Displaying items by tag: Sri Lanka

Adani Group’s subsidiary Ambuja Cements signed a deal this week to buy Penna Cement for US$1.25bn. The agreement adds 14Mt/yr of cement production capacity to the group with a focus in the south of India. The acquisition is a big step towards the group’s target of reaching a capacity of 140Mt/yr by 2028. Ajay Kapur, the head of Ambuja Cements, also singled out the advantage the company hopes to gain from taking control of Penna Cement’s terminals saying that they would “prove to be a gamechanger by giving access to the eastern and southern parts of peninsular India.” The move is expected to increase the group’s market share in India by 2%, and by 8% in South India.

Penna Cement operates four integrated plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with a capacity of 7Mt/yr. Two of these units also include waste heat recovery installations and one has a captive power plant. It runs two grinding plants in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra with a capacity of 3Mt/yr. Another integrated plant is being built at Jodhpur in Rajasthan and a grinding plant at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Finally, the company owns four bulk cement terminals at Kolkata, Gopalpur, Karaikal and Kochi in India, one at Colombo in Sri Lanka and it also owns a 25,000t cement carrier.

Adani Group’s march towards that target of 140Mt/yr by 2028 started off in mid-2022 when it purchased Ambuja Cements and ACC from Holcim. This gave it a starting capacity of 68Mt/yr in the cement sector. Various smaller additions followed including new plants at Ametha and Dahej and the acquisitions of Asian Cement and Concrete, MyHome Industries and Sanghi Industries. The latter company was the biggest of these purchases. Once the in-progress projects from Penna Cement are built, Adani Group should have a capacity of 93Mt/yr. Another 20Mt/yr is reportedly at various stages of execution. The remaining 27Mt/yr is described as being ‘blueprint ready.’

Generally, the local financial press has been in favour of the transaction agreeing with the geographic advantages of Adani Group increasing its presence in the southern states. The benefits of the high number of railway sidings at Penna Cement’s plants were also commented upon as a means for Ambuja Cements to reduce its costs per tonne of cement. The logistics benefit from the port terminals is also expected by Adani Group’s chief financial officer to reduce the group’s logistics costs with an impact expected within the next year. However, it has been reported that Penna Cement’s operating performance had been weaker in the last financial year due to low sales volumes, poor operational efficiency and high coal costs. A takeover by Adani Group could certainly fix the latter two issues. Yet, it has also been reported that competition in the cement markets in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is up, due to a mismatch between supply and demand. So, improving Penna Cement’s capacity utilisation in these regions might be harder to solve than simply being absorbed into Adani Group.

India’s two largest cement producers both have plans in motion to mount up production capacity by the end of the decade in what has been dubbed ‘the battle of the billionaires.’ The market leader is UltraTech Cement and it has shown reluctance to cede ground to the cement newcomer Adani Group. The former company’s current target is to make it to just under 190Mt/yr by 2027. It said it had a capacity of 152Mt/yr in May 2024. It is ahead of Adani Group by this measure but there is still plenty of scope for surprises. Given the rivalry between the companies there is a regular stream of speculation about which of the smaller cement producers they might be about to buy at any given time. For example, in October 2023 HeidelbergCement India was rumoured to be courting offers from UltraTech Cement, Adani Group and JSW Cement. Last week, Adani Group was reportedly interested in buying either Saurashtra Cement, the cement business of Jaiprakash Associates, Vadraj Cement or… Penna Cement. Occasionally the rumours are true after all. UltraTech Cement remains in first place for now but the situation may change.

Sri Lanka: Switzerland-based SpectraFlow Analytics has received an order for a SpectraFlow Airslide analyser and raw mix proportioning software from Siam City Cement (Lanka). The equipment will analyse the composition of material exiting the raw materials mill at Siam City Cement (Lanka)’s Puttalam cement plant. The supplier says that this will help to increase kiln feed quality, lowering the chances of refractory problems and other causes of kiln stoppages.

SpectraFlow Analytics said “The ever increasing demand in cost savings and at the same time improving product quality led Siam City Cement (Lanka) to invest in the most advanced raw mill optimisation package available on the market.”

Sri Lanka: Praveen Gnanam has been appointed to the Board of Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) as a Non-Independent Director. He joined Tokyo Cement in 2012 as Special Projects Coordinator and was promoted to Head of Innovation Department in 2015.

Gnanam holds over a decade of experience in the hardware and construction materials industry as well as in renewable energy. Prior to joining Tokyo Cement, he worked in consulting for Los Angeles-based firm Innovation Protocol, and as a Research Analyst and a Brand Associate for clients such as eBay, PayPal and Republic Waste Management.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement (Lanka) has informed the Colombo Stock Exchange of an upcoming extraordinary general meeting of its shareholders. The meeting will decide whether to approve the sale of 10% of the company's shares.

Bangladesh: Cement producers and traders exported US$9.68m-worth of cement during the first nine months of the 2023 financial year. This corresponds to a year-on-year rise of 49% from US$6.51m during the first nine months of the 2022 financial year. The Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau is targeting full-year growth of 15% year-on-year to US$11m from US$9.57m. Maritime Gateway News has reported that MI Cement Factory contributed 50% of Bangladesh’s cement exports so far in the 2023 financial year.

Bangladesh’s main trade partners for its cement exports for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Sri Lanka: Bogala Graphite has launched its new cement-strengthening graphene oxide additive. Daily FT News has reported that potential investors will be able to discuss the new technology with Bogala Graphite at the forthcoming Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 exhibition later in February 2023.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement recorded sales of US$74.8m during the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, up by 25% year-on-year. Its cost of sales dropped by 2% to US$49.7m, while its profit for the period rose by 60% to US$2.35m.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Group has expressed its deepest condolences to the family of Ranjeevan Seevaratnam, a member of the company's board of directors, who died on 19 January 2023. Seevaratnam's board experience spanned multiple companies in the cement, activated carbon, agriculture, construction, consumer goods, engineering, rubber and transport industries. He held memberships in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Tokyo Cement described Seevaratnam as a 'visionary thought leader.'

Sri Lanka: INSEE Cement has appointed Jan Kunigk as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Nandana Ekanayake, who will continue as chair.

Kunigk became the cement producer’s Executive Vice President in 2017, and also worked as its Commercial Director. He previously worked as the Senior Vice President at Holcim Indonesia and has held project and strategy and roles for Holcim in Switzerland. Prior to this, he worked in management consulting. Kunigk holds a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Western Illinois University in the USA and a diploma in European Business Studies from Bamberg University in Germany.

Sri Lanka: INSEE Cement and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) have signed a memorandum (MoU) of understanding to extend their global biodiversity management partnership until 2026. Projects include quarry restoration, wildlife rescue and release and field surveys of the Koggala and Aruwakkalu mangrove restoration sites and Unawatuna manmade coral reef.

INSEE Cement's environment and corporate social responsibility manager Rohan Lakmal said "Biodiversity is one of the fundamental pillars of INSEE's Sustainability Ambition 2030. Our partnership with IUCN enables INSEE Cement to meet our own ambitious sustainability targets, while also creating more awareness of the general decline in Sri Lanka's biodiversity, and the urgency to do our part to conserve our natural habitats."