Sluggish domestic demand, rising costs to hit prospects of tile firms

Sector reported record exports in July, expected to support setback in India market

Stocks of tile companies are down 9-11 per cent over the past month over concerns about a rise in input costs and sluggish domestic demand. While strong exports are expected to help stabilise prices in the domestic market, the surge in gas prices over the last couple of months could hurt companies' margins in the second half of FY24.

Tile companies posted a steady 7-8 per cent volume growth in the June quarter, but demand in the domestic market became sluggish in the September quarter. “Our recent channel checks suggest that the demand scenario weakened again in July–August. Channel partners