JK Lakshmi Cement to grow capacity to 10Mta – prices stable
JK Lakshmi Cement remains on target to grow total cement capacity to 10Mta by 2012-13, up from a current level of 4.7Mta.
"We stand by our earlier projection of 10Mta installed capacity by 2012-13," J K Lakshmi Cement Whole-Time Director Shailendra Chouksey told The Press Trust of India Ltd.
The company is currently setting up a 0.55Mta grinding unit at Jhajhar in Rajasthan which will go on stream by the end of current year taking its installed cement making capacity to 5.3Mta.
It is also in the process of starting construction work for a new plant at Durg in Chhattisgarh having an installed capacity of 2.7Mta. The company expects the INR1200 crore (INR1.2bn) plant to go on stream by March 2013.
The company has not ruled out the possibility of making acquisitions to meet the 2012-13 capacity target.
Meanwhile the company expects demand for cement to grow by nearly 10% in the current fiscal year: "The demand for cement grew by just 5 per cent in the last fiscal compared to 12 per cent in the previous one. It is likely to grow by 8-9 per cent this fiscal,” Mr Chouksey said.
On cement prices, Chouksey said the price of the building material would remain stable in the current fiscal as raw material prices had reached their peak and the price war, mainly fanned by the industry’s new entrants, is nearly over now.
J K Lakhsmi Cement has two manufacturing plants, one each in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and mainly serves the western and northern markets of the country.
Published under Cement News
