Economy & Market

Prices ease slightly, save high margins for manufacturers

Published

8 years ago

January 9, 2019

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Cement prices remain at higher levels even in weak season, even as demand growth is expected to moderate to single digit this fiscal from double digit growth posted last fiscal.

Cement prices have eased slightly in August 2019 after remaining flat in July 2019. However, at current prices the cement manufacturers are expected to post higher profits in the quarter ending September 2019, on the back of rising trend in prices for four months since March 2019 and lowering cost, mainly of fuels.

Meanwhile, experts are pegging the demand growth during the current fiscal at 7 per cent, much below 13 per cent recorded last year. While normal monsoon is heralding good times for agriculture activity, intensive floods witnessed in some major states could have played havoc with farm outcomes.

The ET Cement Index that tracks countrywide cement price movements was down by 1.36 per cent to 2364.7 by end-August 2019 from 2397.3 points at the beginning of the month, after being flat in July. Mid-way through the monsoon season, the cement manufacturers are unlikely to raise prices. So, one has to wait till third quarter (October-December) before the demand and supply play comes into action. Even the fears of economy slowing down are also haunting the sentiment.

Tempered growth
Rating agency ICRA has pegged the cement demand growth for the current fiscal at 7 per cent compared to 13 per cent growth witnessed in FY2019, while citing "relatively weak offtake seen in Q1 (April-June) FY2020 (2019-20)". However, ICRA notes: Although this is likely to affect cement manufacturers, they are likely to benefit from the fact that average prices for FY2020 (2019-20) are likely to be better than FY2019 while costs are likely to be lower. This is likely to support near term profitability for cement mills.

Sabyasachi Majumdar, Senior Vice President & Group Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA says, "We expect cement demand growth to taper off in FY2020 after a strong double-digit growth in the previous year. This is already being reflected in tepid growth in Q1 FY2020, on the back of slowing of the project execution on account of general elections (usually resulting in labour unavailability)."

Steep rise in prices in April and May 2019 have weakened the demand, curtailing the pricing power of the industry in the following months. In June, ET Cement Index eased 1.39 per cent at 2397.3 from the all time peak of 2431.1 points registered at the end of May 2019. With a sharp 8 per cent Month-on-Month (MoM or compared to the previous month) hike pan-India in April, average trade prices in April-June were up by 11 per cent Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ).

The demand was impacted owing to the slowdown in the Government projects, ahead of the elections and shortage of labour, said ICRA in its note. The same is expected to pick up from Q3 FY2020, post the monsoon season. In April 2019, cement production at 29.2 million tonnes (MT) was lower by 12 per cent on M-o-M basis. Further, in May and June 2019, it declined by 2.1 per cent to 28.6 MT and by 0.6 per cent to 28.4 MT respectively.

However, ICRA expects the demand to pick up in Q3 FY2020 with the growth likely to be driven by housing, primarily rural housing and affordable housing, and improved focus on infrastructure segments, mainly road, railway and irrigation projects.

"The easing of the cost side pressures owing to decline in the input costs such as coal and pet coke prices by 13.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and by 11 per cent Y-o-Y respectively in April-July 2019 would result in lower power and fuel expenses during Q2 FY2020. The cement companies’ profitability is likely to increase in Q2 FY2020 on the back of higher prices and lower input costs," Majumdar says.

On the capacity side, ICRA expects around 18-20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to get added in FY2020. Most of these new supplies are not fully integrated and are largely backed by old limestone mining leases. Also, the grinding capacity addition is higher in relation to the clinker capacity, thus, the actual production from new capacities is likely to be lower. While the incremental demand of around 24 million MT is greater than the incremental supply, the capacity overhang is likely to keep the utilisation at moderate levels – 71 per cent in FY2020, despite some increase from 69 per cent in FY2019.

Normal monsoon
For the first 3 months during this monsoon period (from 1 June 2019 to 28 August 2019), the South-West monsoon has been normal, according to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data. However, there has been a marginal moderation in the deviation from the normal for this cumulative period compared with a week ago. "During the previous 5 years, monsoon remained normal during this same period, but this is the first time (in the last 5 years) when the deviation from normal has been positive," says Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings, in its Monsoon Monitor released on August 30, 2019.

There are still seven subdivisions of the 36 subdivisions in the country, which have recorded deficient rainfall. There have been equal numbers of sub-divisions (seven) which have recorded both excess and deficient rainfall, with the remaining 22 subdivisions receiving normal rainfall. "The concern revolves around these subdivisions as both excess rainfall or deficient rainfall could adversely impede sowing and cropping patterns," CARE Ratings said.

