Global Cement News

India: Dalmia Bharat sold 22.2Mt of cement in its 2022 financial year, up by 7.2% year-on-year from 20.7Mt in the 2021 financial year. During the year, Dalmia Bharat recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$314m, down by 11% year-on-year from US$356m in the 2021 year. The producer says that it is 'on track' to achieve a capacity of 48.5Mt/yr by the end of the 2023 financial year.

Speaking about the company's fourth-quarter 2022 financial year performance, managing director and chief executive officer Mahendra Singhi said "Through proactive cost containment measures, our teams have successfully mitigated the adverse inflationary impact and delivered one of the lowest total cost per ton of cement alongside a volume growth in-line with the industry. The recent strong recovery in demand and prices across all our operating regions is highly encouraging." Singhi continued "While the margins may continue to remain under pressure, we are undertaking proactive measures to retain our cost leadership and deliver sustainable earnings growth."

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) plans to invest US$38.9m in an upgrade to 2.5Mt/yr Belagavi cement plant. The work will consist of a capacity expansion and the installation of a new 9MW solar power plant at the facility. The latter is expected to halve the plant's grid electricity consumption. When commissioned in March 2024, the expanded plant will directly and indirectly employ 700 additional people.

India: UltraTech Cement has taken legal advice for its planned bid for Holcim's Indian business and says that it will volunteer to divest 15Mt/yr-worth of cement assets in order to accelerate the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approval process which would follow on from the acceptance of any offer. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that UltraTech Cement has filed five long form merger notifications for acquisitions of this type since 2013. These included its purchases of Binani Cement and Century Cement, and of Jaypee Group's Gujarati cement assets.

The Financial Express newspaper has reported that fellow contender Adani Group has offered 'more than' US$10bn for the assets, while JSW Group plans to offer US$7bn. BusinessLine Online News has reported that a fourth company, steel producer ArcelorMittal, has also held initial talks with Holcim over the assets.

In considering possible competition issues arising under any future deal, the CCI will factor in planned and upcoming cement capacity. In Gujarat, where Holcim India subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cements operate 6.8Mt/yr-worth of capacity, Adani Group plans to build a new 10Mt/yr cement plant at Lakhpat.

Pakistan: Cement producers in Pakistan sold 44.3Mt of cement in the first 10 months of the 2022 Pakistani financial year, which runs from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, down by 8.2% year-on-year from 48.3Mt in the corresponding period of 2021.Members of the All Pakistan Cement Producers Association (APCMA) record domestic deliveries of 39.5Mt, down by 1.8% from 40.2Mt, and exports of 4.8Mt, down by 40% from 8.02Mt.

The association said that political and economic uncertainty in March 2022 had stalled construction sector investments. It called on the government to help to increase sales and reduce the cost of cement production.

US: The state governments of Arizona, Maryland and Vermont have approved the use of Portland limestone cement (PLC) in public construction projects. The rule changes bring the total number of states in which PLC may be used in this way to 44.

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has welcomed the decision. The association said "Widespread acceptance of PLC marks a significant step to reducing the carbon footprint of concrete construction and advancing the goals laid out in the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality."