CEE Jan-Mar 2012

February. The plant construction and erection of machinery were completed in June-July 2011. Courtesy: Konstruction Review, September 26, 2011, P9. CHElTINAD CEMENT TO COMMISSION CEMENT PLANT IN KARNATAKA Chennai-based Chettinad Cement will commission a 2.5 million-tonnes-a-year (Mtpa) cement plant in North Karnataka in the current year and has finalized plans to expand into Andhra Pradesh. The Karnataka unit will mark Chettinad Cement's geographical expansion outside Tamil Nadu and will give it market to reach into Maharashtra, where it plans to put up grinding unit of about 1.5 million-tonnes-a-year, according to M.A.M.R. Muthiah, MD, Chettinad. Muthiah said , the company has firm plans to expand its 11.50 Mtpa production capacity by about 15 million tonnes with 7.5 Mtpa each in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where it plans to launch its operations with and acquisition of a 1.5 Mtpa unit, apart from a greenfield cement plant. These expansions will happen by 2015, said Muthiah. In Andhra Pradesh, it has substantial limestone reserves following the merger of allied Minerals and Metals, a private unlisted company in 2010. It has acquired 650 acres is Guntur district where it plans to set up an in integrated cement with an annual production capacity of 3.5 Mtpa and a 100-MW captive plant. A 2 Mtpa grinding unit will be established in Visakhapatnam. The company has also entered into an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to facilitate the projects in which the company will invest over Rs 1, 500 crore. In Karnataka, the Rs 900- crore unit at Gulbarga will take its total production capacity to about 14 million tonnes in the current year. This unit will also feed a one million-tonnes-a-year grinding unit planned at Solapur. Maharashtra, which will expand the company's market reach. As of now, Chetti nad Cement has three units in Tamil Nadu in Karur, Dindigul and Ariyalur which are supported with captive thermal power capacity of 105 MW. An additional 30 MW is also coming up at the Dindigul plant, he said . Courtesy: Construction Industry Review, Feb. 13, 2012, P2. JK CEMENT TO SET UP PLANT IN UAE J K Cement has embarked on setting up a new cement factory in Fujarirah in UAE with an investment of $149.7 million. N. Gowrishankar, Vice President, JK Cement, said that the new plant would be constructed in the Emirate of Fujairah with an installed capacity of 600000 tonnes per annum for white cement, with the ability to switch operations to 1 million tonnes per annum of grey cement. The plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2013. Gowrishankar said that the new plant will help increase UAE's cement output and help the growing construction sector in the GCC, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar. According to CemNet research, with the completion and commissioning of the new plant, JK Cement forecasts to have a white cement capacity of 1Mta and the potential to become top five players in the while cement sector. The Middle East is estimated to be responsible for 16 per cent of global white cement demand. It has the highest per capita usage of 12.2 kg. The Gulf states in particular show a very high intensity of usage, with UAE consuming 45 kg per capita, Qatar 54kg , Kuwait 27 kg and Saudi Arabia 22.kg . Courtesy: Construction Industry Review, Jan.23, 2012, P10. JK LAKSHMI CEMENT TO DOUBLE CAPACITY, EYES ACQUISITION JK Lakshmi Cement plans to invest $386 million in the next financial year to set up new plants and expand production capacity by more than 100 per cent over the next two years to 12 million tonnes. The company also proposes to acquire cement companies in India and abroad to achieve its target. Indian cement companies are having a tough fiscal year as demand has slowed due to weaker construction activity while costs have continued to rise because of higher prices of fuel. However, cement demand is bound to increase once infrastructure spending by the government picks up, said Vinita Singhania MD, JK Lakshmi. At present the company has an installed capacity of 4.8 million tonnes across its two plants in India. The company is already in the process to expand this capacity to a 8 million 3