Displaying items by tag: JK Lakshmi Cement

India: The Supreme Court has been informed that the government is considering a ban on the use of petcoke by various industries. Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, representing the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told the court that a decision on the matter could be made within one month, according to the New Indian Express newspaper.

At present it is unclear whether the cement industry would be affected. However, if it was included in the ban, this potentially could be a problem for Shree Cement, which uses 100% petcoke in its fuels mix, according to India Infoline News Service. Additionally, UltraTech Cement, JK Cement, JK Lakshmi Cement and Mangalam Cement have petcoke usages in the range of 75 - 85% and would also be negatively affected.

India: The government has raised the import duty on petcoke to 10% from 2.5%. This follows the abolition of a ban on petcoke and furnace oil to the cement and power industries in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh by the Supreme Court, according to Reuters. The increase in import duty is expected to create a rise in coal imports as companies change their energy mix. Shree Cement, JK Cement, J K Lakshmi Cement, UltraTech Cement and Mangalam Cement are all expected to be particularly affected by the tariff change. India is the world’s biggest consumer of petcoke, with much of it imported from refineries in the US.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found seven cement companies guilty of bid rigging and cartelisation and imposed a total fine of nearly US$30m on them. The accused companies are Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC and JK Lakshmi Cement, according to the Times of India. The fines are based on 0.3% of each company’s average turnover for three financial years. Each company has also been ordered to cease and desist such behaviour.

The ruling relates to a tender floated by a Haryana state procurement agency in 2012 that the CCI started investigating in 2014. Evidence cited in the CCI’s order includes text messages and phone calls made between officials of the companies.

UltraTech Cement and Shree Cement have issued statements saying that they will appeal against the fine.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has received environment clearance to expand its limestone mine output in Sirohi, Rajasthan to 13Mt/yr from 8Mt/yr. The expansion will cost US$17.9m and the mined material will supply the cement producer’s Sirohi plant, according to the Press Trust of India.

Crushed limestone will be transported to the plant via a covered conveyor and no local transport infrastructure will be required for the proposed project. Water will be sourced from the West Banas dam. The company has a limestone mine lease area of 390.62 hectare. It is an opencast mine and the lease is valid up to 2030.

The mine expansion will subject to conditions, including acquiring any applicable clearances from the National Board for Wildlife and consent from the State Pollution Control Board. The company has also been asked to conduct hydro-geological study and to obtain the recommendations of Central Ground Water Authority.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has reported that its total income for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2016 rose by 14.8% year-on-year to US$398m from US$347m in the same period in the previous year. However, its net profit fell by 93% to US$9.3m from US$14.2m. For the fourth quarter of its financial year, the Indian cement producer reported that its net profit grew nearly eight times to US$7.2m from US$0.9m.

India: Shailendra Chouksey, a director of JK Lakshmi Cement, has been appointed as the new president of the Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA) for a two year term. He replaces OP Puranmalka, the managing director of Ultratech Cement. Previously Chouksey was the vice-president of the association.

"As the newly elected president of the CMA, my priority is to device methods to work with different stakeholders, including the government of India to spur the cement demand," said Chouksey.

Chouksey holds a PhD in managerial economics, an MBA in marketing from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and a post-graduate degree in physics. He has worked in the cement industry for nearly 40 years.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has commissioned a 1.7Mt/yr cement plant in Durg, Chhattisgarh at a cost of US$263m.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has posted a standalone net loss of US$2.27m for the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 September 2015, down from US$4.66m in the same period of its 2015 fiscal year, due to an additional burden of interest and depreciation cost on commissioning of the new Durg cement plant. Its standalone income rose by 13% year-on-year to US$98.2m during the quarter. The company said that its sales volume and prices were both impacted by subdued market conditions.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has gained approval to establish a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant with a 1000m³/day 10MW diesel generator (DG) set and autoclaved aerated concrete block unit in Kishanganj, Bihar for US$46.3m.

"Based on the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee, the Environment Ministry has given environmental clearance to JK Lakshmi Cement's proposed project in Bihar," said a senior Environment Ministry official.

The clearance was given with certain conditions. Among the conditions specified, JK Lakshmi Cement has been asked to develop a green belt in at least 33% of the area in and around the cement plant, as per the norms. The company has also been asked to install air monitoring devices, control secondary fugitive emissions and reduce the impact of transport of the raw materials and end products on the surrounding environment, among others.

JK Lakshmi Cement has more than 9Mt/yr of installed cement capacity in India. In the first quarter of its 2015-2016 fiscal year, the company reported a standalone net loss of US$3.62m due to the subdued market and higher costs, compared to a net profit of US$6.25m in the April - June period of the previous fiscal year.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has reported an 88.6% fall in its net profit to US$0.95m for the quarter that ended on 31 March 2015. Total income fell by 11.4% year-on-year to US$93.8m for quarter.
For the year that ended on 31 March 2015, JK Lakshmi Cement posted a 2.8% rise in its net profit to US$15m. Its total income surged by 11.2% to US$367m for the year and its net profit after tax grew by 9.65% year-on-year to US$16.2m.