The refractories business of Dalmia Bharat Group has entered into an agreement with Seven Refractories to develop and supply a wide range of monolithic refractories for the Indian market.
With over 60 years of experience in Refractories, Dalmia Bharat group is a preferred partner for refractory bricks and solutions for the Indian industry, while Seven Refractories is a leading and fast growing European player in monolithic refractories. The co-operation agreement is intended to lead to a joint venture between Dalmia and Seven Refractories.
?We are committed to bringing the most advanced solutions to our customers across the iron, steel and cement industries. This partnership will combine the strengths of both companies to provide customised solutions with the latest monolithic refractory technology combined
with quicker deliveries and localised services,?said Sameer Nagpal, CEO-Refractories, Dalmia Bharat Group.
?We are excited to spread our presence in the fast-growing Indian market by partnering with a company that has earned the trust of customers through its knowledge and decades-old experience?, said Erik Zobec, Group President, Seven Refractories. ?In previous projects in India, we have built up excellent references and gained a thorough understanding of the specific requirements of the market,? he added.
The refractories business of Dalmia Bharat Group comprises two specialty companies ?OCL Refractories and Dalmia Refractories Limited. Established in 1954 as a unit of OCL India, OCL Refractories is a leading refractory supplier to domestic and international steel plants. Set up in 1959, Dalmia Refractories (previously Shri Nataraj Ceramics and Chemical Industries Ltd) is a pioneer in high alumina refractory bricks for the Indian cement industry. The group?s refractory business has four manufacturing plants in India, one in China, a Technology Center and sales representatives at strategic locations around the world. The business provides a wide range of refractory products and services to both ferrous and non-ferrous plants, including iron & steel, cement, glass, copper and hydrocarbons.
Headquartered in Diva-?a (Slovenia), Seven Refractories offers one of the largest and most advanced portfolios of monolithic refractory materials, complemented by project management and exhaustive modern installation knowledge. With a newly expanded plant in Slovenia, a greenfield plant starting at year end in Kazakhstan and seven international subsidiaries and numerous agencies, Seven Refractories serves over 300 top customers in 40 different countries.
CCI slaps Rs 6,715 crore fine on 11 cement cos
The Competition Commission has imposed more than Rs 6,700 crore penalty on 11 cement companies, including ACC and Binani, for alleged cartelisation.
Apart from penalising the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA), the fair trade regulator has directed all the entities to?cease and desist?from indulging in any activity relating to agreement, understanding or arrangement on prices, production and supply of cement in the market.
In a release, Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that the Rs 6,715-crore penalty has been imposed on 11 cement companies and the CMA.
The latest order has been passed by the watchdog following directions issued by the Competition Appellate Tribunal, which had remanded the matter involving the cement companies to CCI for passing a fresh order. The tribunal had also set aside fine on the 10 cement firms imposed earlier.
A fine of Rs 1,147.59 crore has been imposed on ACC, while penalties on Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and Ultratech are Rs 1,323.60 crore and Rs 1,175.49 crore, respectively.
The fines on other companies are Rs 274.02 crore (Century), Rs 187.48 crore (India Cements), Rs 128.54 crore (J K Cements), Rs 490.01 crore (Lafarge), Rs 258.63 crore (Ramco), ACL (Rs 1,163.91 crore) and Binani (Rs 167.32 crore), according to the release.
Shree Cement orders 10 mills from Gebr. Pfeiffer
Shree Cement has ordered 10 mills from Gebr. Pfeiffer. This deal continues the cement producer?s expansion strategy across India through integrated cement and grinding plants.
Gebr. Pfeiffer will supply MVR 6000 R-6 raw mills with capacities of about 550t/hr and an installed drive power of 6,700 kW each for the cement plants. These installations will come equipped with MPS 2800 BK type coal mills, each featuring a 720kW drive and an integrated SLS BK classifier. MVR 6000 C-6 cement mills are planned to grind clinker and extenders at these cement plants or at grinding plants. These types of mills are already in successful operation at various sites belonging to Shree Cement. The cement producer currently runs 24 Pfeiffer mills.
