Displaying items by tag: India
Shree Cement starts kiln at Baloda Bazar plant
15 December 2017India: Shree Cement has started up the kiln at its new 2.6Mt/yr Baloda Bazar plant near Raipur in Chhattisgarh. The unit is part of a US$900m investment plant to build three new plants with a total production capacity of 10Mt/yr.
ABB India wins order from Emami Cement
14 December 2017India: ABB India has won an order from Emami Cement for an automation and electrical system for a new 2Mt/yr plant in Odisha. ABB will be undertaking complete project implementation including supply, erection, testing and commissioning for the electrical distribution and distributed control system (DCS), according to the Press Trust of India. The 800xA DCS is intended to help monitor, control and optimise the cement manufacturing process while maximising plant uptime.
Supreme Court lifts ban on petcoke and furnace oil by cement industry in northern states of India
14 December 2017India: The Supreme Court has lifted a ban on petcoke and furnace oil to the cement and power industries in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The court also directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to set regulations for the sale of petcoke and fix emission standards for thermal power plants, according to the Indo-Asian News Service agency. Representatives of the cement industry have welcomed the ruling. The Central Pollution Control Board and the MEF issued the ban following a directive from the Supreme Court in late October 2017 prohibiting industries in the three neighbouring states of Delhi from using the polluting fuels.
UltraTech Cement to build US$287m plant in Rajasthan
11 December 2017India: UltraTech Cement plans to build a US$287m plant at Pali in Rajasthan. The 3.5Mt/yr unit is expected to commence operation by June 2020. The cement producer said that the plant is being set up in one of the fastest growing markets in the country and highest cement consuming states in the North Zone of the country. It added that the plant will serve markets in western Rajasthan where the company does not have a ‘significant’ presence.
Dalmia Bharat to bid for Binani Cement
06 December 2017India: Dalmia Bharat Cement has made an agreement with the Piramal Bain Resurgence Fund to jointly bid for Binani Cement. The deal will see the two companies make an offer for Binani’s two plant in Rajasthan, according to the Economic Times newspaper. Binani Cement has debts of US$530m and the potential buyers are aiming to pay around US$930m. Binani Cement became insolvent following a US$110m royalty payment to state government for its limestone quarries. Other Indian cement producers, including Ultratech Cement, Shree Cement, Nirma, JSW cement and My Home Industries, have expressed interest in the cement producer.
Indian ministry considers exemption for cement plants from petcoke and furnace oil ban
05 December 2017India: The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MEF) is considering exempting cement plants and power companies from a ban on using petcoke and furnace oil for industrial use in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Additional solicitor general A Nadkarni informed the Supreme Court that the use of petcoke in the cement industry was ‘minuscule,’ for non-fuel purposes and that it is used for de-sulphuring, according to the Hindustan Times. However, the exemption, if granted, will only be allowed for one year to allow cement companies to switch to alternative fuels.
The Central Pollution Control Board and the MEF issued the ban following a directive from the Supreme Court in late October 2017 prohibiting industries in the three neighbouring states of Delhi from using the polluting fuels. Use of petcoke and furnace oil is already banned in the capital region. The ban was imposed following high pollution levels in Delhi.
Consolidation gathering pace in India
22 November 2017India’s Economic Times (ET) has run a story today that really illustrates the heart of the current oversupply issues surrounding the cement sector in India. It reports that Binani Cement, one of the country’s many medium-sized domestic players, is circling the drain ahead of full bankruptcy proceedings. According to ‘senior officials,’ who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the company has already attracted interest from LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and CRH, as well as a plethora of domestic players. There are a total of 15 interested parties so far: the three multinationals, nine domestic cement producers and three investment firms.
With 11.3Mt/yr of capacity, Binani Cement is not a small player by international standards. Unusually for an Indian producer, it even has capacity elsewhere, in China and Dubai. It is part of the larger BRAJ Binani Group, which is involved in glass fibre, energy, IT and more. The fact that the cement company is now up for sale really underscores the extent to which India doesn’t need the 100Mt/yr of extra capacity that was highlighted by the Cement Manufacturers Association in September 2017. India could lose 10 Binani Cements overnight and still have enough capacity to meet domestic demand!
Binani’s issues are, at least in part, geographic. It has assets exclusively in the north of India, which has seen weakened homebuilding and infrastructure activities since the implementation of the government’s demonetisation policy, as well as the highest impacts from rising imported fossil fuel prices. The implementation of India’s new Goods and Services Tax (GST), which has increased cement prices, has not helped. The bulk of Binani’s operations are in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, both states far from the coast. When even UltraTech Cement’s profit is down, the squeeze for some smaller producers is becoming too much. On its own Binani cannot handle the heat, but its assets would certainly make a nice addition for a larger player.
In this way, the consolidating Indian cement sector represents a microcosm of the global situation. Binani’s troubles highlight how much better large companies are at spreading the risks of operating in different markets. As discussed in our forthcoming December 2017 issue, the advantages of being a multinational player with a large number of geographical markets appears to be gradually returning once again, with smaller regional players once again suffering from geographical disadvantages.
Of course, in an environment ripe for consolidation it is very interesting to note that CRH is among the international players linked to Binani. It clearly wants the benefits of being a fully-fledged multinational and is going full-steam ahead to get there. It has spent Euro1.34bn on 27 acquisitions of various sizes in 2017, most notably the on-going purchase of Ash Grove Cement in the US. It is making a strong case to purchase PPC in Africa and a larger Indian base makes sense for the company in the longer term. It lost out on Lafarge India’s assets to Nirma in 2016.
We can be sure that the pace of mergers and acquisitions will continue to grow in the rest of 2017 and into 2018 in India and elsewhere. Would you bet against CRH pulling off an Ash Grove, PPC and Binani ‘triple?’ With the group finance director Senan Murphy stating that there was additional room for expansion in 2018, its intent certainly can’t be faulted.
CRH, LafargeHolcim and HeidelbergCement among 15 firms interested in bankrupt Binani
22 November 2017India: As many as 15 companies have shown interest in Binani Cement, which is facing bankruptcy proceeding from its lenders, according to senior officials quoted by India’s The Economic Times. Among them are Ireland-based CRH, Swiss-based LafargeHolcim and Germany’s HeidelbergCement, each of which have shown interest in response to initial bids called by the resolution professional. Other bidders include local firms India Cement, Orient Cement, Ramco Cement, Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement and Piramals. Senior officials said that a total of nine domestic players and three financial investors have shown interest in the company.
The bidders will provide a binding bid with a detailed resolution plan, which would involve acquiring equity and recasting the debt, by 22 December 2017. The bidders will have to provide plans to either acquire the company fully or acquire its assets only. Binani has a manufacturing capacity of 11.3Mt/yr, with integrated plants in India and China and grinding units in Dubai, UAE.
India: The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has recommended that Jammu & Kashmir Cements’ plant at Khrew, Pampore for causing ‘major pollution.’ However, the state government has given the state-owned cement producer time to stay open while it installs dust control upgrades, according to the Kashmir Monitor newspaper. The company employs around 1000 workers and the government is concerned about the disruption that shutting the plant would cause.
JSW Cement starts work on cement grinding plant in Odisha
16 November 2017India: Shri Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, has laid the foundation stone for a 1.2Mt/yr cement grinding plant that JSW Cement is building at Kalinganagar in Jajpur. The plant is scheduled to start operations in 2018, according to the Orissa Diary. Once the unit is commissioned the cement producer has plans to double its production capacity to 2.4Mt/yr.