Sanghipuram, May, 11 (EPC News): Sanghi Industries Ltd, a largest cement manufacturing company has outlined plans to increase its Sanghipuram facility in Gujarat by one million tonne, taking the total capacity to 3.6 million tonne. The company will invest around Rs120 crore for the proposed expansion.

Says Alok Sanghi, Director, Sanghi Cement, "The investment in the expansion plan will be through internal accruals."

In its process, the company will be debottlenecking some of the equipment for addition of one million tonne. The company proposes to commission the project in 18 month’s bout.

“We will be focusing on logistics, energy conservation and setting up cement distribution terminal as its a cost saving process,"  he said.

Besides manufacturing OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) and CPC (Calcium Phosphate Cement) grades of cement, the company is projecting for a special grade of cement in the near future.

By Jeyson Nadar

New Delhi, Apr, 30 (EPC News): The prices of cement have started to dip by 2% (approx.) per bag across India since April 2012.

CLSA in its survey stated that the cement prices have started to weaken across India. The dealers expect a further fall in price as the demand is being hit by sluggish construction activity. 

The outlook for the sector is mixed, with demand expected to rise 7-8% as construction picks up on the back of falling interest rates.

EPC News Bureau

Lucknow, Apr, 3 (EPC News): Owing to shut down of a unit of one of the largest cement company, Prism Cements in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, the cement supply to various states has cut to a larger extend. This cause has almost elevated the cement cost nearly to 50%.

The cost of a 50 kg cement bag rose to Rs385 which was Rs250 two months back, according to a cement stockist in Patna.

Prism, which holds a significant share in Bihar market with capacity of 5.6 million tonnes a year, said, “Clinker production in Unit II at Satna will be temporarily suspended as there has been damage to the blending silo. But the cement production and dispatches shall continue soon.”

The eastern states which are heavily relying on Satna for all their cement needs are now battling with the unexpected rise in cement prices.

The state's deputy chief minister and finance minister Sushil Modi says cement demand is at an all-time high because of the flurry of construction activity and infrastructure projects across the state, which is gaining pace now.

Utilising this opportunity, the Prism’s competitors, ACC and Ultratech, which have units close to Bihar, especially in Satna belt, have shifted focus to this market.

The prices are also likely to stay firm as there is slow pace in capacity additions across India, which is coinciding with peaking of interest rates and improvement in demand from housing segment, said Emkay Global analyst Ajit Motwani.

"Typically, the November-May period is considered to be the peak season for cement consumption before it slows down in monsoon," he adds.

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, Apr, 03 (EPC News):Leading cement makers ACC Ltd announced that it sold 2.34 million tonnes cement in March, estimation show a 7.3% increase over the same month last year.

In the January-March period of 2012, sales of the company stood at 6.72 million tonnes compared to 6.22 million tonnes in the same period last year.

The production during the period under review stood at 6.70 million tonnes against 6.20 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

EPC News Bureau

New Delhi, Mar, 29 (EPC News):India’s leading cement manufacturer, ACC, will invest Rs3,300 crore over three years to increase its capacity by 16%, to 35 million tonnes per annum from current 30 mtpa.

The company would source the entire funding for expansion from internal accruals said, Kuldip Kaura, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.

The company proposes to develop four coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh and one in West Bengal to secure its raw material requirements, Kaura added without giving details on the proposed investment.

According officials, ACC will set up cement production facility of 4 mtpa and a 2.79-mtpa clinker production facility at Jamul in Chattisgarh. Whilst, the company will phase out the existing clinkering and grinding line at Jamul.

Apart from that, the company is also planning to build two grinding facilities at Sindri in Jharkhand and Kharagpur in West Bengal.

EPC News Bureau 

Mumbai, Mar, 21 (EPC News): French cement maker Lafarge has announced that the four greenfield projects of the company is in different stages of progress but decline to give timeline for the same. The four greenfield projects will come up in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Himachal.

The company also said that, it has achieved 8 MT cement manufacturing capacity in India and has increased its manufacturing capacity from 605 MT in FY 10 to 8 MT currently.

EPC News Bureau 

Mumbai, Mar 3 (EPC News): ACC reported February cement production of 2.14 million tonnes, up by 9% from the 1.97 million tonnes last February. The company also reported its dispatches which accounted for 2.15 million tonnes, compared with 2.00 million tonnes, an increase of 8%. 

For the first two months of this calendar year, the cement production stood at 4.40 million tonnes, compared with 4.03 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year, an increase of nine percent, while cement despatches were 4.38 million tonnes, up by eight percent from the 4.04 million tonnes in January-February last year.

EPC News Bureau 

Mumbai, Feb 22 (EPC News): ABG Cement is planning to construct a captive cargo handling jetty in Surat, Gujarat. According to the officials from ABG, the capacity of the jetty will be around 4.95 MTPA. 

The company has already submitted the required document in the Gujarat SEIAA meeting held in December 2011. The company refused to divulge any financial details about the project as its still in planning stage. 

EPC News Bureau