Cement output to grow by 8.1% in FY10: CMIE

Cement production is expected to grow by 8.1 per cent and demand for the product is likely to rise by a healthy 7-7.5 per cent in 2009-10, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said.

While there is no visible recovery in cement demand from the real estate sector, the rise in cement dispatches and consumption can be attributed to healthy demand from infrastructure construction, the CMIE said in its monthly report here.

Domestic cement consumption grew by 13 per cent to 15.7 million tones for the second successive month in December 2008. Cement dispatches have also grown in the range of 11-12 per cent in November 2008 and December 2008, the report said.

As per provisional data sourced from the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA), cement dispatches rose by 8.3 per cent at 16.1 million tones in January 2009.

Cement demand from infrastructural construction has remained healthy in 2008-09 so far. Contrarily, demand from real estate slowed in the recent months due to slackening property sales, it said.