16 October 2023

India: Dalmia Bharat sold 13.2Mt of cement during the first half of the 2024 financial year (1 April 2023 – 30 September 2023), up by 9.6% year-on-year 12Mt in the first half of the 2023 financial year. This contributed towards a 24% year-on-year rise in the producer’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to US$144m from US$116m in the previous first half. During the first half of the current financial year, Dalmia Bharat commenced commercial production from its new 500,000t/yr Ariyalur clinker plant and 2Mt/yr Sattur grinding plant, both in Tamil Nadu. The former commissioning raised the company’s clinker capacity to 22.2Mt/yr.

Group managing director and CEO Puneet Dalmia said “We see a multi-year-strong cement demand trend continuing, as India is undergoing a large-scale metamorphosis. We were one of the first ones to foresee this upcycle and started building our capacity ahead of time. In the past 3.5 years, we have added 17.2Mt/yr-worth of cement capacity, which is 65% growth over 2020 financial year capacity. In line with our vision to reach 110 – 130Mt/yr by 2031, we are continuing to make consistent strides in that direction and capitalise upon the huge opportunity ahead of us.”

The company’s cement managing director and CEO, Mahendra Singhi, noted the effects of a ‘reduction in fuel prices, increased usage of renewable power and improvement in key performance indicators.’ He added “We continue to demonstrate our commitment towards the environment, as we have further brought down our CO₂ footprint to 456kg/t of cement, which is one of the lowest in the global cement sector.”

Bulgaria: Titan Cement subsidiary Zlatna Panega Cement plans to invest Euro11m in sustainability-enhancing upgrades to its Zlatnopanegki cement plant in Lovech Province. The work centres around a Euro7m alternative fuels (AF) upgrade, to raise the plant’s AF substitution rate to 70% from 50% in 2022. Besides this, the producer will also invest Euro4m in the construction of a solar power plant at the facility. The solar power plant is scheduled for commissioning in March 2024. General manager Adamantios Frantzis said that the plant will subsequently move on to its ‘next big project,’ consisting of a Euro35 – 50m upgrade, in 2026 – 2028.

Zlatna Panega Cement invested Euro5.7m in capital expenditure throughout 2022, more than double its investments of Euro2.6m in 2021. It is committed to interim CO₂ reduction targets of 5000t/yr (Scope 1) and 3000t/yr (Scope 2 and 3), and net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

India: Dalmia Bharat has announced a planned investment of US$10.9m in a grinding unit expansion at its 1Mt/yr Banjari cement plant in Bihar. The expansion will raise the plant’s capacity by 500,000t/yr and conclude before 31 March 2025.

Italy: Colacem has selected US-based Armis’ Armis Centrix AI-based cyber exposure management platform to protect online assets in its cement plants. Italian Industry News has reported that protected assets include IT equipment, operational technologies and internet of things (IoT) devices.

Colacem security manager Luca Salemmi said “We requested support from Armis because we realised that we did not have visibility on all devices. What we immediately liked about Armis Centrix is its ability to evaluate the level of vulnerability of each device and to provide a priority order for immediate intervention so that it resolves the most critical risks.”

India: Dalmia Bharat says that it will complete its acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates’ cement business, Jaypee Cement, towards the end of the 2024 financial year on 31 March 2024. Informist EquityWire News has reported that the deal is ‘taking more time’ than expected to conclude.

Jaypee Cement’s Madhya Pradesh-based subsidiary Jaybee Bhilai Cement is subject to an on-going shareholder dispute, due to which a court has frozen the company’s 74% shareholding in the unit.