Displaying items by tag: Investment

India: Grasim Industries plans to invest up to US$870m in its cement business by the end of 2021. The subsidiary of Aditya Birla that also operates UltraTech Cement, wants to modernise its existing cement plants, carry out environmental upgrades and increase the production capacity of the units it acquired from Jaiprakash Associates, according to the Mint newspaper.

Aditya Birla Group’s chief financial officer Sushil Agarwal said that the company wants to increase the capacity utilisation rate of the former Jaiprakash Associates cement plants to over 85%, the standard level for the other UltraTech Cement plants. He added that on average cement plants in India have a capacity utilisation rate of 75%.

Egypt: A Saudi Arabian company plans to build a US$28m paper bag plant at Borg El-Arab in Alexandria. The plant will have three production lines including one exclusively for manufacturing cement bags, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. Ahmed Abdel Razek, head of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), said that the company plans to start production a year-and-a half after land for the unit is allocated.

Libya: German investors have met with the mayor of Al-Bayda to discuss building a cement plant in Cyrenaica. The proposed plant will have a production capacity of 4000t/day, according to the Libya Observer. The plant will be located south of Al-Bayda.

Kenya: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has committed US$96m to invest in National Cement towards upgrading a cement plant and building new grinding plants. National Cement’s chairman and chief shareholder Narendra Raval is also expected to invest US$102m into the expansion project, according to the Daily Nation newspaper. The company intends to build two grinding plants in Kenya and Uganda and a new 5500t/day clinker production line at its existing integrated plant in Merrueshi in Kenya. It also plans to build a 8MW captive power plant at Merrueshi.

Tunisia: China’s Anhui Conch plans to open an office in Tunis to explore investment opportunities. A delegation from the cement producer met with Slim Feriani, the Minister of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises, according to African Manager.

Egypt: Egypt Petroleum Technology (EGYPTCO) has received bids from US, Canadian and Saudi Arabian companies to finance two oil well cement production projects with a value of US$500m. An agreement is expected to be reached by mid-2018, according to the Egypt News Daily newspaper. The company is seeking to reopen an existing cement production line and build a new plant to produce both specialist cement and additives.

Egypt: France’s Vicat plans to invest Euro50m into its Sinai Cement subsidiary. Gianfranco Tantardini, the managing director of the local subsidiary, said that the cement producer wants to reduce the company’s losses by raising its stake in it, according to Mubasher. Vicat is waiting for the Egyptian government to approve a waiver to the 45% foreign ownership limits for the transaction to happen. In 2003 Vicat acquired a 40% stake in Sinai Cement.

Egypt: The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has not received any requests for 11 cement plants licenses offered since early 2017. Sources quoted by the Al-Mal newspaper reveal that despite eight local and foreign companies purchasing statements of work by the end of 2017, there has been little interest in the licences.

The IDA offered 14 cement licenses in 2016 to build plants or expand operations in nine governorates. Three licences were sold to SVC, Elsewedy Cement and Egyptian Cement respectively for US$28m in 2016. The remaining licences for Minya, Sohag, Qena, Aswan, New Valley, Matrouh, Suez and South Sinai were re-offered in 2017. Oversupply of cement in the country is estimated to be 30Mt/yr.

Nigeria: Danladi Matawal, the Director-General, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NIBRRI) said the institute’s pilot pozzolana cement plant at Ota in Ogun is ready for commercialisation. He has asked cement producers and other stakeholders to invest in the project, according to an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria reported upon by the Nigerian Sun newspaper.

The pilot project has a production capacity of 2t/day and it is ready for testing on an industrial scale. The unit was commissioned in May 2017 by Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology. NIBRRI is also planning a volcanic-based Pozzolana pilot plant in Bokos, Plateau that will be commissioned in 2018.

Liberia: The government is reviewing an Investment Incentive Agreement between the Government of Liberia and Dangote Cement Liberia worth over US$41m. The review by the House of Representatives follows a letter from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urging the legislature to ratify the agreement, according to the Daily Observer newspaper. The agreement covers a 15 year period whereby the Nigerian company will build and operate a 1000t/day cement grinding plant at Monrovia. The deal also includes the option to double the production capacity if the unit.