A popular daily reported that while the cement demand continues to struggle and analysts expect the Cement sectors with the decline of 5 to 6 per cent over the steel consumption figures surprised positively.
The monthly steel consumption stood at 6.8 million tonne. With the increase in consumption the companies has been able to push some price increases too particularly in the long products segment. The steel imports at 0.6 million tonne were 21 per cent lower than those in January. Incidentally this is the lowest in one year.
Analysts at JP Morgan view this as a combination of specific one off reasons and also the drivers of demand for both the sectors. The one off factors include national strike and railway freight movement impacted by holy festival. However, the bigger factor behind the difference is the impact of government spending.Analysts added that the cement demand is more susceptible to changes in Government spending compared to steel.