Displaying items by tag: India

India: Accusations of violence by local police against activists protesting against a limestone mining lease granted to UltraTech Cement in Gujarat have been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Police from Bhavnagar allegedly attacked protestors with batons and used tear without prior provocation during a march in early January 2019, according to the DNA India newspaper. The protestors were complaining about a mining lease for a quarry in the Talaja district.

India: The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) plans to invest around US$140m towards developing dry ports and related infrastructure as well as buying more railway wagons. The government-controlled organisation, under the remit of the Ministry of Railways, intends to target the cement industry, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. V Kalyana Rama, the chairman and managing director of CONCOR, said that the company wants to increase transportation of bulk cement in the country to reduce inefficiencies.

India: Dalmia Seven, a joint venture between Dalmia Bharat Group and Austria’s Seven Refractories, has launched a new monolithic refractory production line at its Katni plant in Madhya Pradesh. Following the upgrade the unit has a production capacity of 45,000t/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. The new production line is intended to meeting growing demand nationally from the cement, steel and iron industries.

India: Mangalam Cement’s sales revenue rose by 7% year-on-year to US$170m in the year to 31 March 2019 from US$159m in the same period in 2018. It made a loss of US$1.38m compared to a profit of US$1.62m in 2018. Its power and fuel costs grew by 28% to US$54.3m.

India: Dalmia Bharat’s income rose by 7% year-on-year to US$1.36bn in the year to 31 March 2019 from US$1.26bn in the same period in 2018. Its cement sales volumes grew by 10% to 18.7Mt from 17Mt. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 5% to US$278m from US$292m. The cement producer blamed mounting slag and petcoke costs for the growing production costs although it noted that the prices had started to ‘soften’ in the most recent quarter.

India: Customers of Ambuja Cement have been deceived by a fake website pretending to take orders for the company. Victims of the fraud have notified the police in Mumbai, according to the Times of India newspaper. The fraudulent website obtained orders, raised invoices and promised delivery following the receipt of advance payment. When the customers failed to receive the goods they approached Ambuja Cement and the deception was revealed. So far around US$2500 has been reported lost.

France: Vicat’s sales have risen due to its acquisition of Ciplan in Brazil. Its sales rose by 4.7% year-on-year to Euro600m in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro573m in the same period in 2018. However, adjusted for the acquisition, its sales remain stable. The group’s cement sales revenue fell by 1.4% to Euro302m when similarly adjusted. Its concrete and aggregate sales rose by 6.6% to Euro225m.

“The rise in prices across all zones has resulted in stable consolidated sales at constant scope and perimeter, despite strong volume erosions in Turkey as a result of the 2018 lira devaluation and of the consequences of highly adverse weather conditions in California. The integration of Ciplan in Brazil is on track amid conditions that are stabilising after several years of major consumption falls,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Guy Sidos.

By region sales were strong in France, stable in the rest of Europe and Africa and poor in the Americas, Asia and Turkey. Poor weather in California dragged down sales in the US, competition was reported in India and an economic slowdown was reported in Turkey.

India: Birla Corporation’s revenue rose by 10% year-on-year to US$944m in the financial year to 31 March 2019 from US$856m in the same period in 2018. Its profit for the period rose by 66% to US$36.9m from US$22.2m. Notably, its power and fuel costs increased by 14% to US$214m from US$188m.

India: Sagar Cement has completed its acquisition of Jajpur Cements at Jajpur in Odisha at a cost of US$16m. It now plans to build a new 1.5Mt/yr cement grinding plant at the site for US$44m. The project is subject to regulatory approval but it is scheduled for completion by March 2021.

India/China/UAE: UltraTech Cement is looking for buyers for the cement production assets of Binani Cement in China and the UAE. It purchased Binani Cement’s share in joint-ventures in these countries, according to the Hindu newspaper. In China it runs a 3Mt/yr integrated plant and in the UAE it operates a 2.5Mt/yr grinding plant. However, before it was acquired by UltraTech Cement, Binani Cement was unable to sell its stake in its Chinese unit. Attempts to sell the plant in UAE are also expected to be difficult due to market overcapacity.