19 July 2023

India: Ramco Cements plans to invest a total of US$91.3m towards growing its capacity during the 2024 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2024. Its planned investments consist of US$15.8m in an expansion to its Haridaspur grinding plant in Odisha and US$75.5m in the acquisition of land in Bommanalli, Karnataka, on which to establish a limestone mine.

During the previous financial year, which ended on 31 March 2023, Ramco Cements invested US$215m in capital expenditure.

India: The first quarter of the 2024 financial year, which began on 1 April 2023, brought revenues of US$72.5m for Heidelberg Cement India, up by 1% year-on-year from US$71.9m during the first quarter of the previous financial year. The subsidiary of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials reported a 1.6% rise in its costs, to US$61.2m from US$60.3m. As such, its net profit rose by 1.3% year-on-year, to US$6.37m, compared to US$6.29m in the first quarter of the 2023 financial year.

India: UltraTech Cement and other industrial partners are participating in the development of the World Economic Forum’s first net zero transport cluster in India. The cluster, called Moving India, will deploy 550 zero-emissions trucks in western Gujarat and Maharashtra. Participants aim to create scale, support the deployment of shared assets and infrastructure, encourage the creation of a vehicle supply and servicing ecosystem and inform policy through consensus.

GPEO News has reported that UltraTech Cement managing director Kailash Jhanwar said "India is the second largest cement producing country in the world, with cement plants spread across the country. The cement sector can provide an ideal use case for early adoption of zero emission trucks. At UltraTech Cement, we are committed to evaluating all means to reduce our emissions and environmental footprint. We see large scale deployment of zero emission trucks and liquefied natural gas/compressed natural gas vehicles as the next key initiative to make our operations more sustainable."

India: Three workers died after an oxygen cylinder exploded at UltraTech Cement’s Hirmi cement plant in Chhattisgarh on 18 July 2023. The Indian Express newspaper has reported that the workers were subcontractors hired to carry out repairs at the 1.9Mt/yr integrated cement plant. They reportedly brought the cylinder with them to the site before it exploded for unknown reasons. Police are investigating the event, and have named the victims as Lakesh Kumar Gayakwad, Shatruhan Lal Verma and Umesh Kumar Verma. The men were aged between 21 and 27.

Tajikistan: The government ordered the immediate shutdown of Tajikcement’s Dushanbe cement plant ‘due to serious air pollution’ on 18 July 2023. Asia-PLUS News has reported that the suspension will likely last until the end of 2023. The government has indicated that an upgrade to the plant’s equipment would be necessary for it to be able to reopen. It previously stated that the plant would have to shut down altogether and relocate to a new site, to be replaced by a confectionary factory.

Malaysia: YTL Cement and Thailand-based SCG have signed a memorandum of understanding with Innocement, a joint venture between the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA). The agreement is intended to strengthen the cement supply chain, secure the reliability of supply and stabilise prices in the region, according to the Star newspaper. In January 2023 representatives of the SEDC and the BDA had visited SCG in Bangkok. At this time it was reported that a joint venture between the SEDC and the BDA wanted to import 0.5 – 1Mt/yr of cement from SCG.

Slovenia: Salonit Anhovo has announced a planned name change to Alpacem Cement Slovenia. STAkrog News has reported that the inclusion of the word ‘Slovenia’ will require special government approval. The company said that Alpacem better reflects its ownership, while Cement reflects its core activity.

Salonit Anhovo is 75% owned by Austria-based Wietersdorfer Alpacem and 25% owned by Italy-based Buzzi.