Cement price may go up by 1-2% in November: Crisil Research

NEW DELHI: The average price of cement, which stands at Rs 280 per bag of 50 kg, may go up by between Rs 3 and Rs 6 per bag in the current month on increased construction activity, according to report by Crisil Research. "Post the festive season, the construction activity and consequently cement demand will gain traction, which could lead prices to rise by 1-2 per cent, on a month-on-month basis, in November, 2011," Crisil Research Head Ajay D'Souza said. The average retail price of cement in the country rose by about six per cent month-on-month to Rs 280 per bag in October 2011. "Notable price hike in the Northern region in October, 2011, largely supported the pan-India price increase," he said, adding that on a yearly basis, the average pan-India retail cement price recorded an increase of almost 15 per cent during the month. D'Souza said the domestic consumption of cement in October remained almost flat resulting in just three per cent increase in demand during the April-October period of the current fiscal. "The subdued pace of construction activity in real estate and infrastructure segment is largely instrumental for this lacklustre demand," he said. India's total consumption of cement in October this year was 18.1 million tonnes, just 0.6 per cent up over the same month last year. It consumed 123 million tonnes cement during the April-October period of the current fiscal.

Ultratech Cement to invest Rs 11,000 crore to augment capacity to 62 mtpa

NEW DELHI: Ultratech Cement will invest Rs 11,000 crore to jack up its production capacity by 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 62 mtpa by the first quarter of 2013-14 fiscal. "The company has a capital outlay of Rs 11,000 crore to be spent over the next three years ... Orders have been placed for major equipment. These expansions are expected to be operational by Q1 FY14," the company has said in a letter to the shareholders. The company will use the proposed fund on clinkerisation plants through brownfield expansions at Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, installing waste-heat recovery systems, instituting bulk packaging terminal and setting up of ready-mix concerete plants. "Upon completion of this round of capex, company's Cement capacity will stand augmented by 10 mtpa to 62 mtpa, captive power from 504 MW to 674 MW and generation of green power through waste recovery from 4 MW to 65 MW," Ultratech said. The capacity expansion was being funded through a mix of internal accruals and borrowings, it said, adding that it has spent over Rs 1,100 crore on various capex initiatives so far during the first half of the current fiscal. Meanwhile, the company said the current surplus scenario in the domestic market was likely to continue for the next 2-3 years, but the growing input costs would squeeze margins. "Over the long-term, the sector is likely to grow over 8 per cent on the back of government's focus on infrastructure development and housing. Further, the enhanced capital allocation towrads infrastructure in the 12th Five Year Plan will give the desirde push to the sector," it said.

India Cements earns its highest EBITDA from Chennai Super Kings

CHENNAI: India Cements has earned its highest-ever EBITDA from IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (of Rs 32.8 crore) in Q2, according to brokerage firm Motilal Oswal. This has come on the back of IPL revenues of Rs 51.5 crore. In the first quarter, IPL fetched India Cements more revenues - Rs 84.8 crore. However, EBITDA was only Rs 6.6 crore. The Q2 EBITDA from IPL was more than double of what Motilal Oswal had forecast (about Rs 15 crore). The operating performance of India Cements got a boost from this and the company's total EBITDA was at Rs 252 crore on revenues of Rs 1,092 crore in the second quarter. The company posted a Q2 net profit of nearly Rs 70 crore, from a loss of over Rs 33 crore this quarter last year, amid capacity overhand and sluggish demand in its bread-and-butter South market. But net profit was lower than the Q1 figure of Rs 102 crore. In the first half, IPL revenues were Rs 138 crore, about 6% of total revenue.

DAP imports Rs 3,500 per tonne dearer due to dollar rise: IFFCO

CHANDIGARH: The rise in the US dollar value against the rupee has led to a Rs 3,500 a tonne increase in prices of fertiliser (DAP) imported from other countries to meet the domestic requirement, a top official of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has said here. "Rs 3,500 a tonne is a direct impact of US dollar (appreciation against rupee)," IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasthi told reporters here when asked about the impact of the rising dollar on domestic prices of fertiliser. "Earlier, the US dollar was Rs 45 and now it has reached Rs 50 (against rupee)," he said, adding that dollar appreciation had an impact of prices of fertilisers in the country. He further said IFFCO has passed on the impact of the dollar appreciation to farmers. IFFCO is eyeing the import of 6 million tonnes of DAP in the current fiscal, as against 8 MT of DAP last fiscal. IFFCO imports fertiliser from various countries, including the US, Russia, Japan, Morocco, Tunisia, Israel, Jordan, etc. Awasthi said at present, IFFCO sells DAP at a price of Rs 18,100 per tonne, while it gets a subsidy of Rs 19,700 per tonne from the Centre. Besides fluctuation in foreign exchange rates, an increase in the price of DAP in international markets over the last five months has also led to a rise in the landed cost of the fertiliser. Awasthi pointed out that IFFCO currently imports DAP at a price of USD 677 a tonne, as against USD 612 per tonne in the month of June. Expressing concern over the indiscriminate use of fertiliser by farmers, the IFFCO MD emphasised on using green manure, biofertilisers and nutrient-enriched organic manure in a balanced manner for soil rejuvenation. "The time has come to educate farmers to rejuvenate soil through the application of biofertiliser, green manure," he asserted.

