Power Cement secures investment for plant upgrade

Arif Habib Corporation Ltd (AHCL) has called extra ordinary general meeting on 26 September to make an additional investment of US$11m in Power Cement Ltd (PCL), an associated undertaking of the corporation.

PCL aims to install components/machinery to make its plant more energy efficient, according to a notification on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on 4 September. This guarantee amount by AHCL will enable PCL to negotiate a better deal with the potential supplier as AHCL will ensure the deferred payment to support the functionality, operations and growth of Power Cement and will earn commission on its non-funded exposure.

PCL has embarked upon a major expansion of its production facilities at its existing site by adding a new line of 7700tpd (2.5Mta). The expansion project is environmentally friendly, and will meet IFC and World Bank standards. After successful commissioning of the new project, the company will become the second-largest cement producer in the south with total production capacity of around 3.4Mta.

Equipment supply contracts were signed with FLSmidth for more than EUR90m and a PKR7.5bn (US$60.7m) construction contract was awarded to Tianjin Electric Power Construction of China. Work on the PKR25bn line has started.