Displaying items by tag: India
India: As part of the implementation in India of its planned merger with Holcim, and subject to the completion of the same merger, Lafarge has signed an agreement to acquire the 14% stake held by Baring in Lafarge India for Euro270m. Following this transaction, subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities, Lafarge will hold 100% of the shares of Lafarge India.
India: N Srinivasan has resigned from the board of financial services company India Cements Capital (ICCL), part of India Cements.
"N Srinivasan and T S Raghupathy have resigned as directors of the company with effect from 30 March 2015," said ICCL in a statement. ICCL provides various financial services like money changing services and advisory services on the foreign exchange market to exporters and importers.
India: India Cements has appointed P L Subramanian as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Subramanian joined the company in 1986 and has served in various positions. He was serving as its executive director of operations and retired from service in May 2015.
India: Sagar Cements has reported that in May 2015 it produced 1.59Mt of cement, up by 14.1% year-on-year. In the same month it dispatched 1.51Mt of cement, up by 13.2% year-on-year.
Sagar Cements to start railway line in July 2015
08 June 2015India: Sagar Cements expects to commission its US$18.7m, 7km private railway line in July 2015.
"The company had already received its first train and full commercial operations will begin after safety checks by the end of July 2015," said executive director S Sreekanth Reddy. The railway line is likely to boost the company's market reach and slash its freight costs.
The line will connect Sagar's cement plant near Matampally in Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh, with the main railway line. It will provide cheaper inward and outward freight. "We expect to save US$1.56 – 1.87m/yr with the inward freight," said Reddy.
BMM Cements plans to raise US$33m from IFC
05 June 2015India: According to the Business Standard, BMM Cements (BCL) plans to raise US$33m from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund its turnaround.
Currently part of Bharat Mines & Minerals group (BMM group), BCL shareholders in November 2014 had agreed to transfer ownership to Sagar Cements Limited (SCL). After the transfer, BCL will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCL.
SCL has 2.75Mt/yr of cement capacity spread across two plants in Matampally and Pedaveedu, both in Nalgonda, Telangana. BCL has a 0.95Mt/yr of integrated cement plant in Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh. Due to various internal and external constraints, the capacity utilisation of the plant has been low since inception and it has been incurring losses.
India: According to the Economic Times, the waste from city kitchens will soon be recycled into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at waste processing plants in Kalaburagi City, Karnataka. The RDF from the 10 upcoming waste processing plants in Kalaburagi will be given to cement companies for use as fuel and the biodegradable waste will be used as manure by farmers.
The joint initiative taken up by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development & Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has had agreements with cement manufacturers such as ACC, Vicat Sagar and UltraTech in Kalaburagi.
"Plastic-like material is a good alternative for fossil fuel as it can replace up to 20% of fossil fuel in terms of energy," said KSPCB chairman Vaman Acharya. The pact is yet to be signed and talks between the stakeholders is in the final stages. Transport costs for the RDF are estimated to be less than US$0.016/kg.
The idea to use RDF instead of fossil fuel in Kalaburagi cement plants was first conceived by Hasiru Dala, a Bengaluru-based non profit organisation working on waste management. It has provided 100t of combustible waste to Zuari Cements' plant in Andhra Pradesh in the past two months. Nalini Shekar, founder of Hasiru Dala, said that the material was not sold to the cement plant for a price, but Zuari paid for packaging and transportation. Households have been asked to segregate waste and hand it to BBMP garbage collectors to make the process easier.
India: India Cements has benefitted from better realisations during the fourth quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, when it reported a net profit compared to a loss in the same quarter in the previous year.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, India Cements reported a net profit of US$5.73m compared to a net loss of US$24.6m in the same quarter of its 2014 financial year. Total income fell to US$163m, down from US$176m in 2014. Total expenses fell to US$132m from US$158m. Power and fuel costs fell to US$42.8m from US$54m. Transportation and handling costs were also lower at US$32.5m, compared to US$42.7m in 2014.
N Srinivasan, India Cements vice chairman and managing director, said that cement prices stabilised during the fourth quarter of 2015 and lower costs of production due to lower fuel prices had contributed to better realisations. However, he said that demand continues to be slow as infrastructure demand is yet to pick up.
With a cement production capacity of about 15 – 16Mt/yr, the company is operating at a capacity utilisation of about 61%. Srinivasan said that even at this level, the company was in profit.
Ramco Cements reports 274% rise in Q4 profit
02 June 2015India: Ramco Cements has reported that its quarterly profits rose by 274% to US$14.6m due to better cost management and stable cement prices. Revenues grew marginally by 1.2% to US$156m. The company sold 1.88Mt of cement during the fourth quarter of 2015, down from 2.25Mt in the same quarter of the previous financial year.
For the fiscal year that ended on 31 March 2015, Ramco Cements achieved a profit of US$37.9m, a rise of 76% and a revenue of US$584m. It sold 7.67Mt of cement compared to 8.59Mt in the previous financial year.
"Our ability to manage costs and stable cement prices helped us in better financial performance," said A V Darmakrishnan, managing director and CEO of Ramco Cements. Forecasting demand for the current fiscal year, he said, "We are cautious and will wait."
Operating costs decreased because of cost reduction initiatives and falling fuel prices. However the reduction in costs was offset by an increase in royalty on limestone from US$0.986/t to US$1.25/t with effect from 1 September 2014.
Ramco Cements installed a new 0.95Mt/yr grinding plant in Gobburpalam Village, Vishakapatnam and commissioned it in March 2015.
India: Anjani Portland Cement has reported a net profit of US$2.48m in the quarter that ended on 31 March 2015 compared to a net loss of US$2.21m during the same quarter of 2015. Sales rose by 12.3% year-on-year to US$12.9m.
For the full year that ended on 31 March 2015, its net profit was US$2.62m compared to a net loss of US$3.04m during the previous year. Sales declined by 6.25% to US$4.06m in the 2015 financial year.