Displaying items by tag: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has added a fifth vessel, MV Mohar, to its fleet of cement transport ships in August 2015. The ship is a 22,000t pneumatic bulk cement carrier.

"Logistics is an integral part of our business and the increase in local demand has required us to enhance our capacities not just in transportation, but manufacturing and energy generation. We are always striving to improve our business performance because doing so is Tokyo Cement's contribution to building Sri Lanka and ensuring strong, sustainable development," said Tokyo Cement Group Managing Director S R Gnanam.

With a 1Mt/yr production capacity increase in Trincomalee, the new vessel will transport cement to the Colombo Port in order to distribute more efficiently. "The cement industry is often described as a barometer of a country's march to economic development and prosperity. What we are currently seeing is a surge in demand for products and services, which is a good indicator of market confidence. Over the last three decades, Tokyo Cement has built itself up to become one of Sri Lanka's most valuable brands, with an installed capacity of over 2Mt/yr of cement, over 600 employees and US$149m in assets. Our success reflects the continuing growth of Sri Lanka and its economy," said Gnanam.

Singapore/Sri Lanka: The Ceylon Institute of Builders has awarded Tokyo Super Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) with a 'Green Mark.'

The Green Mark is a Singaporean product label, accredited internationally by the Building Construction Authority (Singapore), the Green Building Council (Singapore), the Chartered Institute of Builders (UK), as well as locally by the Ceylon Institute of Builders, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Construction and the Central Environmental Authority. Tokyo Super PPC is the only cement brand with a sustainable accreditation and is frequently recommended by sustainable building consultants as, 'The highest quality product, with minimal environmental impact, on the market.'

Tokyo Super PPC was given the green accreditation for the following reasons:

- Its local manufacturing is powered by carbon-neutral biomass energy that is locally-generated with the repurposing of agricultural waste;
- It is a renewable energy project in compliance with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) standards and is awarded carbon credits annually;
- It uses coal fly ash from Norochcholai power plant, recycling locally-generated waste in a useful manner;
- It minimises the energy required in cement grinding by using fly ash;
- It minimises CO₂ emissions by substituting clinker with non-limestone based material, thereby reducing the energy requirement for kilning;
- It has International Certification in Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and Quality Management Systems (ISO 9000) and was the model from which local standards were set (SLS 1427);

Tokyo Super PPC, although less expensive than Ordinary Portland Cement, is not just the greener choice but also the stronger one. It offers as much as 10% higher strength after 98 days.

Sri Lanka: According to the Daily News (Sri Lanka), Lafarge Mahaweli Cement has concluded its health and safety month 2015, with a number of activities held at its plant premises in Colombo Port.

The theme of 2015's safety month, which was in line with Lafarge's global best practices on secure operations, was 'Keep Learning - Committed, Open, Uncompromising,' with special emphasis on zero accidents and a firm commitment towards engaging and caring for one another.

Like all key stakeholders of Lafarge Mahaweli, employees and their children were also given the opportunity to actively participate in the health and safety month by being part of the 'Good Practices and Safety at Home' internal competition, where their ideas on health and safety within the home were accepted and judged according to competition guidelines. The best ideas and concepts received special awards.

Sri Lanka: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited is increasing its exports to Sri Lanka through its channel partner M/s Smart Dragon Lanka Pvt Limited. With a total capacity of 20Mt/yr, Dalmia Cement has cement plants in southern and eastern India, making it a prominent manufacturer of cement in India.

Dalmia Cement currently supplies cement to the Sri Lankan market from its 3.5Mt/yr plant in Dalmiapuram, Trichy, Tamil Nadu. The plant has 21 silos, making it convenient to store many varieties of cement. It can also supply Sri Lanka from its 2.5Mt/yr plant in Kadappa, Andhra Pradesh. The plants use the ports of Tuticorin and Chennai in Tamil Nadu and the port of Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

"Dalmia Cement has been exporting cement to Sri Lanka since 2009. We wish to strengthen our bond and relationship with Sri Lanka by providing superior-quality cement, with a vision of becoming one of the leading exporters of cement to the country within the next three years," said R Sanjay, assistant executive director of institutional sales at Dalmia Cement.

