Displaying items by tag: India Cements

India: India Cement has blamed poor quarterly results on ‘severe’ competition in the south of the country and bad weather. For the year to date, its revenue grew by 3% year-on-year to US$576m in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$561m in the same period in 2017. Its profit more than halved to US$3.62m from US$9.24m.

India: India Cements’ revenue has remained stable at US$379 in the first half of its financial year to 30 September 2018. Its profit more than halved to US$3.01m from US$6.91m. The cement producer is currently appealing against allegations of cartel-like behaviour by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). In late October 2018 it said it was buying Springway Mining for the aim of eventually building a new cement plant in Madhya Pradesh.

India: India Cements has entered into a share purchase agreement to buy Springway Mining for around US$25m. It says it has made the purchase to build a new cement plant in Madhya Pradesh. The cement producer plans to build a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant in East Nimar, according to the Hindu newspaper. Springway Mining operates a mining and quarrying business.

India: The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea by cement producers about a charge of cartel-like behaviour made by real estate developers and upheld by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). However, the court has insisted that the payment schedule of the fine imposed will have to be upheld while the appeal proceeds, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The accused cement producers have been ordered to deposit 10% of the fine.

10 cement companies – including India Cements, Ramco Cements, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation, Ambuja Cement, ACC, Jaiprakash Associates, Century Textiles and Industries and UltraTech Cement – were accused by the Builders' Association of India and the CCI in 2010 of cartel-like behaviour. They were then fined US$905m or 0.5% of their net turnover. The producers first tried to appeal with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) but the tribunal dismissed their plea against the CCI finding in late July 2018.

India: N Srinivasan, the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, predicts that cement demand is improving in the south of the country. At the company’s annual general meeting in Chennai he said that demand for cement is expected to improve the 70% capacity utilisation rate recorded in the 2017 – 2018 financial year, according to the Financial Express newspaper. The region had a cement production capacity of 160Mt/yr but demand was only up to 80Mt.

He added that India Cements reported a utilisation rate of 71% in the previous financial year and that this had improved to 80% in the first quarter of the current year. He also expected that the second quarter would be better despite floods in Kerala and a transporters' strike.

India/Indonesia: India Cements has purchased an 100% share of Raasi Minerals through its subsidiary Coromandel Minerals. The Singapore-based company owns a controlling stake in several coal mines in Indonesia. No value for the transaction has been disclosed.

India: India Cements has launched a product promotional offer where customers could win Chennai Super Kings (CSK) merchandise and a chance to meet the players. Under the scheme, any customer purchasing 50 bags or in multiples of 50 bags (50 kg) of Coromandel Super Power between 19 January and 19 April 2018 will be eligible for entry into the promotion, according t the Press Trust of India. Prizes include match tickets, branded clothing and photo opportunities with the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and other players in the cricket team during the 2018 Indian Premier League.

India: FLSmidth has signed a contract to deliver an OK 52-4 cement mill system for India Cements’ Shankar Nagar plant in Tamil Nadu. The engineering company will carry out the system engineering, procurement and supply machinery for a cement production capacity of 200t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement at 3500 Blaine. The supply also includes a ROKSH 82 separator and gear units from FLSmidth product company, MAAG Gear.

"This contract reflects the strong relations we have had with the India Cements for almost a decade and our extensive knowledge in the region. We are happy to partner with them again," said Country Head of FLSmidth India, Carsten Riisberg Lund.

The new mill will replace the existing ball mills at the plant. The contract is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.

India: Sagar Cements, India Cements and Bharathi Cements have continued to defend public concerns over cement pricing due to economic trends beyond their control. In a press conference the producers blamed rising input costs, distribution costs, taxes and high margins by dealers, according to the Times of India newspaper. They added that the key demand drivers for the industry are residential house building and government projects.

S Srikanth Reddy, Executive Director of Sagar Cements forecast that cement demand will rise by 10 – 18% in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the next two to three years due to large government-run infrastructure projects. Tamil Nadu and Kerala are expected to rise by no more than 5% and Karnataka is expected to rise by 2 – 5%.

However, despite increases in the short term, the cement producers forecast problems for the industry in the south of the country, and in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in particular, due to production overcapacity as producers increased their installed capacity in anticipation of high demand. At present they say that producers are forced to run plants at 60% production utilisation rates with high volatility in price rates in a highly fragmented market with over 50 brands.

India: Members of the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) have met with Nitin Gadkari, the Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, to discuss price concerns around the country’s road building campaign. Local producers stand accused of increasing prices despite no rise in input costs amidst a national plan to build more roads, according to the Hindu newspaper. Producers dismissed these concerns, saying that price were lower than they had been in 2015. Instead they bashed discrepancies in export taxes between India and Pakistan.

Delegates from the cement producers at the meeting included N Srinivasan, managing director of India Cements, HM Bangur, managing director of Shree Cement, KK Maheshwari, managing director of UltraTech Cement, Ajay Kapur, managing director of Ambuja Cement, Mahendra Singhi, Group chief executive officer and wholetime director of Dalmia Cement, Ujjwal Batria, country chief executive officer and managing director of Nuvoco Vistas Corp and Aparna Dutt Sharma, Secretary General of the CMA.