Bhilwara Group to invest Rs 245 cr in Mandideep HEG plant

BHOPAL: In a bid to become the leading graphite electrodes manufacturer in the world, LNJ Bhilwara Group plans to invest Rs 245 crore in its Mandideep-based plant near Bhopal to raise production levels from 66,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) at present to 80,000 MTPA. "HEG Limited, one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of graphites electrodes in South Asia, will make an investment of additional Rs 245 crore for scaling up its plant, which shall be completed by mid of next year," Group Chairman Ravi Jhunjhunwala told reporters here last evening on the eve of the Golden Jubilee of the group. "By then (mid of next year) the company shall start producing 80,000 MT of graphite electrodes per annum making it world's largest integrated manufacturing plant," he said. "The current capacity of the Mandideep plant is 66,000 MT per annum, which required an investment of Rs 1,123 crore. The company recorded a turnover of approximately Rs 1,300 crore during the financial year 2010-11. With this installed capacity, we are the world's largest single site producers of graphite electrodes," Jhunjhunwala said. On the occasion, the Group's founder L N Jhunjhunwala recalled his association with Madhya Pradesh in the early 70s when he decided to set up HEG Ltd in Mandideep in 1972. The company, which is a part of the Rs 5,000 crore Bhilwara Group, today stands tall as a Rs 1,300 crore company. He also expressed his gratitude toward the people and leaders, specially former Chief Ministers of the state Arjun Singh, Sunderlal Patwa, Kailash Joshi and Digvijay Singh for extending full cooperation to the group on the occasion. The inaugural function of the Golden Jubilee will be held in the state capital today and will be inaugurated by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

L&T looking overseas to beat local slowdown: R. Shankar Raman, CFO

MUMBAI: Larsen and Toubro, India's biggest engineering conglomerate, is targeting overseas revenue growth as part of a strategy to beat a slowdown in Asia's third-largest economy, the firm's chief financial officer said on Monday. Ships-to-software firm Larsen last month slashed its order growth guidance for the financial year to March, as it warned of project deferrals and sluggish investor appetite in India thanks to high interest rates and a gloomy economic outlook. "It's essentially an India de-risking strategy," R. Shankar Raman told an Investment Summit in Mumbai, saying the company was targeting 15-20 per cent of revenue to come from overseas markets, compared with 10-12 per cent last year. "We will try to expand in the international market...Today our international business is largely in the Middle East, but hopefully in passing years the Far East will start giving more orders." India has pledged to spend $1 trillion on upgrading its creaking power plants, railways and ports in the five years to 2017 to deal with a key bottleneck to continued growth. Private cash has been pencilled in for half of that. But investments have slowed in recent quarters, as stubbornly high inflation, 13 interest rate hikes since early 2010 and rising commodity prices bite. Companies also point fingers at a policy paralysis in New Delhi. Larsen, with a market capitalization of $15 billion, has aggressively targeted overseas projects in recent months and has announced since August $1.1 billion in new foreign contracts, mainly for hydrocarbon firms in the Gulf region. The firm secured a $250 million contract to build a pipeline for Thailand's top oil and gas explorer PPT Exploration and Production Plc in August. "The Far East, some areas of Africa and South America have some interest for our products. We have just opened up a few offices," Shankar Raman said. PROJECT DEFERRALS India is likely to grow at around 7.6 per cent in the 12 months to March 2012 compared with 8.5 per cent a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll. Industrial output has slowed, consumer confidence is waning and investments are being put on hold. "The (domestic) opportunity spectrum around this time last year was coming around to $100 billion," said Shankar Raman. "We find that half of that $100 billion has got deferred." Larsen, which gets more than 80 per cent of its revenue from the domestic market, cut its order growth guidance for the current fiscal year by a third to 5 per cent last month, blaming slowing investments and rising competition. "We've not seen any cancellations in our order book. There are deferments. People are sitting and waiting and watching," said Shankar Raman, adding that he expected deferred projects to come back on-line during the 12 months to March 2013. Larsen shares erased early gains of 0.7 per cent and fell 1.7 per cent on Monday after the comments. At 12:40 p.m. (0710 GMT) the shares were down 0.5 per cent at 1,237.95 rupees in a subdued Mumbai market down 1.4 per cent. The 73-year-old firm, which bears the name of its two Danish founders, is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) in its Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd (IDPL) unit, after a successful listing of its finance arm in August. "IDPL is another entity where we need to find a permanent solution for capital growth plans," said Shankar Raman. "In the ultimate analysis, I would visualise this company to be another listed entity in the group, seeking capital from the market for its own growth plans," he said, adding any potential listing was likely to happen within three years. Larsen will not reduce its prices in a quest to secure market share, Shankar Raman said, and would instead focus on reducing costs and increasing productivity across the firm as it works through an order book worth around $28 billion. The company is not desperate "because we think we have the balance sheet to withstand tough times," he said. "I am not worried about the next eight to 10 quarters. I don't have large debt to service so ultimately what is the pressure on me? I have the window of time." The firm still expects to see order book growth of 12-15 per cent over the next five years, Shankar Raman added. Larsen has said it expects revenue to grow 25 per cent in the year to March 2012, from 439 billion rupees ($8.5 billion) a year previously. Shares in the firm have fallen almost 40 per cent this year, double that of the drop in the benchmark index, wiping more than $8 billion off the firm's market value.

