Cement stocks crack on poor demand

Shares of Indian cement majors are trading weak today as reports suggest that February dispatch numbers have turned out to be poor. On top of it recent diesel price hike for bulk buyers making freight charges expensive took an additional toll on the counters.

UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement maker with a capacity of 52 million tonnes per annum, traded around 2% down in the morning trade. The Aditya Birla firm is already grappling with shut down at its 3.5 mtpa Maharashtra unit on the back of stoppage of work by workers.

Swiss major Holcim's both Indian entities - ACC and Ambuja, are hit harder. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, shares of ACC traded at Rs 1,222, down 3.6% or Rs 46 a share. Stocks of its sistern-concern Ambuja nose-dived over 4% to trade at Rs 184.

Likewise, shares of India Cements and JK Lakshmi Cement were trading lower 4-7% down. Other cement stocks showed marginal decline.