Several states witnessed large scale floods, viz. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. The western and south-west regions of the country have received heavy rains and have been clubbed under the category of "excess rainfall". If the monsoon is normal and well-spread out in all regions, then it has the potential to increase agriculture incomes in rural areas and could impact the overall economic growth. The sowing patterns across key crops as of 23 August, 2019 has seen an improvement but the concern remains around the sowing of rice which has seen a contraction of around (-) 20 lakh hectares from normal and a year ago.

– BS SRINIVASALU REDDY

Economy & Market

Leonard Unveils Dual-Head Robotic Arm for Hazardous Industrial Demolition

Published

1 day ago

October 30, 2026

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Leonard unveils Descender Duo, a dual-head robotic demolition arm designed to improve industrial safety and reduce shutdown time by up to 50 per cent.

Industrial robotics and refractory services specialist Leonard has launched Descender Duo, a dual-head robotic demolition arm designed to improve safety, accelerate maintenance and reduce shutdown times in hazardous industrial environments. The system made its debut at Lisahally Power Station in Northern Ireland, removing 25 tonnes of slag material within hours.

Developed for the cement, metals, waste-to-energy and petrochemical industries, Descender Duo enables remote-controlled refractory demolition, anchor cutting and welding, and refractory spraying inside boilers, calciners and silos. Its vertical-access design eliminates the need for personnel to enter confined, high-risk spaces during these operations.

Weighing less than two tonnes, the pre-assembled system requires an access opening of just 1.2 m². Supported by an external overhead hoist, it uses electrically operated hydraulic stabilising legs to secure itself inside vessels. The robotic arm offers 360-degree rotation and is suited to vessels approximately 9 m in diameter, with its operating reach extendable through strategically positioned access points.

Equipped with two independently controlled robotic heads, Descender Duo can perform identical or different tasks simultaneously, including refractory demolition, anchor cutting and spraying. Its remote-control system incorporates live camera feeds, allowing operators to monitor operations without entering hazardous environments.

According to Leonard, the technology can deliver time savings of up to 50 per cent compared with manual methods. Its ability to operate at temperatures exceeding 100°C allows maintenance to begin as early as 24 hours after burner shutdown. An all-electric power supply further supports cleaner and more cost-efficient operations.

First Deployment Demonstrates Shutdown Efficiency

The system was first deployed at Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor’s (BWSC) Lisahally Power Station in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The facility generates electricity from grade C waste wood, supplying approximately 40,000 homes and businesses.

Leonard and BWSC collaborated to develop a customised solution for the plant’s 26-metre furnace, where extensive external pipework created significant access challenges.

Mark Leonard, Managing Director, Leonard, said, “It required new thinking and rather than step away from the problem we were committed to solving it for the customer, with the customer. We’re relentless in our approach to tackling complex challenges, head-on. We took our years of cement plant experience, coupled with our working knowledge of the BWSC plant, and designed, engineered and tested a completely new vertical solution within just seven weeks from that initial conversation with the customer. That solution was the Descender Duo as we know it today.”

Traditionally, the furnace required a cooling period of up to 36 hours before preparatory work could begin, followed by manual slag removal using rope-access personnel. With Descender Duo, work commenced just 24 hours after shutdown, reducing downtime by up to one day.

The deployment removed 25 tonnes of slag within hours, eliminated the need for at least six workers to enter the hazardous furnace interior and saved 26 hours in the shutdown programme.

“The effectiveness exceeded expectation,” said Martin Doran, Plant Manager at Lisahally Power Station.

“When the Descender Duo concept was first discussed, we had to spend some time with the team from Leonard looking at how it was going to be moved into the furnace. Every site is different and that presented its own challenges, but nothing that the team couldn’t overcome. Once it was installed we were hugely impressed by its efficiency.”

Expanding Industrial Robotics Applications

Descender Duo joins Leonard’s existing portfolio of robotic maintenance solutions, including the Axis horizontal-access arm, Nano confined-space access arm, Charger cement mill media recharging system and Calibre cement mill media grading system.

Headquartered in Northern Ireland, Leonard provides robotic refractory demolition, installation, inspection and industrial maintenance services across the cement, metals, energy, biomass, glass and civil engineering sectors.

Formerly known as G Leonard, the company has more than 35 years of industry experience and operates across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

The latest innovation reinforces Leonard’s focus on replacing hazardous manual processes with robotic systems that improve workforce safety, enhance operational efficiency and minimise industrial downtime.

