Displaying items by tag: India
India: ACC’s net profit after tax has risen by 26% year-on-year to US$69.3m in the first half of 2016 from US$55.1m in the same period in 2015. The cement producer’s sales revenue fell slightly to US$863m and its cement sales volumes rose by 3.8% to 12.48Mt from 12.02Mt. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim reported that it made an overall cost reduction of 9% in the second quarter of 2016 by optimising its fuel mix through higher rates of petcoke, by lowering costs of input materials such as slag, fly ash and gypsum and by improving its gypsum-mix optimisation.
India: LafargeHolcim has received the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to simplify its corporate structure. The transaction has already been approved by all other stakeholders, including independent directors, minority shareholders, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, stock exchanges and respective High Courts in India. LafargeHolcim is now awaiting formal communication from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in order to close the transaction.
Through intragroup restructuring, LafargeHolcim will increase its shareholding in Ambuja to 61.14%. Ambuja, in turn, will acquire LafargeHolcim’s 50.05% stake in ACC Limited.
The transaction will be effected through a merger of Holcim India Private Ltd. (HIPL), a wholly owned financial holding subsidiary, with Ambuja. In a two-stage deal, Ambuja will first acquire, through a purchase, a 24% stake in HIPL for a cash consideration of US$521m, followed by a stock merger between HIPL and Ambuja. As part of the merger, LafargeHolcim will receive 584 million new equity shares of Ambuja resulting in an increase of its ownership in Ambuja from the current 50.28% to 61.14%.
India: ACC has started commercial production at its 2.79Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Jamul, Chhattisgarh. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim also has two new cement grinding plants, one at Jamul and one at Sindri in Jharkhand. These are expected to be commissioned by the end of September 2016. The projects are planned to strengthen the cement producer’s consumer base in east India.
Rajesh Kapadia resigns from Prism Cement
20 July 2016India: Rajesh Kapadia has resigned from Prism Cement as its chairman and non-executive, non-independent director. The resignation takes immediate effect. Kapadia cited poor health for his decision.
Shree Cement completes upgrade in Rajasthan and announces plans to build grinding plant in Jharkhand
20 July 2016India: Shree Cement has completed the upgrade of a preheater on the clinker production line of Unit-I at its Beawar cement plant in Rajasthan. The clinker production capacity of the plant has now increased to 1.4Mt/yr from 1.1Mt/yr.
Meanwhile the cement producer has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Jharkhand to build a 2Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Sarai Kale Karasawa. The plant will have an investment cost of US$73m.
India: UltraTtech’s net sales have risen by 4% year-on-year to US$937m for the quarter that ended on 30 June 2016 from US$935m from the same period in 2015. Its net profit rose by 29% to US$116m from US$90m in the same period. During the quarter the cement producer has commissioned grinding plants at Nagpur in Maharashtra and Patliputra in Bihar. The company also confirmed that its acquisition of cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates is continuing.
Shree Cement wins coal contract in Chhattisgarh
19 July 2016India: Shree Cement has won its bid for a coal contract from South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) for 80,000t/yr. The cement producer will gain the supply from the New Kusmunda mine in Chhattisgarh for US$14/t. In May 2016 the company announced plans to build a 2.8Mt/yr clinker production line at its integrated cement plant in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The US$104m line, excluding land and other infrastructure costs, is set to be completed by March 2018.
Four workers injured at ACC cement plant in Sindri
18 July 2016India: Four contract workers have been injured by an explosion at an ACC cement plant in Sindri, Jharkhand. Sindri deputy superintendent of police Vikash Kumar Pandey told the Hindustan Times that a cylinder in the fine coal crusher plant exploded, probably due to extra pressure generated by the hot air generator attached to the crusher. The injured workers have been taken to Bokaro General Hospital where their conditions are said to be critical. ACC has stopped production at the plant to conduct a internal inquiry into the incident.
Kidnapped Indian cement workers released in Nigeria
18 July 2016Nigeria: Two Indian nationals working for Dangote Cement who were kidnapped at the end of June 2016 have been released. The workers were abducted from Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state while they were travelling to work. The External Affairs Ministry said in a statement that they believed that local criminals were involved and that there was no interaction with the terrorist group Boko Harem.
India: Officials in Jharkhand have said that the recently announced sale of Lafarge India to Nirma will require state approval to transfer land at the Jojobera cement plant. The East Singhbhum deputy commissioner, Amit Kumar, has been asked to calculate the revenue that the government stands to gain from such land transfer and its registry, according to the Hindustan Times. Previously, the district administration served a notice to Lafarge India on 10 October 2015 when Lafarge India was in talks with Birla Corporation regarding the sale of some of the same assets.
"It's mandatory to seek state government's prior approval for third-party transfer of leased land, in this case leased to Tata Steel. The district administration had informed this to the company, requesting it to seek government's approval," said KK Sone, the state land and revenue secretary. "It has to comply with the administration's notice. Any violation would draw administrative, civil as well as criminal actions."
The Jojobera plant was built on government land leased to Tata Steel. Tata Steel then signed a business transfer agreement for its Jojobera plant with Lafarge India in March 1999.