Demand for cement picking up following increase in infrastructure

The demand for cement is slowly picking up following an increase in infrastructure and housing sector projects, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements N Srinivasan said here Thursday.

The southern region is slowly catching up with the rest of the country when it comes to the demand for cement with higher capacity utilization by the plants in the current year, Srinivasan said, while addressing shareholders at the 72nd annual general meeting of the company. Southern region registered a growth of over 20 percent in cement output during the April-June 2018 quarter primarily driven by the infrastructure push given by the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he said.

"With the rise in consumption in infrastructure and housing sectors, the future is bright for the cement industry for the next 10 years", he said. "With the focus of the central and state governments on infrastructure projects and housing schemes..recovery in cement demand is expected to continue...", he said. Capacity utilization of plants owned by India Cements Ltd was at 71 percent better than the industry peers in South.

India Cements substantially improved the operating performance in the first quarter of the financial year April-June 2018 with capacity utilization of 80 percent as compared to 67 percent in the same quarter the previous year, he said. Exuding confidence that the second quarter of the current financial year would be better, he said, "This year, we are seeing good volumes and by going forward we will be operating almost to full capacity in the fourth quarter of this year." On the capacity expansion plans in Sankari and Dalavoi plants in Tamil Nadu, he said the company would explore avenues for augmenting capacity after attaining the expected full capacity utilization.