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Ukraine: Ukrcement, the Ukranian association of cement producers, has urged government agencies to be more effective in preventing sales of packaged cement. A study by Ukrcement with the NGO Union of Ukrainian Consumers has reportedly shown a rise in volumes of counterfeit product at large DIY retail chains.
"Ten samples [of packaged cement] were bought in several DIY supermarkets in Kyiv during the third phase of the project in early 2016. The conclusion is that the situation with counterfeit cement has been worsening. Violations have been revealed in all the chains," said Ukrcement CEO Roman Skylsky. "We insist on toughening oversight over the quality of cement programs and punishment for the sale of counterfeit products."
Italy: Italian economic development minister Federica Guidi is scheduled to meet with Bernd Scheifele, CEO of HeidelbergCement, to discuss its acquisition of Italcementi. The transaction has been closely followed by the minister since its announcement and Guidi had already met Scheifele in the early stages of the process, according to the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper. HeidelbergCement had asked for more time to complete competition requirements at the European level before this latest meeting.
Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has led demands that the government abolish the gas infrastructure development cess (tax) (GIDC) because it has made Pakistan-produced cement uncompetitive for export. APCMA chairman Mohammad Ali Tabba said that declining fuel prices, including liquefied natural gas in the international markets, had added to the situation, according to local press.
The Pakistan government enacted the Gas Infrastructural Development Act of 2011 thereby charging a cess or levy on all non-domestic gas consumers. However, the tax has been resisted legally since that time with tussles over whether back taxes should be collected or not.
Tabba also added that a recent increase on the import duty from 1% to 6% on coal should be reduced to zero.
Shree Cement prepares for 10Mt/yr expansion project 30 March 2016
India: Shree Cement has set aside US$905m to build three new integrated cement plants with a production capacity of 10Mt/yr. The first new plant in the line will have a production capacity of 3Mt/yr and will be situated in Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh. The Indian cement producer successfully bid for limestone deposits in Baloda Bazar in February 2016. The new plant will be announced by July 2016, according to the Business Standard newspaper.
“We will be bidding in at least 12 more limestone auctions and hope to win three to four of these. This will help us set up plants to increase our capacity,” said the Managing Director of Shree Cement, H M Bangur.
At present Shree Cement has a cement production capacity of 23.6Mt/yr from three clinker plants and six cement grinding plants in the states of Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. The expansion plans will be funded by the company’s internal accruals.
India: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved Anjani Portland Cement for a rights issue to raise US$11.3m. The proceeds from the offering will be used to build a 16MW coal-based captive power plant at one of the company's cement plants.
SEBI received draft documents for the rights issue on 30 December 2015 and issued its 'observations' on 23 March 2016. Issuance of 'observations' by SEBI is considered as a clearance to the issuer to go ahead with the share issues.