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Leading cement companies, buoyed by a high single-digit volume growth in the July-September quarter along with an increased sales realisation, expect a better performance in the second half of the current fiscal, betting big on the housing sector and the government's spending on key infra projects. Top five cement makers such as UltraTech, Ambuja Cement, Shree Cement, Dalmia Bharat and Nuvoco Vistas have reported up to 18 per cent growth in their revenue from operations in the second quarter ended September, backed by healthy sales realisations, benign costs and premiumisation. As prices of coal have declined and that of diesel stable on a year-to-year basis, even though the rate of petcoke increased, cement companies in their latest earnings calls said they expect a better performance in the second half (H2) of FY26, to be led by the individual home builders (IHB) segment in rural and urban areas, helped by factors such as a good monsoon and recent tax incentives and GST reforms by
Cement prices have seen a sharp escalation in the current fiscal, following upward pressure from input fuel costs, particularly petroleum coke (petcoke), industry sources said. The all-India average cement price reached Rs 360 per 50-kg bag in May 2025, about 8 per cent higher year-on-year after a steep decline the previous year. While regional differences persist - with eastern India seeing the sharpest increases (Rs 20 a bag in West Bengal) and western markets rising by a modest Rs 3 - the trend across the country is clearly upward. May is the latest all-India data available. Sources said demand remains robust, growing 9 per cent in May to 39.6 tonnes, underpinned by housing and government-led infrastructure. Analysts forecast 6-7 per cent growth in FY2026 volumes to 480-485 tonnes. The strongest upward pressure is coming from fuel costs, particularly petroleum coke (petcoke), which constitutes over 50 per cent of the cement industry's fuel mix. In the spot market, international
Appellate tribunal NCLAT has dismissed the plea against the acquisition of Vadraj Cement by Nirma group cement business Nuvoco Vistas Corporation during an insolvency resolution process. The Delhi-based principal bench of NCLAT has upheld the previous order passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which on April 1, 2025, approved Nuvoco Vistas's plan for Vadraj Cement that includes an upfront payment of Rs 1,800 crore. A two-member NCLAT bench comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member (Technical) Barun Mitra rejected an appeal filed by an employee and authorised representative of employees of Vadraj Cement against the approval of Nuvoco Vistas's bid over their payout regarding their gratuity dues. Gujarat-based Vadraj Cement, formerly owned by ABG Shipyard, which has a 3.5 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) clinker unit in Kutch and a 6 MMTPA grinding unit in Surat, along with a captive jetty in Kutch, has a total debt of over Rs 8,000 crore
The cement demand, which grew 7 per cent year-on-year in April this year, may be impacted by the early onset of monsoon, according to a report by rating agency Ind-Ra. However, overall cement demand is expected to grow in single digits in the June quarter on the weak base a year ago due to general elections, it said. The cement volumes witnessed a "notable recovery of 10-11 per cent y-o-y" in the March 2025 quarter after recording a subdued 2 per cent growth in the first half of the last fiscal. "The recovery was driven by an 11 per cent y-o-y pick-up in infrastructure to Rs 10.5 trillion, led by the central government capex after a similar y-o-y decline in 8M FY25," it said. Despite this late recovery, the weak H1 restricted the overall demand growth for FY25 to 5 to 6 per cent, which is the lowest since the pandemic affected FY21, the report said. Moreover, price hikes also aided the manufacturers in improving sales realisations in Q1 FY26 after a multi-decadal fall last fiscal.
HeidelbergCement India Ltd has reported a 4.75 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 50.45 crore in the March quarter of FY25. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 48.16 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago, HeidelbergCement India said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Its revenue from operations was 2.66 per cent to Rs 612.46 crore in the March quarter. It was at Rs 596.55 crore a year ago. The company recorded a rise in revenue, which was "primarily due to 2 per cent increase in sales volume and 1 per cent increase in prices", the company said in its earnings statement. Total expenses of HeidelbergCement India in the March quarter were at Rs 544.11 crore, up 1.75 per cent. Its total income was at Rs 623.67 crore in the March quarter, up 2.18 per cent. HeidelbergCement India is a subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials, a German multinational building materials company. For the financial year ended on Mar 31, 2025, HeidelbergCement's net profit was down 36.4 per c
Growing cement demand will fuel consolidation in the cement sector, where large players are acquiring smaller regional players as they rush to increase production capacity to match the rising consumption, said Moody's Ratings. Over the past five years, the cement sector in India has witnessed significant industry consolidation and top 10 producers in the country have acquired around 140 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) of domestic cement capacity, valued at around Rs 890 billion (USD 10.5 billion), from smaller regional players, it said. "Large companies with a pan-India presence such as UltraTech and Ambuja will continue to engage in M&A (merger and acquisition) to acquire smaller regional producers with weaker capacity utilisation and lower profitability," it said. Given the presence of a large number of smaller cement producers, numbering over 70, companies in South India are more exposed to industry consolidation compared with those domiciled in other parts of the ...
Cement manufacturing company Kanodia Cement has filed preliminary papers with the markets regulator Sebi, seeking its approval to float an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO is entirely an Offer For Sale (OFS) of 1.49 crore shares by promoters and an individual shareholder, with no fresh issue component, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed on Thursday. Since the public issue is completely an OFS, the company will not receive any funds from the issue and entire proceeds will go to selling shareholders. Kanodia Cement is a cement manufacturing company operating through Satellite Grinding Units (SGUs) in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, specialising in the production of blended cement such as Portland Pozzolana Cement and Composite Cement. It operates through a unique combination of business-to-business contract manufacturing for cement brands (Contract Manufacturing Model); and production and marketing of its own consumer brands (Business-to-Consumer
Large cement companies have reported a volume growth in the March 2025 quarter and expect enhanced performance in FY26 on better sales realisation and stable demand. Leading listed cement firms like UltraTech, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Shree Cements, and Dalmia Bharat have retained around 7 to 7.5 per cent growth for the cement industry in FY26, following government spending on infrastructure projects and rural recovery. However, they are cautious about the geopolitical tensions and changing trade landscape. In the March quarter, cement makers reported gains in volumes, ranging from 3.5 to 10 per cent and an enhanced capacity utilisation on a year-on-year basis. However, their topline numbers continue to face challenges on account of lower year-on-year sales realisation, though input costs for coal, petcoke and diesel were significantly cheaper. The all-India average cement price was around Rs 350 per 50 kg bag in March 2025. Overall, in FY25, cement prices declined by 7 per cent ...