Cement Production

Leading cement makers reported strong double-digit year-on-year growth in sales volumes during the December 2025 quarter, even as their realisations came under pressure. The companies remain optimistic of further improvement in demand and prices in the coming months, aided by benign inflation, supportive tax rationalisation measures and healthy infrastructure-led growth. Industry leaders, including UltraTech, Ambuja Cements, Shree Cement, Dalmia Bharat, JK Lakshmi Cement and JSW Cement, saw higher capacity utilisation and expansion in volumes. However, overall profitability was impacted by rising input costs, provisions under new labour codes and elevated prices of pet coke and coal. Despite these challenges, toplines were supported by premiumisation, improved product mix and higher non-trade sales. Apart from grey cement, companies also reported robust growth in their Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) business, which registered high double-digit expansion. Leading cement maker UltraTech .

While monsoons and consumption deferrals following the GST rationalisation impacted demand in Sep'25, prices largely held firm, signalling resilience in the sector, Nuvama analysts said

Elara Capital cautions that the near-term pricing environment remains weak, with operating leverage and higher costs likely to weigh on profitability in Q2FY26 and potentially spill over into Q3FY26.

JK Cement share price today: On the bourses, JK Cement share price rose up to 1.21 per cent to an intraday high of ₹6,660 per share.

At 10:41 AM, the stock was trading 5.38 per cent lower at ₹1,075, underperforming the broader BSE Sensex, which was down 0.54 per cent at 80,188.05.

Orient Cement shares rose over 6 per cent after the company posted a multi-fold jump in the June quarter net profit

The cement industry has registered a 9 per cent volume growth in May this year at 39.6 million metric tonnes (MT), while the average cement prices also increased by 8 per cent, says a report. According to the latest report by rating agency ICRA, the cement industry, which is facing a lower sales realisation, also reported a price growth of 8 per cent to Rs 360 per 50 kg bag in May 2025. Moreover, there is also improvement in operating margins, led by stable input costs as energy prices of coal and petcoke, are lower and diesel prices are stable, the report added. "In the first two months (April and May) of FY'26, the prices were up 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 360/bag (of 50 kg). In FY2025, cement prices declined by 7 per cent YoY to Rs 340/bag," it said. Moreover, in the months of April and May this fiscal, volumes increased by 8 per cent YoY to 78.7 million MT. "In FY2025, volumes rose by 6.3 per cent to 453.0 million MT," it said. Based on this, ICRA expects cement volum

India's cement production rose 6.66% YoY in April 2025 to 39.88 MMT but saw a steep 16.7% drop from March as fiscal-end construction demand eased

JK Cement stock rose as much as 10.5 per cent during the day to hit a life high after reporting a 64 per cent jump in its net profit

Birla Corp.'s stock rose as much as 20 per cent during the day to an upper circuit of ₹1,268.8 per share, the biggest intraday gain since May 26, 2020

January's growth was largely driven by a 14.5% surge in cement production and an 8.3% uptick in refinery products

With industry focus shifting to volume growth in the closing quarter of the year, the likelihood of substantial price hikes in the near-term remains low due to the continued high competitive pressure

Cement and ready-mix concrete (RMC) company UltraTech Cement on Thursday said it has signed a collaboration agreement with the Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) for a new technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement production. The new technology, The Zero Carbon Lime (ZeroCAL), developed by ICM at the University of California, Los Angeles, can nearly reduce 98 per cent carbon dioxide emissions associated with limestone decomposition in cement manufacturing, the company said in a statement. ICM, in partnership with UltraTech, will build a first-of-a-kind demonstration plant for the technology at one of UltraTech's integrated cement manufacturing units, it added. "Partnerships like these, which place an emphasis on developing and deploying new and emerging technologies, will be a key enabler in our sector's efforts to accelerate decarbonisation and deliver carbon neutral concrete by 2050," UltraTech Managing Director K C Jhanwar added.

The potential deal is the latest in Adani Group's massive expansion push in the cement sector. The company entered the industry in 2022 by acquiring Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cement

Three of the top-five cement makers saw their dealer count fall in FY24

Brokerage firm Antique predicts that the cost curve for cement is likely to continue sliding downward in the second half of the financial year 2024-25

Leading cement manufacturers reported single-digit volume growth in the June quarter, though their topline was muted on account of the continued downtrend in the price. Listed manufacturers such as UltraTech, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Shree Cements, and Dalmia Bharat - in their latest quarter earnings reported gains in volumes, ranging from 3 to 9 per cent and increase in capacity utilisation. However, soft cement prices have put their topline under pressure in the April-June period. Besides, raw material costs went up marginally due to an increase in the cost of fly ash and slag. The all-India average cement price was at around Rs 348 per 50 kg bag in June 2024, down around 3 per cent year-on-year. However, this was higher when compared to Rs 335 per bag in May 2024. For the first two months of FY25, the average cement price was at Rs 340 per bag, down 8 per cent YoY. In FY24, the average price was Rs 365 per bag and Rs 375 per bag in FY23, according to the report. Moreover, intense .

M P Birla group flagship firm Birla Corporation on Thursday posted a 45 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 33 crore during the first quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal as compared to Rs 60 crore in the year-ago period. A company statement said that revenue of the company during the April-June period also decreased by 8.9 per cent at Rs 2,207 crore as against Rs 2,423 crore in the similar previous quarter It said weak cement prices coupled with sluggish demand have weighed down the profitability of the June quarter. Sales volumes also declined marginally in the face of contracting demand. Faced with challenging market conditions, the Kolkata-headquartered company focused on reducing variable costs in cement production across its units. The jute division of the company registered a cash loss of Rs 3.9 crore in the quarter under review against a cash profit of Rs 6.4 crore in the similar previous period. Realisation of cement sales per tonne during the first three months of the curr

PCIL's strategic location and sufficient limestone reserves provide an opportunity to increase cement capacity through debottlenecking and additional investment

The government has issued mandatory quality norms for asbestos or fibre cement-based products to curb the import of sub-standard goods and boost domestic manufacturing. A notification 'Asbestos or Fibre Cement based Products (Quality Control) Order, 2024 ' was issued in this regard by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on March 6 this year. Under these orders, items cannot be produced, sold, traded, imported and stocked unless they bear the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark. "It shall come into force on the expiry of six months from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette," the DPIIT notification said. To safeguard the domestic small/micro industries and ensure smooth implementation of the QCO and ease of doing business, relaxations have been granted to small/micro industries as regards to timeliness. An additional nine months have been given to small industries and an additional 12 months to micro industries to meet