Binani hopes to buy Indonesian coal mine in 2-3 months
Binani Cement today said it is hopeful of concluding the transaction for coal mine acquisition in Indonesia in the next two to three months.
"We are still negotiating, but hope to conclude the deal in the next two to three months," Binani Cement Managing Director Vinod Juneja told PTI.
Binani Cement, which has 6Mt installed capacity now, needs to import 6-7 lakh tonnes of coal to feed its plants in a year.
The company also plans to put up a 2.5Mta clinker plant in Gujarat with an investment of Rs 800 crore and is awaiting for the state government’s mining policy to take the plan forward.
Juneja said the company was looking to acquire a mine, which might meet 70-80 per cent of its total coal demand for 10-20 years.
Binani Cement plans to put up a subsidiary in Singapore which would take the company’s acquisition plan forward, he said.
Juneja said the company has chalked out a plan to double its cement capacity in the next two years through organic and inorganic routes.
"We are looking for acquisition. We have appointed an investment banker which is doing the due diligence for a target in Turkey," Juneja said, declining to give further details.
Juneja said the Indian cement industry may is witness margins getting squeezed if the coal and energy prices go up further.
"Margins till September has improved, but it will come down if coal and energy prices escalate. However, if petroleum prices go up, coal prices will also increase."
Binani’s current capacity utilisation stood at 95 per cent, he said and hoped the company would be able to maintain the tempo in the remaining period of the current fiscal as the demand for cement from North India would remain firm till the end of the Commonwealth Games in October next year.
Published under Cement News