Concrete

Martin Engineering Appoints Ashwini Khunte as India General Manager

Published

1 day ago

October 30, 2026

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Martin Engineering names Ashwini Khunte India General Manager to strengthen operations and drive growth across key bulk material handling sectors.

Pune

Martin Engineering, a global provider of bulk material handling solutions, has appointed Ashwini Khunte as General Manager of its India business, strengthening its leadership as the company expands its presence across the country’s cement, mining, steel, power and infrastructure sectors.

Khunte brings more than a decade of experience with Martin Engineering, having joined its Indian operations in 2013 as a Design Engineer, shortly after the company established its presence in the country in 2012.

A mechanical engineer by qualification, she spent her initial five years developing bulk material handling solutions in collaboration with the company’s operations team. During this period, she gained extensive experience addressing operational challenges in the steel, cement and coal industries. She subsequently moved into project engineering, managing major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) projects from initial enquiry to commissioning. Her responsibilities later expanded to overseeing Martin Engineering’s conveyor product portfolio in India, involving customer engagement, technical presentations and site visits across heavy industries.

In 2024, Khunte was promoted to Head of Sales & Marketing for the company’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and India (EMEAI) region. The position broadened her international market exposure and strengthened her strategic and commercial leadership capabilities.

Commenting on her appointment, Ashwini Khunte, General Manager, Martin Engineering India, said: “India represents a tremendous opportunity for Martin Engineering. The country’s continued investment in cement, mining, steel, power and infrastructure is creating increasing demand for safer, cleaner and more productive bulk material handling, and that’s exactly what we do. My priority will be to build on the strong foundations already established in India, while continuing to develop our people, strengthen customer relationships and bring practical solutions to the challenges faced by our industry.”

Robert Whetstone, Area Vice President – EMEAI, Martin Engineering, highlighted Khunte’s technical expertise, market understanding and leadership experience.

“Ashwini brings an exceptional combination of technical understanding, customer knowledge and commercial leadership. She has grown as Martin Engineering has grown, and has consistently demonstrated outstanding capability to transform her expertise into practical solutions. Her knowledge of the Indian market, together with her international experience, makes her ideally suited to lead our India business through its next stage of growth for years to come.”

Since establishing its Indian business in 2012, Martin Engineering has expanded its local workforce, manufacturing capabilities and dealership network. The company supplies conveyor products, transfer point solutions, material flow aids, training and technical support to bulk material handling industries. Khunte’s appointment positions the company to further strengthen customer relationships and expand its solutions portfolio in India’s growing industrial and infrastructure markets.

Concrete

Fornnax Wins AIRIA’s Special Export Award for Rubber Machinery in 2025-26

Published

2 weeks ago

October 19, 2026

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Fornnax Technology Pvt. Ltd. has been honoured with the Special Export Award – Rubber Machinery for 2025–26 by the All-India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA), in recognition of its highest exports of tyre recycling plants to the European region.

With more than a decade of experience in India’s tyre recycling industry, Fornnax has contributed to the development of advanced recycling technologies and infrastructure. The company currently holds a 90% market share in India’s domestic tyre recycling sector, while exports account for 30% of its business, spanning markets such as Europe, Australia and the GCC.

The award marks another milestone for Fornnax, whose tyre recycling lines and advanced shredding technologies are supporting the growth of the circular economy in India and international markets.

Commenting on the recognition, Mr. Jignesh Kundaria, Founder and Director of Fornnax, said:

“This honour from AIRIA is a reflection of an incredible journey we have undertaken over the years. When we started Fornnax, there was no established recycling industry in India to follow. We chose to build for the future instead. Today, when you see India’s tyre recycling sector, it has already transformed into a dynamic, high-growth industry and we are extremely proud to have played our part in building it.”

Unlike standalone equipment suppliers, Fornnax focuses on developing complete, high-capacity recycling infrastructure. Its integrated systems combine multiple stages of shredding and size reduction to enable efficient, continuous operations. This system-level engineering approach helps recycling operators improve throughput, equipment reliability and operational consistency.

The recognition reinforces Fornnax’s commitment to developing engineering technologies that contribute to a more efficient and circular recycling ecosystem.

Looking ahead, the company aims to expand its international presence while continuing to develop advanced shredding and recycling solutions to address the growing volumes and evolving requirements of the global recycling industry.

For more information, visit: www.fornnax.com