Displaying items by tag: India

India: Cement consumption in India fell for the first time in nearly 20 years in the three months to 30 June 2011, with a political impasse in large consumer states holding up infrastructure and realty projects. Demand fell by 0.68% during the period compared with the corresponding period in 2010 but demand changes were different depending on location. In Andhra Pradesh, demand contracted by 21% and in Karnataka it was down by 8.04%, according to data from Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA).

Elsewhere, demand was down by 2% in June 2011 in Kerala and in Tamil Nadu, it was down by 1.9%. In comparison Gujarat saw cement demand grow by 4.9%, but growth was less strong than the same period of 2010, when 15% cement demand growth was seen.

The demand for cement is not assisted by problems that are expected to hinder government's proposed USD107bn investment in state road development during the 12th Plan period. The government has cited a lack of capacity in the private sector to make large investments, political sensitivity surrounding road-tolling, land acquisition disputes (which have caused a slow-down and resentment from locals at the site of the Formula 1 circuit site in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh) and a shortage of trained manpower as key problem-areas that may hamper the execution of the programme, due to start in 2012.

It is estimated that because of these problems, around 80% of the cost of the proposed investment will have to be met by public funds. The plan includes the construction of over 30,000km of new dual-carriageways, 5000km of four-lane highways and another 41,500km of single-track roads that are due for restructuring. The plan stipulates that the roads will be finished with either cement-based finishes or asphalt.

India: Grace Construction Products, an operating segment of W R Grace & Company has started manufacturing from a new facility near Delhi, India. Development at the site, which manufactures cement additives as well as concrete admixtures that are sold to cement producers in northern India, is part of Grace's ongoing growth strategy to invest in emerging regions.

Grace's cement additives help cement producers to improve grinding efficiency and overall cement quality, helping to build stronger structures in more energy-efficient ways, which helps to reduce manufacturing costs. In the past India has had issues with sub-standard cement and concrete products, including the much-publicised collapse of a bridge in New Delhi at the Commonwealth Games site in 2010.

The new facility is the most recent addition in a series of emerging market investments in the construction industry for Grace. The company has opened similar facilities in China, Colombia, Panama, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam since 2010.

"We continue to invest in emerging economies in order to meet our customers' needs," said Andrew Bonham, President of Grace Construction Products. "The new facility will allow us to enhance service and delivery times to our customers in Northern India."

The manager at the new plant, Ajay Kapoor said, "Our number one priority is to provide a safe environment and safe practices at the site. We must ensure our company culture extends throughout all our facilities from safety to product quality to community outreach."

India: Madras Cement is planning to pump in around USD34m on expansion and power projects at its three cement plants in southern Indian city of Tamil Nadu. As per the company's 2010-11 annual report, it has plans to invest USD13.6m in the installation of a roller press at its R R Nagar power plant for expanding the cement grinding capacity to 260t/hr from the current level of 210t/hr. The planned project will start commissioning in March 2012. Apart from the roller press, the company is looking to install a 25MW thermal power plant at the same plant at an estimated cost of USD25m.

Madras will also install a roller press and a heavy fuel oil-based power generator of 5MW at its Salem grinding unit with a projected investment of USD25m and USD5.2m respectively. In addition to the expansion of the production capacity at its Ariyalur plant, Madras is looking to build up a second facility with a capacity of 2Mt/yr, which is to be commissioned in August 2011.

India/Bangladesh: Khaitan & Co has won Supreme Court (SC) approval for French cement company Lafarge to mine limestone in India's north-eastern region in a landmark ruling that will likely set the tone for future reforms in environmental governance. Khaitan & Co litigation partner Sanjeev Kapoor instructed senior advocates for the company, which had commenced mining activity in Meghalaya as a French-Spanish joint venture Lafarge Umiam Mining.

Lafarge successfully defended allegations of fraud and wilful concealment of the facts while contesting the case after 2010's prohibition from mining in the area. The company's project involved sending limestone across the Indo-Bangladesh border on a conveyor belt as raw material for its cement plant in Bangladesh.

"This is a landmark judgement in the context of the environment and mining, especially for projects involving use of forest land for non-forest purposes. The judgement dwells deep into many areas that were until today untouched by any judicial interpretation," said Khaitan & Co. in a statement.

The SC forest bench has upheld the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), which had granted revised environmental clearance, site clearance and stage-1 forest clearance to Lafarge. The bench, comprising chief justice S H Kapadia and justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan dismissed the petition of 21 tribal activists under Shella Action Committee opposing Lafarge's mining activity in the forest region. The court took into consideration the principles of economic sustainability and environmental viability while laying down significant guidelines such as appointment of a 'National Regulator' to appraise projects, enforce environmental conditions and to impose penalties on polluters.

The court held that, "The word 'development' is a relative term. One cannot assume that the tribals are not aware of principles of conservation of forest. In the present case we are satisfied that limestone mining has been going on for centuries in the area and that it is an activity that is intertwined with the culture and the unique land holding and tenure system of the Nongtrai Village. On the facts of this case, we are satisfied with due diligence exercise undertaken by MoEF in the matter of forest diversion."

India: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 13 June 2011 for the disposal of plastic waste between the Department of Environment, Government of Goa, and ACC's Wadi Cement plant. The MoU was signed by Michael D' Souza and M Sai Ramesh from ACC in the presence of Minister for Environment Aleixo Sequeira.

The MoU envisages establishing a collection and segregation mechanism for plastic waste from non-biodegradable solid waste for disposal through co-processing at the plant. It will be valid for a term of three years from the date of execution with an option of renewal by mutual consent on agreed terms and conditions. ACC will provide the services free of cost to the Department of Environment and to the state government.

India: India Cement Ltd announced its standalone and consolidated annual results for the year ending 31 March 2011 on 30 May 2011.The company registered a decline in its net sales by 7.17% to US$778.9m for the year ended 31 March 2011 from US$839.1m registered in the previous fiscal year. Total expenditure (excluding depreciation) increased by 4.15% and for the 2011 fiscal year it stood at US$682.4m, up from US$6.552m. The rise in expenditure was attributed to increases in power and fuel charges. In line with this company posted a net profit of US$15.15m, down from US$78.83m in the preivous fiscal year, a tremendous decline of nearly 81%.

The cement industry, which recorded impressive double-digit growth in the last four years, entered a phase of decelleration with the demand slackening during the year under review and registered a growth of 'only' 4.7%. An analysis of the demand reveals that while the growth in the west of India was 11.7% followed by the east at 10.3%, the central region at 9.7% and the north at 3.1%, the south registered a contraction of 3.4%. Within the south, Andhra Pradesh registered a significant decline of 17.1% in demand. With substantial increase in the capacity in the southern region, this negative growth had put pressure on cement prices, which reached their lowest level in the past five years during the second quarter of the period under review.

Over all capacity utilisation for the industry fell to 76% and in the south capacity utilisation was at just 66%.