Planned grinding plants will use the MVR 6000 C-6 mill to alternatively produce 300t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement at a product fineness of 3100cm?/g acc. to Blaine or 300t/hr of Portland Pozzolana Cement containing as much as 35 per cent of fly ash at a product fineness of 3,500cm?/g acc. to Blaine or 180t/hr of ground granulated blast-furnace slag at a product fineness of 4500cm?/g acc. to Blaine. Each of the mills will come equipped with a 6,700 kW drive.
Gebr. Pfeiffer SE will supply the core components of the mill and the gear units from Europe. Its Indian subsidiary, headquartered in Noida, Gebr. Pfeiffer (India), will provide the components such as the housings of the mills and classifiers, the steel foundation parts as well as the internal parts of the classifiers. In addition, the Indian subsidiary will design the plant layout and advise the customer on the equipment it will procure on its own.
Birla Corporation to set up clinker plant in Maharashtra
Birla Corporation will set up a 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) clinker plant in Maharashtra to help it expand its presence in the western India market. The firm wants to build on the recent acquisition of the Rs 4,800 crore cement business of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), through which it will also get the mining lease of Mukutban limestone mines situated in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
Besides, the firm expects that the acquisition will help it become a pan-India player in the ?foreseeable future?. Cement accounted for 91.34 per cent of its total sales in 2015-16. The company?s turnover stood at Rs 3,768.42 crore in the period. ?The mining lease at Mukutban would enable the company to set up a clinkerisation unit of 3 MT in the foreseeable future,? Birla Corp said in a regulatory filing. Maharashtra has limestone reserves of around 1,371.43 million tonnes with extensive deposits located in Yavatmal, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts. Mukutban mines are known for their cement-grade deposits of limestone.
Birla Corp said: ?The company can gain a sizeable presence in the profitable western (India) market by expansion of the Mukutban operations.?
The economies of scale and the synergies from the deal will help the firm invest in manufacturing, brand and marketing among others, it added.
On the acquisition, Birla Crop in its annual report for 2015-16 said the mineral concession with Reliance Cement Company Pvt Ltd (RCCPL) will help the firm become a pan-India player in the cement space.
?The company?s expansion potential will also be enhanced with mineral concession in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, enabling the company to emerge as a pan-Indian player in the foreseeable future,?it said.
It further said: ?The company will also benefit from RCCPL?s strategically located raw material sources, captive coal mine, optimum manpower, efficient operating parameters and technical capability for producing top-end quality product.? In the report, Birla Corp had said that its profitability in 2015-16 fiscal was impacted due to outsourcing of limestone at higher prices, which is a key ingredient in making cement.
?Substantial quantity of limestone was raised by mechanical means. However, it was still short of the total requirement, which has to be outsourced at substantially high rates,?it added.
Grinding coal in Colombia with LOESCHE
Having purchased the LOESCHE state-of-the art vertical roller mill for the grinding of cement, Cementos San Marcos decided one more time in favor of LOESCHE to supply another VRM for the grinding of coal. The LOESCHE Mill Type LM 35.2+2 is the sole vertical roller mill in this plant for cement grinding.
Cementos San Marcos is one of the latest additions to Colombia?s cement production base, located 20 km north of Cali. The cement plant allows the company a closer connection to regional building sites and most of its output is used for infrastructure projects as Colombia builds toll roads and links the capital Bogot? to the north. Sustainable cement production is central to the plant?s design with energy efficiency and the use of alternative fuels.
The cement plant was designed as a two-phase project to initiate a conservative market entry with the aim to more than double capacity to meet market needs within a short period of time.
The recent experience with the LOESCHE Clinker Mill gave the client the confidence to go again with LOESCHE on a coal mill for realisation of phase 2 of this project. The challenge of this project was to fit the new and larger mill in the existing plant and reuse the existing coal millGC?s foundation of a smaller capacity Raymond mill which will be replaced. The classifier and the plant ducting equipment will be part of the contract.