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The Great Pet Coke Roller Coaster

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A few months back, in April 2017 to be specific, we wrote in these columns that "Looking into the future, we are left wondering if pet coke is really a sustainable cost advantage, or an environmental adventure that can backfire". To further explain, we had stated as our view, that firstly, the cost advantage had turned volatile, given the inherent fluctuations in international coal prices, pet coke prices, shipping costs, and currency rate changes, all of which induce a lot of uncertainties in the cost savings between landed cost of coal and pet coke on the basis of Rupees per unit of calorific value. Secondly, and more significantly, various stakeholders like environmental activists, regulators, green courts, and civil society members have started looking down upon pet coke to be an utterly unwise fuel choice from the environmental perspective. Looking back today, it would appear that some of what we anticipated have actually happened, lending an amount of credibility to our thoughts.

From April to this day, it has been a veritable roller coaster ride for cement plants using pet coke as fuel, in part or in full. The ride has been particularly daunting for those cement plants located in states bordering the National Capital Region. It has actually been somewhat like a "do’s and don’t’s" lesson in risk assessment and mitigation, at least on hindsight. What exactly happened?

Well, a lot of things, actually! Over the last few years, consumption of pet coke has spiked in India, driven particularly by the cement industry, and also by some of the power generating stations, and imports have sharply increased as well. Currently, India has been importing around 12 million tonnes of this fossil fuel, in addition to using up our own domestic production of around 12 million tonne. How did this growth of pet coke consumption come about? Many cement factories have been spending considerable amount of time and money to learn how to use more and more pet coke in their kilns without destabilising their chemical processes. In doing this, cement companies were goaded and incentivised by price increases and auctions by Coal India, threats of gradual withdrawal of so called "linkage coal", and similar other environmental stimulus. On the other hand, consider the negative signals emanating from the external environment, such as, the largest domestic producer of pet coke has invested in a huge gasification facility to enable in-house consumption of pet coke, and consider also that international prices of pet coke has been exceedingly volatile. But, recently, a few disruptive things happened in quick succession.

What with the high levels of pollution Delhi, the National Green Tribunal banned use of furnace oil and pet coke in states neighbouring the capital region. There was also a lot of focus on high-sulphur pet coke because of its adverse impact on environment. ET reported that this move could impact the earnings of the relevant cement companies by as much as 8 per cent. Then, after hectic lobbying, there was a relaxation for cement kilns, given its capacity to burn pet coke in an environment-friendly manner. But the relaxation came with a suggestion to nudge the government to discourage pet coke use, including considering a ban on its imports. But the government reacted in the only way governments can – by imposing an import duty on the commodity. Now, this was an interesting move, in that, it increases the indirect tax revenues of the government, but more interestingly, this immediately gave an opportunity to even the domestic suppliers of pet coke to jack up prices in a proportionate manner.

India Ratings said in its report, "The operating margins of cement companies, which use high proportion of pet coke are likely to be affected following the government’s decision to increase the import duty on pet coke to 10 percent from the present 2.5 per cent. The operating margins of cement manufacturers may fall by about 1 per cent, if the increased cost is not passed on to end users," – coming on top of a 32 per cent rise in pet coke prices already in the first half of FY18, with a 44 per cent hike in coal prices and a 7 per cent increase in diesel prices to boot, this is bad news for the cement industry.

So, it appears that this roller coaster ride has turned out to be rather distressing, and not so much of an enjoyable encounter for the cement players. An environmental adventure that really backfired!

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Economy & Market

Hindalco Buys US Speciality Alumina Firm for $125 Million

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This strategic acquisition marks a significant investment in speciality alumina, a key step by Aditya Birla Group’s metals flagship towards becoming future-ready by scaling its high-value, technology-led materials portfolio.

Hindalco Industries, the world’s largest aluminium company by revenue and the metals flagship of the $28 billion Aditya Birla Group, has announced the acquisition of a 100 per cent equity stake in US-based AluChem Companies—a prominent manufacturer of speciality alumina—for an enterprise value of $125 million. The transaction will be executed through Aditya Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary.

This acquisition represents a pivotal investment in speciality alumina and advances Hindalco’s strategy to expand its high-value, technology-led materials portfolio.

Hindalco’s speciality alumina business, a key pillar of its value-added strategy, has delivered consistent double-digit growth in recent years. It has emerged as a high-growth, high-margin vertical within the company’s portfolio. As speciality alumina finds expanding applications across electric mobility, semiconductors, and precision ceramics, the deal positions Hindalco further up the innovation curve, enabling next-generation alumina solutions and value-accretive growth.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, called the acquisition an important step in their global strategy to build a leadership position in value-added, high-tech materials.

“Our strategic foray into the speciality alumina space will not only accelerate the development of future-ready, sustainable solutions but also open new pathways to pursue high-impact growth opportunities. By integrating advanced technologies into our value chain, we are reinforcing our commitment to self-reliance, import substitution, and building scale in innovation-led businesses.”

Ronald P Zapletal, Founder, AluChem Companies, said the partnership with Hindalco would provide AluChem the ability and capital to scale up faster and build scale in North America.

“AluChem will benefit from their world-class sustainability and safety standards and practices, access to integrated operations and a consistent, reliable raw material supply chain. Their ability to leverage R&D capabilities and a talented workforce adds tremendous value to our innovation pipeline, helping drive market expansion beyond North America.”

An Eye on the Future

The global speciality alumina market is projected to grow significantly, with rising demand for tailored solutions in sectors such as ceramics, electronics, aerospace, and medical applications. Hindalco currently operates 500,000 tonnes of speciality alumina capacity and aims to scale this up to 1 million tonnes by FY2030.

Commenting on the development, Satish Pai, Managing Director, Hindalco Industries, said the deal reinforced their commitment to innovation and global expansion.

“As alumina gains increasing relevance in critical and clean-tech sectors, AluChem’s advanced chemistry capabilities will significantly enhance our ability to serve these fast-evolving markets. Importantly, it deepens our high-value-added portfolio with differentiated products that drive profitability and strengthen our global competitiveness.”

AluChem adds a strong North American presence to Hindalco’s portfolio, with an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes across three advanced manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Arkansas. The company is a long-standing supplier of ultra-low soda calcined and tabular alumina, materials prized for their thermal and mechanical stability and widely used in precision engineering and high-performance refractories.

Saurabh Khedekar, CEO of the Alumina Business at Hindalco Industries, said the acquisition unlocked immediate synergies, including market access and portfolio diversification.

“Hindalco plans to work with AluChem’s high performance technology solutions and scale up production of ultra-low soda alumina products to drive a larger global market share.”

The transaction is expected to close in the upcoming quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

 

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Concrete

Shree Cement reports 2025 financial year results

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Shree Cement posted revenue of US$2.38 billion for FY2025, marking a 5.5 per cent decline year-on-year. Operating costs rose 2.9 per cent to US$2.17 billion, resulting in an EBITDA of US$528 million—down 12 per cent from the previous year. Net profit fell 50 per cent to US$141 million. The company reported cement sales of 9.84Mt in Q4 FY2025, a 3.3 per cent increase from 9.53Mt in Q4 FY2024, with premium products making up 16 per cent of total sales.

Image source:https://newsmantra.in/

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Concrete

Rekha Onteddu to become director at Sagar Cements

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Sagar Cements has announced the appointment of Rekha Onteddu as a non-executive independent director, effective 30 June 2025. According to People in Business News, Rekha Onteddu is currently serving in a similar capacity at Andhra Cements, the parent company of Sagar Cements.

Image source:https://sagarcements.in/

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