Georgian Cement Company (GCC) has opened its new cement plant in Poti, with an initial annual capacity of 0.25 mtpa. The plant has been set up in partnership with Lafarge, which has since merged with Holcim to become LafargeHolcim. The new plant boasts of a unique laboratory based on LafargeHolcim´s standards.

Cement companies having substantial exposure to northern and central India are expected to report stronger earnings in growth as compared to pan-India firms.

UltraTech Cements plans to hike its cement prices due to subdued demand outlook and prospects of rising energy costs. Cement demand in the September quarter was impacted by a slowdown in construction activities due to consistent rains and sand shortage.

Cement production registered a slow growth of 4.6 per cent during April-July 2016; however, this was higher than the 1.4 per cent growth in production during April-July last year.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed more than Rs 6,700 crore penalty on 11 cement companies - UltraTech, Binani, Ramco, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Lafarge, India Cements, ACL, ACC, Century, Shree Cement, besides Cement Manufacturers´ Association (CMA) - for cartelisation

Dalmia Cement Bharat, the cement arm of Dalmia Bharat Group, has set up a research and development (R&D) centre at Padi in Chennai. The centre has been launched to support the manufacturing, marketing and innovation initiatives of the company and deliver ground-breaking solutions, which will create industry benchmarks.

In the largest rupee bond sale for a leveraged buyout, Ahmedabad-based detergent major Nirma has raised a Rs 4,000-crore debt to buy the cement business of French major Lafarge India.

The India Cements has embarked on a two-pronged initiative to stay ´healthy and all-time fit´. The exercise will largely focus on delivering value for stakeholders in the company.

A recovery in demand on the back of a good monsoon this year and low capacity additions are likely to reflect in the earnings of cement companies, leading to a re-rating of shares of these firms, according to a Deutsche Bank sector note.