Ravindra Bhansali, Proprietor, Kamal Distributors
We cater to the market in Pune and have been in the business of cement dealership since 2001, almost over 13 years. We have brands of JK Cement, Rain Cement, Chettinad Cement and Sagar Cement. JK Super cement is the largest selling. Our customer base is a mix of contractors, developers, paver block manufacturers and retailers. Our monthly sales is on an average 1,500 tonne. We get support from the cement companies in terms of brand, transportation, etc. We promote the companies who have a reasonable brand value and good service support. For top brand, there is sales volume but margin is less, while in medium brands, the price range is also medium and we get better margin on sales.
For the past six months, the sales have gradually came down. Overall, Pune market depends on real estate and the sector is not doing well during the last six months. Due to this, our sales also came down by 20-25 per cent in this period. Budget has not done much to the industry, especially for the real estate there is nothing specific in the Budget. The real estate is passive and the Budget is also negative on the real estate sector.