Cement industry posts good sales growth in Nov

Reflecting the robust growth witnessed by the Indian economy, major cement manufacturers, including Ambuja Cements, Jaiprakash Associates and Shree Cement, today reported increase in their sales in November.

Leading cement maker Ambuja Cements reported 4.87 per cent jump in its sales in November at 15.50 lakh tonnes as against 14.78 lakh tonnes in the same month last year.

While Shree Cement's sales soared by 15.28 per cent last month, Jaiprakash Associates posted 48.77 per cent jump in its cement sales over the same month in 2008.

Shree Cement despatched 7.09 lakh tonnes in November as against 6.15 lakh tonnes in the same month last year. Jaiprakash Associates's despatches climbed to 10.26 lakh tonnes compared with 6.89 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

The growth witnessed in the cement industry, which is a core sector, was in expected lines after the country's economy clocked a robust 7.9 per cent growth in the second quarter, proving all expectations too conservative.

Construction sector, which has a cascading effect on economy, grew less in July-September quarter at 6.5 per cent against 7.1 per cent in Q1 and 9.6 per cent in Q2 last fiscal. The manufacturing sector, which drew benefits of the two stimulus packages, expanded by a smart 9.2 per cent as against 3.4 per cent in the preceding quarter and 5.1 per cent in the second quarter of the last fiscal.

From last December through March 2009, the government had cut excise duty by 6 per cent and service tax by 2 per cent, besides stepping up plan expenditure to generate demand.