Cement industry may post double-digit growth

Strong sales from ACC, Ambuja and UltraTech is likely to push the cement sector back to double-digit growth. Going by the strong sales figures of top companies, industry analysts said the sector may post 11-13 per cent growth in July.

The industry posted the lowest growth in FY11 in over a decade at less than five per cent. Its first quarter results witnessed a mere 0.50 per cent growth year-on-year. Striking double-digit growth will come as a major boost to the world's second largest cement industry.

Swiss major Holcim, which owns ACC and Ambuja Cements, outperformed its peers. ACC, with a capacity of 30 million tonnes, posted a whopping 28 per cent growth in its despatches, which stood at two million tonnes in July, against 1.56 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Likewise, Ambuja recorded 14 per cent growth in its sales for the month.

India' largest cement maker Aditya Birla group's UltraTech Cement did reasonably well with 7.4 per cent sales growth. The cement giant sold over three million tonnes in July. Last week, the company had surprised the markets by posting far better quarterly earnings. JP Associates witnessed close to 19 per cent sales growth in July.

The top four players have 42 per cent market share. “Collectively, their sales have moved north by over 15 per cent. This clearly indicates the overall industry's despatches should be around 11-13 per cent,” said the research head of a Mumbai-based brokerage firm.