Displaying items by tag: India

India: Cement producers saw strong sales in the second quarter of the 2026 Fiscal Year (FY2026), due to steady prices and higher sales volumes. Seasonal weakness and maintenance outages did dent performance, but the overall picture remained positive, according to the Business Standard newspaper.

Centrum Broking said that results pointed to 4 - 5% year-on-year demand growth in the second quarter despite weather-related interruptions. Stronger rural activity and ongoing construction kept consumption buoyant. Meanwhile, JM Financial reported that like-for-like cement volumes grew by 7%. Adjusted for acquisitions, consolidated volumes at UltraTech Cement and Ambuja Cements also rose by 7%, while JK Cement saw a 15.1% increase, driven by capacity increases and a higher capacity utilisation rate.

India: Adani-led Adani Enterprises has reportedly beaten Vedanta in the race to take over the debt-laden Jaiprakash Associates, despite Vedanta placing the highest overall bid in an electronic auction, according to local media.

Jaiprakash Associates is the flagship arm of the Jaypee Group, with interests across cement production, power generation, engineering, hospitality, real estate and sports infrastructure. Its creditors unanimously voted in favour of Gautam Adani-led Adani Enterprises’ resolution plan, as it proposed higher upfront payments. Despite voting for Adani’s plan, some creditors did question the pre-bidding process, which reportedly gave Adani a perfect 100% score across a range of factors to assess its suitability.

India: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) India said that the cement industry has installed 1.8GW of renewable energy capacity and aims to add 5GW more by 2030, according to Platts via S&P Global. Around 3% of electricity used comes from renewables and 11% from waste heat recovery. GCCA India said that the average alternative fuel thermal substitution rate (TSR) in the sector is approximately 6%, although some plants have successfully achieved TSRs of more than 20%. It also said that there are developments in the installations of hybrid energy systems, which provide 24/7 electricity for the sector.

Blended cement accounts for 73% of production, and India has reportedly begun producing limestone calcined clay cement. Research is also underway into other low-clinker alternatives. According to a March 2025 report by GCCA India and The Energy and Resources Institute, the industry aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. CRISIL forecasts that the sector will add 160-170Mt/yr of grinding capacity between the financial years 2026-2028, which run from April to March, driven by a healthy demand outlook and high capacity utilisation.

India: The Adani Group has announced plans to invest US$1.13bn in Andhra Pradesh over the coming decade, including on developments in cement, data centres, energy and advanced manufacturing. The announcement was made by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) Managing Director Karan Adani at the Andhra Pradesh Investor Summit, where he announced plans for the Vizag Tech Park, a major data centre investment alongside Google.

"We see Andhra Pradesh not as a destination for investment, but as a launchpad for India's next decade of transformation,” said Adani. “The flagship of our commitment is the Vizag Tech Park. This is not just another tech park, it is the foundation of India's digital sovereignty. We are building one of the world's largest hyperscale data-centre ecosystems, in partnership with Google, and powered by green energy.”

Emir Adigüzel warned that cement prices in Europe could triple under current decarbonisation policies. The director of the World Cement Association (WCA) made the comments at a conference in Germany this week. He noted that most of these carbon-related costs will be passed to consumers. His view is that carbon pricing will force price rises across the industry.

That cement prices will rise due to decarbonisation policies is not in itself news. This debate is really about how much and who pays. The WCA's latest analysis asserts that the cement sector will require investment of US$200bn by 2050 to fully decarbonise. Some progress has been achieved so far. Major cement companies reduced carbon intensity from an average of 700kg CO₂/t in 2019 to 640kg CO₂/t in 2023. Adigüzel’s argument is that carbon capture (CCUS) in the cement sector has its place only “if applied correctly.” His view is that these technologies will have a limited effect on global industry decarbonisation as the required investment per cement plant exceeds the capital cost of an entire cement plant. The WCA prefers to promote decarbonisation instead via energy efficiency, alternative fuels, reduced clinker factor and new technologies. That last one includes CCUS but is not limited to it also covering things such as electrification and heat storage. Note today’s news that India-based Adani Cement has ordered a RotoDynamic Heater from Coolbrook. Adigüzel also criticised the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in incentivising non-scheme exporters to reduce their carbon footprint, particularly given the expensive investments required.

