Cement Energy and Environment

( GREEN FIELD PLANTS & EXPANSION EQUIPMENT ORDERS FROM CEMENT SECTOR REMAIN SLUGGI~~ For the past few months, equipment suppliers have failed to see any major order inflow from cement companies in the country. Even though cement demand remains sluggish and prices continue to remain under pressure, some players are confident that the order inflow from the sector would be healthy enough going forward. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch research note on the cement sector noted, 'We met with the CEO of a dominant cement equipment vendor. Our discussions indicate that orders for new cement capacity during first half of calendar 2011 should not reflect any major slowdown despite recent demand jitters. The cement industry's new orders for calendar 2011 are expected to total 20-23 million tonne which is the same level as CY08 and CY1 0. CY09 was half this level due to the aftermath of the global credit crisis." The note also raises concerns on the expected new orders to be placed in this calendar year. "In our view, this does not augur well for the industry's long-term return outlook given the already high overcapacity levels," Reena Verma Bhasin wrote in the note. According to Alchemy cement monitor update released this month , no major fresh orders had been placed since November last year. An analyst from a domestic brokerage firm said , "Not much ordering activity has been witnessed in the past few months this year and not much is expected in the next few months as well. Our checks with equipment suppliers point out order inflows have dried up." According to The Bank of America Meryll Lynch note, "The strong order book for new capacity is mostly driven by family-owned cement companies. Global cement majors present in India appear to be relatively cautious in their capex plans as recent events may have increased nervousness about social stability in India." Ultratech, one of the major players which has announced expansion plans, aims to increase capacity by around 9.2 million tonne per annum by early FY14. The company has already placed orders for the required major equipment for the planned expansion, it said in a recent statement. New entrant Reliance Cementation has reportedly issued a letter of Intent (Lol) for its plant equipment at Satna-1 unit. Ambuja Cements is another company which has announced plans to set up a cement plant of 2.2 million tonne capacity in Rajasthan . Courtesy: DNA, Mumbai, July 9, 2011 CENTURY PLY TO INVEST RS 1,630 CR FOR NEW CEMENT, PL v\11'1"\l")r sl"\,.. RD ••"JITS Century Plyboards India Ltd (CPIL) has planned Rs 1,630 crore investments for setting up new cement, plywood, particle board as well as fibre board facilities. Mr Sajjan Bhajanka, Managing Director of CPIL, told Business Line on Sunday that the company's 70 per cent– owned, unlisted subsidiary Cement Manufac!_uring Co Ltd (CMCL) was putting up a new 1.75 million tonnes (mt) fresh clinker capacity at Lumshnong in Meghalaya through its subsidiary Star Meghalaya Cement Ltd. It is also setting up a clinker grinding unit of 1.6 mt at Guwahati in Assam. It has planned to build a new 1.6 mt grinding facility at Kahalgaon in Bihar. All these would take the cement capacity of CMCL to 4.4 mt from current 1.2 mt a year at an investment of Rs 1,100 crore. Long-term borrowings from six banks worth Rs 745 crore have already been tied up. "We have planned to mop up additional resources worth between Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 crore through placement of CMCL shares to a private equity firm for these projects. The balance amount would be funded through our internal accruals, " Mr Bhajanka added. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, Kolkata, July 11, 2011 JAMMU AND KASHMIR CEMENTS TO DOUBLE CAPACITY TO 1200 TONNES A l' v In an effort to bridge the huge gap between demand and supply of cement , state owned Jammu and Kashmir Cements Ltd is all set to double its production .capacity from 600 tonnes a day shortly. "The production capacity of the cement plant at Khrew, in Pulwama district of South Kashmir, is being increased from 600 tonnes a day to 1,200 tonnes to bridge the huge gap between demand and supply of 3