Connect with us

Concrete

India follows Japanese tech in manufactured sand segmen

Published

on

Shares

Manufactured sand is fulfilling 50 per cent of the total demand for sand being used in concrete mixtures in the country.

Manufactured sand is fulfilling 50 per cent of the total demand for sand being used in concrete mixtures in the country. Sanjay Nikam, CEO and Principal Business Consultant with Suru09 Business Services, feels that with the shortfall in river sand, the demand for m-sand will accelerate manifolds.

Can you explain the different types of sand?

There are different kinds of sands. For instance, the crush stone sand is a fine aggregate produced by crushing hard stone. The crush grail sand is a fine aggregate produced by crushing natural gravel; mix sand is a mix of the two. Then there is manufactured sand which is produced from resources other than natural resources

What are the key challenges faced by the manufactured sand industry?

The industry is facing many challenges. First and foremost is the challenge being the paucity of a uniform regulation pan India. Presently, different state governments have different licensing provisions, norms for royalty payments, sand dredging, etc. This results in disparity, cost undercutting and the easy availability of low-grade sand at cheaper rates in the market. Secondly, the crush quarry are smaller in size (25-50 acres) as compared to a cement mining area that can range beyond 1000 acres. That means one cannot have bigger area of operations. The output from these crusher plants range from 25,000 to 40,000 tons a month. Thirdly, logistics and local issues play a key role in this industry essentially because we are located very close to the city.

What is the ratio of aggregates and m-sand used in concrete?

In concrete, for every ton of cement used, the ration of aggregates used is 7 to 10 times higher. Of this, 50 percent is sand. For e.g., if the requirement of sand is 15,000 million tons, manufactured sand constitutes 50 percent.

Manufactured sand consumption has picked up from 2008, and the uptake was faster because of a decline in the volume of supplied river sand. While river sand registered a negative CAGR (-2 percent), the manufactured sand is registering a CAGR of 35 percent for the past couple of years. Fine aggregate offers better benefit and value than the coarse aggregator.

What kind of investments or expansion plans are you witnessing in the m-sand segment?

Realizing the poetical of the segment, there is a steady flow of investments. The number of players in m-sand segment has increased which encourages healthy competition. Also, there are players who are looking at aggregators and m-sand as apart of portfolio diversification. Globally if you take the leading cement players, they are present in the cement, RMC and aggregator segments. The trend will soon follow in India.

You mentioned changing global trends in the usage of m-sand. Can you elaborate further?

Globally, Japan is the first country to develop technology in the engineered sand segment because of the shortage of river sand. In Asia, China took the first move in the same direction because of the shortfall faced. Now that India also has challenges with river sand, the country has adopted Japanese technology to manufacture m- sand in the country. The adoption of m-sand in Europe and US is comparatively lower as governments in these continents have not imposed restriction on river sand dredging.

Renjini Liza Varghese

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Concrete

Cement industry to gain from new infrastructure spending

Published

on

By

Shares



As per a news report, Karan Adani, ACC Chair, has said that he expects the cement industry to benefit from the an anticipated US$2.2tn in new public infrastructure spending between 2025 and 2030. In a statement he said that ACC has crossed the 100Mt/yr cement capacity milestone in April 2025, propelling the company to get closer to its ambitious 140Mt/yr target by the 2028 financial year. The company’s capacity corresponds to 15 per cent of an all-India installed capacity of 686Mt/yr.

Image source:https://cementplantsupplier.com/cement-manufacturing/emerging-trends-in-cement-manufacturing-technology/

Continue Reading

Concrete

AI boom drives demand, says ACA

Published

on

By

Shares



The American Cement Association projects a nearly 1Mt annual increase in US cement demand over the next three years, driven by the surge in AI data centres. Consumption by data centres is expected to grow from 247,000 tonnes in 2025 to 860,000 tonnes by 2027. With over 5,400 AI data centres currently operating and numbers forecast to exceed 6,000 by 2027, the association cautions that regulatory hurdles and labour shortages may impact the industry’s ability to meet demand.

Image source:https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1zOrih.img?w=2000&h=1362&m=4&q=79

Continue Reading

Concrete

GoldCrest Cement to build plant in India

Published

on

By

Shares



GoldCrest Cement will build a greenfield integrated plant with a 3.5Mt/yr clinker capacity and 4.5Mt/yr cement capacity. GoldCrest Cement appointed Humboldt Wedag India as engineering, procurement and construction contractor in March 2025 and targets completion by March 2027. It has signed a 40-year supply agreement with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation for 150Mt of limestone from its upcoming Lakhpat Punrajpur mine in Gujarat.

Continue Reading

Trending News

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

 

Don't miss out on valuable insights and opportunities to connect with like minded professionals.

 


    This will close in 0 seconds

    This will close in 0 seconds