Mukesh Gupta, Proprietor, Mamodia Marketing
I have been in cement distributorship from 1977 and am primarily supplying JK Cement products. We have the company warehouse. Both OPC and PPC have their market; where traders supply PPC grade cement, being popular and cheaper, the RMC sector requires the OPC grade cement.
There is a bit of a slowdown in the market currently. Both construction and the cement manufacturing sector are affected due to the economic slump in the country.
The construction sector is suffering mainly because of the government`s unsupportive loan policy. This holds big builders from meeting their targets.
The cement industry too, is affected due to lower demand and newer capacity additions. Most companies are running at 60 to 65 per cent capacity utilisation. However, I am optimistic that the demand will grow as there is still huge scope for infrastructure growth in India. I feel that the demand for realty sector is only going to increase as we go along. There is a huge potential for realty as more and more villages get urbanised.If cement companies are able to break even at 70 per cent capacity utilisation, then they are in a way saving the limestone for the future. Limestone quantity is limited and it will fetch a better price in future. So the industry will do better in the long run and this phase of slowdown will soon pass.