Monday, June 30, 2008

Indian cement industry now..

For India, the world's second largest producer of cement, the recent boom in infrastructure and the housing market has only boosted its cement industry. Add to that an increasing global demand and a flurry of activity in infrastructure projects – highways roads, bridges, ports and houses – has sparked off a spate of mergers and acquisitions in the sector. Furthermore, the country’s finance minister, P. Chidambaram, has stated that India would double spending on infrastructure over the next five years to sustain its record economic growth and modernise its infrastructure.

Cement companies are fast developing plants to provide for a rapidly expanding economy. The cement industry is therefore poised to add 111 million tonnes (mt) of annual capacity by the end of 2009-10 (FY 2010), riding on the back of approximately 141 outstanding cement projects.

According to a report by the ICRA Industry Monitor, the installed capacity is expected to increase to 186 mt per annum (mtpa) by the end of FY 2008, and 219 mtpa by end of FY 2009, and further up to 241 mtpa by FY 2010-end. As a result, India's cement industry will record an annual growth at 10 per cent in the coming years with higher domestic demand resulting in increased capacity utilisation.

Domestic Players

While the Cement Corporation of India, a Central public sector undertaking, comprises 10 units; the various State governments own 10 large cement plants. Among the leading domestic players in terms of cement manufacturing are: Ambuja Cement, Aditya Birla Group (which owns UltraTech Cement), ACC Ltd., Binani Cement, India Cements and J K Cement. They are not only the foremost producers of cement but also enjoy a high level of equity in the market.

Industrial production

The cement industry is enhancing its production levels as new homes and offices are being built, and in keeping with the economy’s annual growth rate. According to the Cement Manufacturers Association, the overall cement production rose by 8.11 per cent during 2007-08 to 168.29 million tonnes (mt) as against 155.66 mt in 2006-07.

In fact, the 16.37 mt produced by the domestic cement industry in March 2008 has been the highest ever by the industry in a single month.

* Cement production of ACC increased 5.58 per cent to 1.89 mt in March against 1.79 mt in the same period last year. Dispatches rose 4.91 per cent to 1.92 mt (1.83 mt)
* Ambuja Cements, another Holcim group company, reported 23 per cent rise in production to 1.77 mt (1.43 mt) in March, while dispatches were up 16 per cent to 1.72 mt (1.47 mt).
* The Aditya Birla group’s production went up 4.8 per cent during 2007-08 to 30.6 mt (29.24 mt), while dispatches increased 4.5 per cent to 30.55 mt (29.2 mt).
* India Cements recorded a 46 per cent growth in sales and posted a 99 per cent growth profit in the nine months ending December 2007.

see our cement manufacturing process here:- http://www.jklakshmi.com/manufacturing_process.html

Res :- ibef.org