The domestic cement industry saw no major relief from the demand slowdown in August, too. If the sales numbers declared by top cement makers are anything to go by, growth in August will remain flat or marginally better than June-July. The cement manufacturers’ association will declare the industry’s number next week.
Monsoon and no major infrastructure project continue to dent cement demand and prices.
Swiss cement major Holcim came up with yet another set of disappointing numbers for the month. The company, present in India through ACC and Ambuja Cements, witnessed decline in production and despatches. (See table)
Sales slipped by 2.6 per cent to 3 million tonnes against 3.08 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. On the production front too, Holcim got a hit of 2.62 per cent at 2.97 million tonnes, compared to 3.05 million tonnes last year.
On a standalone basis, ACC continued to remain in the negative territory, both in production and despatches. ACC’s despatches slipped by 4.85 per cent to 1.57 million tonnes. Ambuja managed to sustain its sales, but took a minor hit of 0.7 per cent in production.
Industry experts attributed delays in stabilisation of commissioned units of ACC and the weak demand scenario for cement during monsoon to the poor performance of Holcim in India.
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UltraTech Cement of the Aditya Birla group showed marginal increase in sales at 2.4 per cent. The company sold 2.96 million tonnes of the building material in August. However, its production growth was much lesser at 0.81 per cent.
On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates, a dominant cement player in the central region, continued with its high trajectory growth on the back of low base last year. Sales jumped 51 per cent to 1.08 million tonnes from 0.71 million tonnes last year.
Sales of Shree Cement, a north-based cement giant, grew 2.47 per cent to 0.7 million tonnes, against 0.68 million tonnes last year. However, during April-August, the company witnessed de-growth in sales.