Displaying items by tag: India
Cement Corporation of India fails in bid to reopen Adilabad cement plant
28 September 2021India: The Telangana government says that it has failed to persuade the Indian government to reopen the mothballed Cement Corporation of India Adilabad cement plant. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that this is despite an offer by the state’s government to contribute to costs.
IT and Industries Minister Ramon Rao said that the Telangana government aims to create 50,000 new jobs and claimed that the state is the fourth largest contributor to India’s economy.
Dalmia Cement commences operations at expanded Kapilas cement plant
27 September 2021India: Dalmia Cement has begun cement production at the new 2.3Mt/yr Line 2 of it Kapilas cement plant near Cuttack in Odisha. The plant now commands a production capacity of 4.0Mt/yr.
Orient Cement to build new grinding plant in Maharashtra
27 September 2021India: Orient Cement has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Adani Power Maharashtra for the establishment of a grinding plant on land belonging to the latter. The power company will secure a licence to sublet its land to Orient Cement and for the producer to use railway sidings at the site. Orient Cement plans to begin work on the project before April 2022.
UltraTech Cement commits to 100% renewable energy by 2050
24 September 2021India: UltraTech has made a commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy use by 2050. The Aditya Birla subsidiary has joined the global RE100 group of companies committed to energy decarbonisation. Asian News International has reported that the producer is already targeting 34% renewable energy use by 2024 from 13% in 2020. It more than doubled its consumption of renewable energy between 2018 and 2020. UltraTech Cement is additionally targeting a CO2 emissions reduction to 462kg/t of cement. It is the first Indian producer to instigate sustainability target-linked financial commitments.
Gujarat Sidhee Cement restarts kiln at Sidheegram cement plant
23 September 2021India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement has restarted the kiln at its Sidheegram cement plant in Gujarat. Reuters News has reported that full operations will commence at the plant on 25 September 2021. The producer shut down its kiln line for routine maintenance on 7 September 2021.
Philip Mathew appointed as deputy head of Dangote Cement
22 September 2021Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Philip Mathew as its deputy group managing director and chief executive officer with effect from 15 September 2021.
Following his training at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, Matthew has worked for cement companies since the mid-1980s when he started out as a process engineer for ACC. He later worked for Lafarge in a number of roles and countries, eventually becoming its Director - Performance and Progress for Asia based in Kuala Lumpur in the early 2010s. He held the post of Chief Manufacturing Officer for ACC in India from 2016 to 2019 before becoming LafargeHolcim’s Head of Cement Excellence Manufacturing for the Asia-Pacific region subsequently.
BigBloc Construction partners with SCG International Corporation for building products marketing
21 September 2021India: SCG International Corporation has agreed to provide marketing services for BigBloc Construction’s autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) panels and other building products. United News of India has reported that BigBloc Construction expects to benefit from the partnership through the creation of a business development foundation for its AAC panels. SCG International Corporation is a subsidiary of Thailand-based cement producer Siam Cement Group (SCG).
Chair Narayan Saboo said "We are absolutely elated to announce our inaugural joint collaboration with SCG with the purpose of entering newer markets and expanding ourselves with our diversified product lines. We are the leading manufacturer of AAC blocks in India, and AAC panels are a new age building material which will further enhance speed and quality of construction.” He added “We are fully capable to cater to more demand and hence we look forward to scaling up by further promoting our product basket. SCG is without a doubt the best partner for the purpose since it is one of the largest cement and building material companies in Thailand and Southeast Asia. We look forward to the success of this wonderful opportunity which is mutually beneficial for both of our businesses."
Shree Cement details solar power plans
16 September 2021India: Shree Cement has given details of its US$67.8m solar power plant project plans. Projects Tiger News has reported that the producer intends to install 106MW-worth of solar power capacity across several Indian cement plants before October 2022. The company expressed its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and fossil fuel dependence.
Indian cement production rose in first quarter of 2022 financial year
16 September 2021India: Cement companies produced 82Mt of cement in the three-month period ending on 30 June 2021, the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, corresponding to growth of 54% year-on-year. Production in the quarter declined by 12% quarter-on-quarter, due to the proliferation of new state Covid-19 lockdowns from April 2021 onwards. The Hitavada newspaper has reported that ratings agency ICRA forecast that full-year production will rise by 12% in the 2022 financial year, on account of pent-up demand, growing rural housing demand and a pick-up in infrastructure activity. It nonetheless estimated that production will remain 2% below pre-Covid-19 outbreak 2020 financial year levels, with continuing high costs due to rising fuel prices. In the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, coal prices more than doubled and petcoke prices rose by 98% year-on-year.
India: Shree Cement is planning to launch three projects with a total value of US$646m. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that US$476m-worth of the sum will go towards establishing a new 3.8Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Nawalgarh in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district. The producer will invest a further US$102m in establishing a grinding plant in Purulia district, West Bengal, to take advantage of ‘favourable’ demand. Lastly, it will invest US$68m in installing solar power plants at ‘various’ cement plants across India.
Shree Cement said “The company has committed to maximising the use of clean energy in its operations. Setting up of the above solar power plants will enhance the proportion of clean energy usage in the total energy consumption of the company.”