Sri Lanka: Lafarge Mahaweli Cement is on schedule with its Savi Piyasa housing programme and has now partnered with nine leading brands in the construction sector and two commercial banks to add value to its technical assistance scheme for individual homebuilders.

Under its 'Building Better Cities' theme, Lafarge has helped many families around the world to have better, affordable housing facilities and hopes to provide decent housing to two million people worldwide by 2020.

In Sri Lanka, Lafarge has already provided architectural assistance to 220 families in the Western and Northern Province. With the intention of providing even better options for its Savi Piyasa clients, Lafarge has now entered into partnerships with several leading brands, enabling it to receive special discounts on a large variety of building materials such as steel, paints, glass, PVC pipes, etc. Moreover, Lafarge has tied up with commercial banks and microfinance institutions to provide their customers with easy access to loan facilities.

"We started this programme a year ago and we have been getting a lot of positive feedback. A package integrating architectural assistance, special discounts and financial facility has not been offered in Sri Lanka before, so I am confident that the individual homebuilders in the country will find interest in this turnkey solution," said Lafarge Mahaweli Cement managing director Anurag Kak.

Sri Lanka: Holcim Lanka has launched Ready Flow Plus, a blended ordinary Portland cement product. The cement producer says it offers high performance with strength, consistency and workability.

"In developing Ready Flow Plus, Holcim (Lanka) has gone one step further in shifting, from ordinary Portland cement that requires inputs such as clinker, to blended cement which scores high on sustainability and leaves a smaller environmental foot print," said Sanka Senaviratne, manager of industrial sales at Holcim (Lanka). The product is being targeted for the construction of high-rise buildings. Ready Flow Plus cement is already sold in other Asian countries.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) plans to invest US$50m on 1Mt/yr of additional production capacity to meet local demand.

The extra capacity will be via a new plant under a new subsidiary, Tokyo Eastern Cement. The project is expected to be implemented in the next two years. It will receive a five-year tax holiday and a tax rate of 12%. The project will be funded through internal funds and loans.

In its 2014 financial year, Tokyo Cement's revenue grew by 6% year-on-year, while its operating profit rose by 65%. Its current market share in Sri Lanka is 35%.

Sri Lanka/Japan: Japanese cement producers in Sri Lanka Tokyo Cement Lanka and Fuji Cement Lanka Limited have announced that they have merged under the terms of Section 242 (1) of the Companies Act No 7 of 2007. The merger to create Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) plc was completed on 13 March 2015.

Sri Lanka: Fuji Cement, one of the subsidiaries of Tokyo Cement, which functions as independent company, will go for a strategic merger as a single entity with effect from February 2015. Harsha Cabraal has become the new chairman of the company.

After the merger, the new entity will be named Tokyo Cement Company Lanka Plc. For the merger the companies will cancel the status capital and asset and liability of Fuji Cement and are now waiting for the Company Registrar's approval to go ahead with the merger.

Tokyo Cement (Lanka) plc is a Sri Lanka-based company engaged in the manufacturing and selling of cement and ready mixed concrete to the local market. Its product lines include Nippon Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Tokyo Super Ordinary Portland Cement, Tokyo Super Portland Pozzolana Cement and Tokyo Super Masonry Cement.

As of 31 March 2012, Tokyo Cement had four subsidiaries, namely Tokyo Super Cement Company Lanka (Pvt) Limited, Fuji Cement Company (Lanka) Limited, which were both engaged in manufacturing and selling cement; Tokyo Cement Power (Lanka) Limited, which was still in gestation stage and Tokyo Cement Colombo Terminal (Pvt) Limited, which was active in the import and distribution of cement.

Sri Lanka: W Christopher Fernando has been appointed as an executive director to the board of Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) with effect from 30 October 2014.

Fernando was appointed as Group General Manager of the company in 1991. He is also a director of Fuji Cement Company (Lanka), Tokyo Super Cement Company (Lanka), Tokyo Cement Colombo Terminal, Tokyo Cement Power (Lanka) and Tokyo Eastern Cement Company. He holds degrees in economics, is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants (FCMA), Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA) and an attorney-at-law.