Cement production rises over 10% in Q1

Major cement companies reported a rise of 10-13.5 per cent in production in June over the corresponding month last year. The rise in the first quarter (April-June) for 2004-05 has also been 10 per cent and above for these companies.

The Aditya Birla group led the pack with its cement production during the month growing 13.49 per cent to 22.85 lakh tonne. The company's despatches rose by 9.79 per cent to 22.62 lakh tonne over June 2004. Grasim and UltraTech are the two cement companies under the group's umbrella.

The group's cement production for the April-June period this year stood at 72.68 lakh tonne, up by 12 per cent as against 64.89 lakh tonne during the corresponding period last year, the company said in a release today.

Despatches at 72.18 lakh tonne grew 11.24 per cent during the three-month period as against 64.88 lakh mt during the year-ago period, it added.

ACC achieved a cement production of 14.45 lakh tonne in the last month, a growth of 10 per cent compared with a production of 13.14 lakh tonne during June 2004.

The company achieved despatches of 14.74 lakh tonne during the month, a 10.49 per cent growth over 13.34 lakh tonne in the year-ago period. In the first quarter of this fiscal, the company's production grew by 9.46 per cent to 45.45 lakh tonne compared with 41.52 lakh tonne in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal.

The company's cement despatches during the quarter under review grew to 45.68 lakh tonne, a 10.68 per cent growth compared with 41.27 lakh tonne in the previous comparable period.

Production of Gujarat Ambuja Cements in June increased 10 per cent to 10.89 lakh tonne compared with 9.87 lakh tonne in the same month last fiscal.