July show: Cement companies deliver a mixed bag

Cement makers have come up with a mixed show in July with several players registering a decline in month-on-month growth, while others showing an increase.

Players such as UltraTech, Grasim and Ambuja have shown a decline in their despatches, while Shree Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, Dalmia Cement and ACC have reported rise.

The northern and central regions of the country have once again emerged as the main driving factors for growth in demand. Both Shree and Jaiprakash are primarily based in these regions. ACC too has a substantial exposure to north, central as well as east India.

The companies which have announced their July numbers include ACC, Grasim Industries (including UltraTech), Shree Cement, Ambuja Cements, Jaiprakash Associates, Dalmia Cement and JK Lakshmi, among others.

Grasim Industries, along with its wholly-owned subsidiary UltraTech Cement, for instance, registered a growth of 10 per cent in its despatches in July compared with a growth of 22 per cent in the previous month.

Similarly, despatches of Ambuja and JK Lakshmi grew by 4.35 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, which stood at 8.1 per cent and 19 per cent last month.

On the other hand, cement makers in northern and central India, such as Shree Cement and Jaiprakash Associates, continued with their robust performance and came up with an exceptional growth of 43 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively, in July. ACC’s despatch growth in the month, despite its capacity constraints, was 4 per cent compared with 1.1 per cent in June.

The Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA) had indicated last week that growth rate in July might not be as high as June, but it estimated the growth to be around 11 per cent. The industry’s statistics would be released by CMA later this week.

Industry analysts said that at a time when GDP growth rate was being estimated at around 7 per cent for the current year, a consistent monthly growth of 12 per cent was not possible. In the June quarter, the industry had clocked a growth of 12 per cent on a year-on-year basis.