director. “I want to expand. I want to go there, but I want to be sure before I go!"