Displaying items by tag: India
Shiva Cement gets nod for 200,000t/yr capacity expansion
20 August 2014India: Shiva Cement has received approval for an Interim Business Plan for a 200,000Mt/yr capacity expansion as proposed by the Project Management Committee (PMC). Shiva Cement's board of directors has also approved the project. Besides, the PMC has been authorised to take decisions for leasing, sale, disposal, or to deal with the idle fixed assets in the best interest of the Shiva Cement.
Reliance Cement to open two cement plants in Karnataka
19 August 2014India: Reliance Cement plans to set up a cement plant and raw material quarry in Sedam Taluk, Gulbarga District, as well as a 3Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Gowribidanur Taluk at a cost of US$114m.
As per the pre-feasibility report for the Sedam project, which was submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Reliance said that it will set up an integrated 5.5Mt/yr cement plant with 3.6Mt/yr clinker production capacity and a 75MW power plant. Reliance is also setting up a 5Mt/yr limestone mine in the Tilkur and Hebal Villages, both in Sedam Taluk. The project is expected to be completed in 24 months, once the Karnataka government has approved it. Reliance is awaiting the Terms of Reference (TOR) from the MoEF, for which it had applied on 7 April 2014.
The project cost is estimated to be US$428m for the Sedam cement plant. For mining activity, Reliance has placed the initial cost at US$52.5m. Reliance received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Department of Mines and Geology in Karnataka to mine on 9.29km2 at the Tilkur and Hebal villages. The mining activity in the leased area is scheduled to be for 5Mt/yr of limestone. The LoI was granted to Reliance cement on 30 July 2010.
India: Orient Cement, a CK Birla Group company, is in talks with cement companies to acquire a cement plant as part of a plan to triple its capacity from 5Mt/yr to 15Mt/yr by 2020.
"We are in strategic discussions with three players to acquire a cement plant with a capacity of up to 2Mt/yr," said Deepak Khetrapal, managing director and CEO of Orient Cement. He declined to name the companies, but added that the plant would be ideally located in Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.
The expansion plan also involves setting up greenfield cement plants and expanding existing facilities. Orient Cement has set up a 3Mt/yr greenfield plant in Gulbarga, Karnataka, which will become operational shortly. The company also plans to open another greenfield plant in the next five years, according to Khetrapal.
Orient Cement has outlined a capital expenditure of around US$444m for the expansion plan, to be funded through internal accruals and debt. Currently the company operates in Telangana and three regions of Maharashtra: Khandesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada. The expansion will give Orient Cement access to markets in Karnataka and central India.
India: As a result of poor demand and unremunerative prices, several cement companies in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have shut down plants or are running them on a campaign basis. Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have nearly 25% of India's limestone reserves.
"Demand continues to be weak, but prices have started to improve now as manufacturers have decided not to sell below cost," said one unnamed cement producer. "Several plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have shut down or are in the process of a sale."
Among the plants that have shut down their operations temporarily is the Panyam Cements' 0.4Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh. "We had shut our plant due to internal financial issues, but that has been sorted out and the plant restarted 10 days ago," said a Panyam spokesperson. Bheema Coromandel, which has a 1.2Mt/yr plant near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh is only running its plant for 'token' production, according to local sources.
"There is practically no demand in South India," said N Srinivasan, vice chairman and managing director of India Cements. "The negative growth in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana has continued for far too long." India Cements has reported a US$493,340 net loss for the quarter that ended on 30 June 2014.
Cement production capacity in the south of India is around 110Mt/yr, while demand is only 70Mt/yr. Consequently, existing cement makers have trimmed their capacity utilisation to around 65% and are holding on to prices to ensure there are no losses.
"There are expectations of improvements in the sentiment with the new Union Budget proposals for reviving growth, stepping up investments in infrastructure and housing," said Srinivasan. "The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has also raised hopes for renewed economic activity under the new governments in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana."
Wonder Cement orders further MPS mills from Gebr. Pfeiffer
14 August 2014India: Wonder Cement, based in Rajasthan, India has placed another order with Germany's Gebr. Pfeiffer SE for the supply of raw meal and coal mills to India. The order was awarded to Gebr. Pfeiffer following positive experiences with identical mills that already operate at Wonder Cement's plant.
Active in the lime and cement industries Wonder Cement is planning to extend its cement plant in Tehsil Nimbahera in the Chittorgarh District. A rotary kiln with a capacity of an approximate 8500t/day will be supplied by the raw mill and coal mill ordered from Gebr. Pfeiffer.
The MPS 5600 B to be installed for the production of 605t/hr of raw meal with a fineness of 1.5% residue on the 212µm sieve will be equipped with a 5600kW drive. The coal mill will be produced on an MPS 3070 BK with a capacity of 40t/hr with a product fineness of 2% residue on the 90µm sieve. Due to the high abrasiveness of Indian coal, the mill will be equipped with adapted wear protection
Harish Badami appointed as CEO and managing director at ACC
20 August 2014India: Harish Badami has taken over as CEO and managing director of ACC effective from 13 August 2014. The former CEO and managing director, Kuldip Kaura, left his position on the same date. The board of ACC, in which Holcim has a majority stake, had approved Badami's appointment in June 2014.
Immediately before joining ACC on 1 August 2014, Badami had served as managing director of Celanese India. He has held similar positions of president and managing director of Dow Chemical India, as well as managing director of Rohm and Haas India, before its acquisition in 2009 by Dow Chemical.
India: Orient Cement has appointed Sushil Gupta as chief financial officer following a meeting of its board of directors. Other appointments included Rahul Deshmukh as chief operating officer and S K Pandey as plant head of Devapur.
Holcim India fined US$11m for tax evasion
11 August 2014India: Delhi Government's Revenue Department has fined Holcim India US$11m for evasion of stamp duty. It also directed the company to pay stamp duty of US$36m and a penalty of US$11m within 30 days for violation of stamp duty. Collector of Stamps (HQ) Lalit Mohan told local media that Holcim India had violated the payment of stamp duty with the merger of Ambuja Cement.
"The stamp duty on the merger order is payable at the rate of 3% on the total amount of US$1.2bn which comes out to be US$36m... The company is required to adjudicate or pay stamp duty within a period of one month which it failed to do," said Lalit Mohan in the order.
In its submission to the Revenue Department, Holcim India stated that there was no transfer of movable and immovable assets from transferor company (Ambuja Cement) with transferee company (Holcim) except shares held by transferor company in other companies have been transferred to transferee company. Subsequently the company did not see itself as liable for stamp duty.
Ultratech allocates cash for expansion drive
07 August 2014India: Ultratech Cement has announced that it has earmarked US$1.14bn of capital expenditure (capex) towards expansion projects over the next three years.
"Our capex for the 2015 fiscal year is expected to be US$618m, for the 2016 fiscal year we will spend US$497m and for the 2017 fiscal year we will spend US$33.3m," said UltraTech Cement's Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla at the company's recent Annual General Meeting. The producer currently claims a total cement capacity of 62Mt/yr. "By early 2016, we expect this to scale up to 70Mt/yr when all ongoing projects will be fully commissioned. A judicious mix of internal accruals and borrowings have been used for funding the projects," Birla said.
Speaking about recent acquisitions, Birla said, "The acquisition of the 4.8Mt/yr Gujarat Cement Units from Jaypee Cement Corporation at a cost of US$620m represents a milestone in UltraTech's growth strategy, strengthening its foothold in the growing western market and bolstering its coastal footprint."
JK Cement’s director dies
06 August 2014India: The director of JK Cement, Shri Jagendra Swarup, passed away on 30 July 2014. His replacement is expected to be announced shortly.