Sri Lanka operations back to normal, no pending dues: UltraTech Cement

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UltraTech Cement’s export volumes saw a sequential recovery in the March-23 ended quarter, owing to normalisation of operations in Sri Lanka, top executives from the company informed analysts. Further, the company also said it aims to increase its stake in the UAE-based RAK White Cement asset and make it a subsidiary in the current financial year.

“It’s almost normalised, and we have started getting back our volumes,” Atul Daga, executive director and chief financial officer for UltraTech told analysts in an earning call post March-23 ended quarter results. “At the peak of the problem time, we had almost Rs 250 crore outstanding from Lanka; everything, the last penny has been received, volumes have started picking up. The economies started picking up. So our exports are also going up,” Daga added.

For FY22-23, UltraTech reported full-year exports at 0.5 million tonnes, 43 percent lower than a year ago. For the March-23 ended quarter, the company exported 0.2 million tonnes, down 17 percent year on year, but up 50 percent sequentially. The majority of UltraTech’s exports are to Sri Lanka, which fell to almost nil at the start of FY22-23 owing to the political instability in the island country.

RAK White Cement

Daga in the earnings call, also said the company is working on increasing its stake in UAE-based RAK White Cement. “Hopefully, in this financial year, we'll be able to consolidate, make it our subsidiary,” the executive added.

UltraTech’s white cement sales in India were at 1.6 million tonnes in FY22-23, up 11 percent. The company has started branding RAK White Cement’s output under the Birla White branding, to be imported into India. In April 2022, UltraTech increased its stake in RAK White Cement, through its subsidiary, to 29.79 percent, with an investment of $101 million.