Russia: SLK Cement has thanked its employees for their ‘conscientious work and professionalism’ through another challenging year on Builders’ Day, a public holiday for construction and cement sector workers, on 11 August 2021. AIF News has reported that the producer gave out 130 awards on the occasion. The governor and legislative assembly of Sverdlovsk Oblast joined the company in writing letters of gratitude to the workforce.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s consolidated sales in the 2021 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2021, were US$1.26bn. The figure corresponds to a rise of 67% year-on-year from US$752m in the 2020 financial year. Standalone cement sales rose by 31% to 9.96Mt – consisting of 7.56Mt of local sales and 2.41Mt of exports – from 7.60Mt in the 2020 financial year. The company more than doubled its consolidated profit after tax to US$171m from US$44.4m. Its cement segment’s profit after tax more than tripled to US$85.5m from US$20.3m, and all group companies were profitable.

Lucky Cement attributed the sales growth to increased capacity due to the commissioning of a new line at one of its cement plants in the second half of the 2020 financial year. During the 2021 financial year, the company commenced trial production at its new 1.2Mt/yr-capacity Samawah cement plant in Iraq. It overcame Covid-19-led disruptions to complete the trial in March 2021.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement’s consolidated sales totalled US$207m in the first half of 2021, up by 3.9% year-on-year from US$199m in the first half of 2020. Its net profit for the period took an 8.2% drop to US$54.9m from US$59.8m.

Australia: James Hardie has raised its full-year earnings forecast for the 2022 financial year to US$550-590m from US$520-570m. The decision follows a year-on-year increase in consolidated sales of 35%, to US$843m from US$624m.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to raise US$747m through the issuance of fixed-rate debentures. Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that SCG will pay a 2.7% coupon on the debentures, which will be due in 2025. The group will use the proceeds to replace existing debentures when they expire in October 2021.

Peru: The Directorate for Research and Promotion of Free Competition (DLC) of the Peruvian National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) has launched administrative proceedings against Gloria Group subsidiary Yura. The El Comercio newspaper has reported that nine Yura employees face allegations of participating in, planning and executing anti-competitive conduct. Logistics partner Racionalización Empresarial is also subject to the investigation.

Germany: Australia-based FCT Combustion has delivered a Turbu-Flex burner to HeidelbergCement’s Burglengenfeld, Bavaria, cement plant. The joint aims of the project are to improve combustion control and to increase the alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate in the plant’s kiln lines. The equipment is scheduled for commissioning in early 2022.

India: Orient Cement plans to invest US$215m to increase the production capacity of its 7.5Mt/yr Devapur, Telangana, cement plant to 11.5Mt/yr, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. The company previously expanded the plant’s capacity from 3.0Mt/yr at a cost of US$290m in 2019.

India: Ramco Cements plans to invest US$80.8m in future upgrades to its cement plants before 30 March 2022. In the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, which begun on 1 April 2021, the company invested US$53.9m in upgrades. The Hindustan Times newspaper has reported that realisation of its spending plan would bring the producer’s total upgrade investments for the 2022 financial year to US$135m.

India: The board of directors of Prism Johnson will consider a proposal to raise funds through issue of secured or unsecured, rated, listed, redeemable, taxable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on 13 August 2021. Any such issue will take place on a private placement basis.