Cement manufacturers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana today justified the recent price hike, saying the industry is in 'deep troubles' and the hike is in tandem with the rising raw material cost.
"Cement industry is going through very difficult phase during past three years because of demand and supply mismatch.
"Particularly in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the supply exceeds the demand. Demand has been affected due to agitations in the combined state in the past, resulting in decline in construction activity," S Sambasiva Rao, director, Sree Jayajothy Cements Ltd, told reporters here.
Rao said raw materiel and diesel prices have gone up substantially in last three years, forcing the cement makers to incur more transportation cost, which has resulted in over all price hike of cement.
Representatives of other cement manufacturing companies also addressed the conference.
The cement makers said it is not possible to sell cement less than Rs 335 per bag in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Alleging cartelisation and unilateral price hike of cement by over 50 per cent in the last one month, builders in both the states have been observing cement purchase holiday for the last three weeks.
"Cement prices have never been constant. The industry in both states have been incurring losses due to sluggish demand," Sagar Cement Ltd Joint Managing Director S Anand Reddy said.
