Displaying items by tag: India

India: Asian Cement Group has launched a new 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant at Rajpura in Punjab. The project had an investment of US$62m. The site will operate under the Duraton Cement brand.

The plant consists of a grinding mill with a roller press and a separator. The unit also uses a robotic laboratory from Demark’s FLSmidth to automate cement sampling, sample transportation, preparation and analysis.

The cement producer will launch its Prime WR variant product in March 2018. This product will be sold in vacuum-packed waterproof packaging. The first consignments from the plant have been sent to religious sites in Rajpura and Chandigarh. Subsequent rollout will target Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.

India: ACC and Ambuja Cements, the two Indian subsidiaries of LafargeHolcim, have put their merger plans on hold. ACC said that its board was of the opinion that there were ‘certain constraints’ blocking its merger plans, according to the Press Trust of India. However, it added that a merger was its ‘ultimate’ objective. Ambuja Cements made a similar statement. Both companies joined Holcim in 2005, before becoming part of LafargeHolcim in 2015.

India: Birla Corporation plans to launch its Perfect cement product across most of the country, except in the south. The brand was purchased by the cement producer in August 2016 when it acquired Reliance Cement, according to the Business Standard newspaper. The product launch is Birla’s first national rollout. Perfect brand cement is produced at the former Reliance Maihar plant in Madhya Pradesh. The cement producer is also planning to introduce a new variant of its Unique brand of premium cement, which will be sold in the northern region. This brand of slag cement is limited to its eastern market and is currently manufactured from the Durgapur plant in West Bengal.

India: Around 1500 villagers have protested against a cement plant that Ramco Cement plans to build in the Jaipur district of Odisha. The protestors have expressed fears that the plant will damage their crops, according to the Pioneer newspaper. A representative of the local government said that the project has already received environmental clearance.

India: LafargeHolcim plans to spend US$214m towards building a new cement plant in the state of Rajasthan. The 3.1Mt/yr plant will be operated by its local subsidiary, Ambuja Cement, and it will target markets in the north of the country, including Delhi. Commissioning for the plant is scheduled for the second half of 2020.

"India is the second biggest global cement market and is forecasted to continue to see high growth rates. We are excited to invest in this highly attractive market to further strengthen our footprint and to reinforce our leading building materials position in India," said Jan Jenisch, Group chief executive officer (CEO) of LafargeHolcim.

India: Ambuja Cements has benefited in 2017 as the impact of demonetisation and general sales tax eased. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim reported that its sales rose by 12% year-on-year to US$1.58bn in 2017 from US$1.41bn in 2016. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) rose by 14.9% to US$300m from US$261m. Its cement sales volumes rose by 8.7% to 23Mt from 21Mt.

“During the year, we focused on providing specific solutions to address customer needs, value offerings, particularly for the retail segment products, and made strong investments in building brand equity. Our strategy to focus on premium products, core markets and managing costs has delivered higher sales and EBITDA growth,” said Ajya Kapur, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ambuja Cements.

India: Dalmia Bharat Cement and UltraTech Cement have each submitted bids of around US$930m for Binani Cement. The amount also includes upfront cash payments, as well as an offer of close to 20% stake in Binani to lenders, according to sources quoted by the Hindustan Times. A winning bid is expected to be chosen by the end of February 2018.

Both bidders have been asked for additional details related to their bid to allow the creditors to make their final decision. UltraTech Cement, for example, has been asked to provide information on a Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalty imposed upon it in 2016.

India: The board of Mangalam Cement has approved plants to build a 11MW waste heat recovery unit at its Morak plant in Rajasthan. The subsidiary of BK Birla Group operates a single integrated plant.

India: Shree Cement has commissioned its new cement grinding unit at Bangur, Rohi Udaipur Udasar in Rajasthan. The plant has a grinding capacity of 3.60Mt/yr.

India: Birla Corporation has declared its results for the quarter and nine months that ended on 31 December 2017. The consolidated results include the financials of Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL), a wholly-owned material subsidiary of the Company.

The corporation made 3.06Mt in the third quarter, a 22% rise compared to the same period of 2016-2017. In the nine months to 31 December 2017 it produced 9.1Mt of cement, a 11.9% increase year-on-year. It despatched 3.04Mt of cement compared to 2.49Mt in the quarter and 8.98Mt in the nine month period, a 12% rise year-on-year.

In financial terms it took in US$215m in gross sales during the quarter, a 12.7% rise year-on-year. In the nine month period it took in US$667m, a 27.8% rise. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the three months were US$23.6m and for the nine months they were US$93.0m.