Displaying items by tag: India
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.
Cement producers cross about Indian tax classification
13 November 2017India: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) says it is disappointed for the entire industry following the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s decision to retain cement in a higher tax rate. The GST Council has reduced the tax rate on a wide range of commonly used items, from chewing gum to detergents, to 18% from 28%, according to the Press Trust of India. However, cement, along with paints, has remained at the 28% rate, despite the expectations of the cement industry.
"The retention of the cement in the 28% GST bracket, along with luxury items such as washing machines and air conditioners is quite unfortunate," said CMA President Shailendra Chouksey. He added that cutting the tax rate of cement could have hastened the recovery of the industry from a current slow period.
Birla Corporation net profit drops sharply in first half
13 November 2017India: Birla Corporation’s net profit has fallen by 72% year-on-year to US$6.8m in the first half of its financial year to the end of September 2017 from US$24.4m in the same period in 2016. However, its sales revenue grew steeply by 37% to US$444m from US$325m. Sales volumes grew by 39% to 5.9Mt from 4.3Mt.
The cement producer said that despite ‘challenging’ markets it had increased its sales volumes and benefitted from synergies following its acquisition of Reliance Cement in mid-2016. It added that demand and prices were ‘seriously’ impacted in central India by a prolonged shortage of sand and aggregates, especially in Uttar Pradesh, which constitutes around 35% of the company’s sales. Prices were also down in the northern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and the National Capital Region due to poor demand.
India: Shree Cement’s sale revenue fell by 5.8% year-on-year to US$807m in the six months to the end of September 2017 from US$761m in the same period in 2016. Its profit fell by 18.4% to US$100m from US$123m. However, its sales and profit rose for its cement business and fell its power business.
Sanjeev Gemawat appointed company secretary of Dalmia Bharat
08 November 2017India: Dalmia Bharat has appointed Sanjeev Gemawat as its company secretary. He succeeds Nidhi Bisaria who has resigned. Gemawat has worked for Dalmia Bharat as an executive director (legal) since 2016. Previous to this he worked for DLF Group, JCB India and Modicorp amongst other companies. A trained accountant, he is a member of the Chartered Accountants of India.
Shree Cement wins coal auction in Chhattisgarh
02 November 2017India: Shree Cement has won a coal linkage auction in Chhattisgarh. The coal will be used at the company's captive power plant at its Raipur cement plant.
ICRA anticipates cement demand growth towards end of 2017 - 2018
31 October 2017India: ICRA is expecting cement demand is pick up in the fourth quarter of the 2017 – 2018 financial year following weak real estate activity, sand shortage and Goods and Service tax (GST) implementation issues in the first half of the year. In its October 2017 update the credit ratings agency said that demand was expected to benefit from the housing sector and road and irrigation projects in the infrastructure sector, according to the Press Trust of India. It added that the profitability of the industry depends on the industry’s ability to control prices given that higher input costs for fuel and freight are expected.
The credit ratings agency said that cement demand remained subdued across the country due to various local issues. In the North, especially in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the offtake had been impacted by a sand shortage and lack of labour. In the West the implementation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Bill resulted in construction activity slowing down. In the South, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were hit as demand was affected by the sand shortage, drought impacting rural offtake and weak housing activity. A recent ban on sand mining in Bihar is also likely to reduce sales volume growth in the eastern region in coming months.
UltraTech Cement’s blames profit drop on fuel prices
19 October 2017India: UltraTech Cement has blamed a drop in its profit on rising fuel prices. Its net profit fell by 31% year-on-year to US$65m in the second quarter of its financial year that ended on 30 September 2017, from US$94m in the same period in 2016.
Overall the cement producer’s sales revenue has risen by 6.5% year-on-year to US$2.28bn in the first six months of its 2017 – 2018 financial year from US$2.15bn in the same period in the 2016 – 2017 period. Its net profit fell by 5% to US$203m from US$214m. Its sales volumes of cement rose by 8% to 26.3Mt from 24.4Mt. It completed its acquisition of 21.2Mt/yr cement production capacity from Jaiprakash Associates in June 2017. However, no like-for-like financial figures have been released.