Centrum, a leading financial services company interacted with cement dealers across India (27 cities) to get a sense on the demand and pricing scenario for the cement sector. Most dealers indicated a price decline of Rs 5-30/bag in the month of November.
Price correction was sharp in North and Central regions of the country largely due to weak demand and festive season (Diwali and Chhatha). In South region, price remained flat on MoM basis despite weak demand scenario.
Though, after a steep fall in price in Andhra Pradesh in August and September, it was expecting price hikes (prices increased in October ’12), cyclone Nilam impacted the demand scenario and price remained flat there.
In the West region, price remained flat at a few places like Mumbai, Surat and Rajkot on a MoM basis; however, price declined by Rs 5-20/bag in Ahmadabad and Pune.
In the East region, prices declined by Rs 10-20/bag in November and the dealers believed the price will remain flat in the near-term. Our interaction suggests that demand scenario is weak across India. Most dealers indicated that price was expected to remain flat going forward.