White cement Market in India

White cement Market in India

Introduction

White cement has all the physical properties of ordinary portland cement (OPC, which is also called grey cement), and can be substituted for OPC. However, its use is limited to tiles and flooring, as it is more expensive.

White cement is produced under a fixed manufacturing process, with smaller quantities of iron and manganese. Although white cement and grey cement have similar physical properties, they cannot be produced in the same plant.

OPC is grey in colour, due to the chemical complexes formed with iron oxide present in the cement raw meal. Moreover, haematite, bauxite and limestone are heated using coal, which gives cement its dark colour. When the proportion of iron oxide in cement is reduced to less than 0.4 per cent, cement becomes white in colour. Thus, the use of haematite is minimised for manufacturing white cement, and it is replaced by pure silica or sand. Also, the clinker for white cement is burnt using fuel oil instead of coal. Special cooling techniques are also used to manufacture white cement.

White cement in India

In India, white cement is primarily used as filler between ceramic tiles or for decorative purposes. For cement to retain its whiteness, the ash content in coal has to be minimal. However, as the ash content of domestic coal is high, gas or oil is used as a fuel to manufacture white cement. The white cement market in India is very small, as it is nearly three-times expensive than grey cement. White cement is expensive because the usage of pure silica adds to the production costs; this apart, freight costs are higher owing to the limited supply and spread-out markets. The excise duty on an ad valorem basis and higher temperature (requiring more oil) further add to production costs.

Players

Grasim and JK Synthetics are the two major players in the white cement market. Grasim's white cement plant at Khangar, Rajasthan, is the largest cement plant in India. The total installed capacity of white cement is 1.1 million tonnes.

Table 1: White cement - Capacity and production

Grasim		2000 - 01	2001 - 02	2002 - 03	2003 - 04	2004- 05	2005- 06	2006- 07	2007- 08
Installed Capacity	000 tonnes	400	400	400	400	475	475	475	475
Production	000 tonnes	252	268	310	311	315	350	365	408
Capacity Utilisation %	Per cent	63	67	78	78	66	74	77	86
Travancore		2000 - 01	2001 - 02	2002 - 03	2003 - 04	2004- 05	2005- 06	2006- 07	2007- 08
Installed Capacity	000 tonnes	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	n.a.
Production	000 tonnes	30	19	22	27	23	24	21	n.a.
Capacity Utilisation %	Per cent	100	65	75	90	77	80	72	n.a.
JK Cement		2000 - 01	2001 - 02	2002 - 03	2003 - 04	2004- 05	2005- 06	2006- 07	2007- 08
Installed Capacity	000 tonnes	300	300	300	300	300	350	400	475
Production	000 tonnes	186	184	200	216	124	227	249	408
Capacity Utilisation %	Per cent	62	61	67	72	41	65	62	86
Source: CRISIL Research