London-based index creator FTSE recently tied up with the MCX Stock Exchange to offer a slew of new domestic indices and launch a range of international FTSE indices that will be listed and traded on the MCX-SX when it gets regulatory approval. Paul Hoff, managing director, Asia-Pacific, FTSE, spoke to Business Standard on plans for the venture.
Irrespective of the fact that the monsoon has covered most parts of the country, the next fortnight is going to be crucial for the kharif crop. Concerns over the crop size have still not receded as rain has been deficient till now.
The government is likely to come up with export sops for the domestic textiles industry in the upcoming Budget, including a rise in duty drawback rates.
The Aditya Birla Group company has already spent over Rs 3,000 crore on projects to take its production capacity from 17 million tonnes to 21.9 mt and plans to further scale up till 23.1 mt by June-end. K C Birla, chief financial officer, said, "We will continue to maintain our market share and, if required, we will go ahead with more capacity additions to ensure we don't become a loser in the market."
During the last six months, since the cement market witnessed an unexpected surge in demand which later was followed by incessant rise in cement prices, the valuations have jumped by 48 per cent. The replacement cost is the amount of capital needed to replace an old cement plant.
ACC, the country's largest cement maker that had temporarily idled a plant in Himachal Pradesh this month, said it has kept all options open on similar shutdowns at its other locations in case there is no satisfactory demand for its products.
The 204 million-tonne industry is under pressure due to excess capacities coming onstream across the country. Imported coal prices, which touched $200 a tonne in the first half of the current financial year, have now come down drastically.
Cement-maker to increase capacity to 20 MT with three new units. After acquiring L&T Concrete and capturing over 25 per cent of the market share in ready-mix concrete space in the country, the cement major is set to establish a pan-India presence. The company has plans to set up at least three greenfield units with a capacity of 2.5 MT each. According to sources, the company has zeroed in on Rajasthan, Karnataka and Meghalaya for the facilities.
Swiss cement major, Holcim, promoter of two of India's biggest cement companies, ACC and Ambuja Cements, said there is no escape from increasing the cement prices in the country considering the high energy costs.
Chinese equipment is comparatively cheaper than those from Europe. Puneet Dalmia, managing director, Dalmia Cement, said, "At present, we have no plans to bring machinery from China as there are unclear evidences regarding how long the plant would last." Cement majors such as ACC and Shree Cement has imported a small part of their equipment need from China, but these do not make part of the main cement plant.
The company is among the largest exporters of cement and clinker via Gujarat ports. "The step will not have any impact on cement prices. The step taken by the government is a good and sensible one. The export ban offered no assistance in making cement available in the domestic market as a majority of the exports was in clinker form," said A L Kapur, managing director, Ambuja Cements.
The acquisitions, costing more than $1.6 billion, have helped Holcim corner close to quarter of the country's 189 million-tonne cement market. Lafarge, which entered India in 1999 by acquiring the cement division of Tata Steel and bought out Raymond's cement facility in 2001, has a capacity of only 5.5 million tonnes. Holcim also plans to invest around Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in the next five years to set up plants.
The 189-million tonne domestic cement industry is gearing up to tackle attrition in the industry.
The statement from the industry came minutes after Finance Minister P Chidambaram said around noon that the government was trying to persuade cement companies to lower prices. On Thursday evening, India's largest cement manufacturer ACC, which accounts for over one-tenth of the market, had announced its intent to freeze prices for two-three months.
French cement major Lafarge SA, the world's second-largest cement maker, has emerged the frontrunner in the race to acquire the ready-mix concrete business of engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro.
According to industry analysts, this will have a marginal effect because hardly 10 per cent of the cement sold in the country has the maximum retail price of Rs 250 a bag (50 kg). H M Bangur, president, Cement Manufacturers' Association and managing director of Shree Cement, said: "Such a measure will have impact on certain regions of the country where the prices are on the higher side. This will include the north-east, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mumbai."
Bestway Cement, part of the UK-based Bestway Group, is probably the first company from Pakistan not to take fresh orders. In a letter (of which Business Standard has a copy) to the commerce secretary, Zameer Choudrey, group chief executive, Bestway, said, "Because of logistical problems, we are unable to deliver the cement to them (Indian importers) and hence we stopped taking new orders over a month ago."
According to sources, the company will invest $350-400 million in the proposed plant. This will be the first foray by an Indian company for manufacturing cement in West Asia which was so far viewed as an export market.
The cement industry is likely to add around 15 million tonnes of fresh capacity in 2007-08 - a little over half of the 27 million tonnes it had talked about at the beginning of the financial year.
Grasim Industries, a part of the Aditya Birla group, has decided to sell 53.3 per cent stake in Shree Digvijay Cement Company (SDCC) to Cimpor, a Portuguese cement maker, for Rs 322 crore (Rs 3.22 billion).
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