Cement dispatches for the month of December.

Cement dispatches for the month of December increases, its a surprise jump shock to industry!....

Cement dispatches in December rose 12% to 16.01 million tonnes (mt) against 14.34 mt in November, while production was up 10% to 15.82 mt in 14 mt in November. Production and sales in October were almost flat at 14.76 mt and 14.30 mt when compared to November. This seems to be pre-poll demand and is likely to sustain till May. The stimulus package driven boost to infrastructure has caused a demand pick-up in the cement sector. The demand has been boosted by state government project restarts including the sewerage line project in Punjab; the national irrigation project in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh; roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects in Gujarat; the concretization of roads in Delhi; and the Bangalore Metro in Karnataka.

Even the imports from Pakistan reduced drastically after imposing countervailing duty. After imposing CVD, Pakistani cement price in the Indian markets has surged to Rs 225-235 from Rs 210-215 a bag, while domestic cement is available at Rs 220-230 a bag. Though the quantity of import from Pakistan has been declining since October it dropped to 70,000-80,000 tonnes in December from a high of 1.5 lakh tonnes registered in the first half of the year. This is good for northern base Cement manufactures; the companies like Shree Cement, Binani and Ambuja will be benefited.