Ravin Cables to invest Rs 200-cr; eyes 4-fold sales by FY16

MUMBAI: Bullish on growth, power cable manufacturer Ravin Cables is eyeing an over four-fold rise in revenue to Rs 3,000 crore by FY16, when its expansion and diversification plans would be complete, a top company official said today. "Though there is a slowdown in the cable industry at present, we expect the scenario to change some time soon. We are eyeing Rs 3,000 crore revenue in the next four years," company chairman and managing director Vijay Karia told PTI here. The government has set a target of 1,00,000 MW additional capacity during the 12th Plan period beginning next April. At present, the company's revenues stands at Rs 700 crore of which exports contribute to nearly Rs 100 crore. Ravin has also embarked on an investment plan of Rs 200 crore for capacity addition as well as setting up a new super specialty facility to cater to the growing demand from the cable industry, which is currently Rs 15,000 crore. "We have diversified our scope and plan to enter new segments such as renewable energy, including solar and wind, specialty cables for the auto segment as well as for cranes and submarine cables. We will be spending around Rs 20-25 crore in setting up a separate super specialty facility in Pune that will cater to these segments," he said. The company already has two units one in Pune and another in Middle East with a capacity of 36,000 tonne each. Last year, Ravin signed a joint venture agreement with the Italy-based Prysmian Group to manufacture all kinds of cables - low, medium and high-voltage as well as specialty cables. Prysmian has picked up majority 51 percent stake for about Rs 200 crore.

Siemens to invest $50 million in Indian financial services arm

MUMBAI: Siemens AG, a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors, today said it will invest USD 50 million in Siemens Financial Services for commercial operations in India. "Siemens Financial Services (SFS) is rolling out its range of commercial finance solutions to help business and public sector customers in India to invest efficiently, and to maximise growth opportunities in a rapidly developing economy," Siemens Financial Services GmbH Chief Executive Roland Chalons-Browne told reporters here. We will invest USD 50 million for setting up Siemens Financial Services, Chalons-Browne said, adding the expansion of its presence in the Indian markets represents a significant milestone for SFS. SFS Commercial Finance has also obtained a non-banking financial company license from the Reserve Bank of India, its Chief Executive Sunil Kapoor said. Siemens research forecast says that capital expenditure in the key Indian markets will be very strong between now and 2020, with the healthcare sector investing over Euro 200 billion (Rs 13.2 trillion) industry sector more than Euro 125 billion (Rs 8.25 trillion) and utilities sector over Euro 800 billion (Rs 52.8 trillion)

Adani Group brings Mundra Port and SEZ under flagship brand

AHMEDABAD: In line with its vision to go multi-location, Adani Group changed name of its subsidiary Mundra Port and SEZ Limited (MPSEZ) to Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ). Also, the Gautam Adani promoted group wants to bring all its business and equity holdings under flagship brand 'Adani'. Adani Group has promoted ventures like Adani Enterprise, Adani Wilmar, Adani Power among others. Now MPSEZ will be known as APSEZ, Adani Group informed the stock exchanges on Monday. Talking to ET, a senior APSEZ official said, "Adani Group is expanding its presence at various other locations on East Coast as well besides ports at Hazira and Dahej. Mundra was our first destination and continue to remain the flagship port of the group. However, brand Adani Port will portray larger canvas as we are going even international with recently acquire port in Australia." Adani group controls 77.50% stake in APSEZ after its promoters Adani family merged their holding in port venture. Except for port and SEZ, the group's all other business like coal mining and trading, real estate, agriculture and energy among others were already under AEL banner. The group is now aiming for 'One Adani' through consolidation where AEL will evolve as the face of the Adanis.

Neyveli Lignite set to light 250 MW unit

CHENNAI: Integrated mining-cum-power generation company Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is planning to light up one of the two 250 MW Circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion (CFBC) boilers Friday, said a senior official. "We are planning to light one of the boilers Nov 25. We hope to generate 150 MW initially and gradually increase that to the full capacity," an official told media preferring anonymity. According to officials, the second unit is expected to be commissioned next March once the unit gets stabilised after addressing the teething problems. He said officials from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) had visited the unit recently. NLC officials said power generation will have to be increased gradually as the technology is new and issues have to be resolved. Officials said generation in the first unit was increased up to 150 MW during the test phase while issues were plugged during the process. Power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd ( BHEL) had supplied four CFBC boilers for NLC. While the two 250 MW units are located in its home town and near the pit head at Neyveli, the other two units - 2x125 MW - are in Rajasthan. The two units at Rajasthan were dedicated to the nation in June 2010, but the boilers started facing problems and power generation had to be halted.