Decarbonisation is going to be expensive and CCUS is the priciest part of this. Hence, cement producers are likely to consider taking as many measures as possible before implementing CCUS. That cement companies would pass on these costs to consumers also seems likely. The other obvious outcome is that consumers will simply use less cement where possible. Yet Adigüzel doesn’t address how net zero can be achieved with continuing clinker production without using CCUS. His pricing for CCUS is at the right scale though. As Boston Consulting Group (BCG) pointed out in 2024, the cost of CCUS looks set to increase cement prices from US$90 – 130/t to at least US$160 – 240/t by 2050. As well as the capital costs to build a CCUS unit, this includes the additional energy costs required and the price of transporting the CO₂ to a sequestration site. The first two large-scale Heidelberg Materials CCUS projects in Europe, for example, both connect to government-backed transport and sequestration schemes. BCG went on to posit that decarbonisation trends would create five archetypes of cement plants: export hubs and larger plants close to CO₂ storage sites; former export sites far from storage; import grinding hubs; and stranded assets.

Finally, Carbon Brief reported this week that CO₂ emissions in China continued to stay flat in the third quarter of 2025, suggesting a stable or falling trend since early 2024. The adoption of electric vehicles and declines from cement and steel production contributed to the picture in the latest quarter. Emissions from the production of cement and other building materials fell by 7% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025. This was attributed to the ongoing real-estate contraction. Note that this decarbonisation trend in China has been created by market trends.

Expect plenty more sustainability stories everywhere over the next few weeks as the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) started this week in Belém, Brazil. The GCCA will be present at a number of events including an update to the Brazil Cement Industry Roadmap on Saturday 15 November 2025

The Global FutureCem Conference on cement industry decarbonisation will take place on 21 - 22 January 2026 in Munich, Germany

India: Adani Cement and Finland-based Coolbrook have announced an agreement to implement the world’s first commercial deployment of Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic heater (RDH) at Adani’s Boyareddypalli integrated cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. The project reportedly aims to ‘significantly’ reduce CO₂ emissions from cement production.

The RDH system will decarbonise the calcination phase of cement production by supplying ‘clean’ heat powered entirely by renewable energy from Adani. The installation is expected to cut around 60,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions, with potential for a tenfold increase in future phases, according to the producer.

The partnership also includes plans to expand the use of RotoDynamic technology across other Adani Cement sites, with five additional projects targeted within two years. The first-generation RDH will deliver hot gases of around 1000°C to dry and optimise the use of alternative fuels.

India: Cement and clinker transport from Meghalaya has been at a complete standstill since 27 October 2025, as members of the newly formed Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners Association (MCTOA) continue their protest, according to local press. The strike has impacted despatches from all major cement plants in the Jaintia Hills, leading to a reported cement shortage across Meghalaya and neighbouring northeastern states.

The MCTOA launched the protest to demand that government-notified transport rates be extended to inter-state transportation outside Meghalaya. The protest has reportedly disrupted supply chains and halted plant despatches, with thousands of workers and transporters affected by the shutdown of all cement plants in the region.

In a statement issued on 6 November 2025, the Jaintia Hills Cement Manufacturing Association (JHCMA) described the strike as ‘unjustified and economically damaging,’ adding that it has caused ‘significant losses and hardship’. The association urged authorities to ‘take immediate steps to restore normalcy, ensure the safe movement of goods and safeguard the interests of the industrial sector.’

India: Kaushalya Logistics has opened three new depots in Uttar Pradesh for JK Cement. The new facilities are located in Fatehpur (Choudagra), Unnao (Radhaganj), and Balia (Rasara), are expected to handle around 3000t/month of cement.

India: Ramco Industries will build a new fibre cement board plant in Maksi, Madhya Pradesh, with an installed capacity of 58,000t/yr. The project, estimated to cost US$23.8m, will be financed through US$15.2m in term loans and internal accruals, and is expected to be completed within 12 months. The company said the investment aligns with its growth strategy and responds to rising demand for fibre cement boards in the construction industry.

India: Vicat has appointed Gagandeep Singh Khehra as its Head of Production and Process at its subsidiaries in India.

Singh Khehra has worked in the cement industry since the mid-2000s. He began his career working for Binani Cement in 2007 before joining Holcim in 2010, holding production roles at its local subsidiary ACC. He eventually became the Head of Production at its Wadi plant, Karnataka in 2024. This role continued following the acquisition by Adani Group. Singh Khehra holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Punjab Technical University.