According to a report released by the rating agency Crisil, the operating profitability of cement producers will decrease by about 15 per cent on-year to between Rs 900 and Rs 925 per tonne in fiscal 2023, compounding the pain of a 9 per cent decline last fiscal. This is because increases in realisations won’t be sufficient to counteract increases in the prices of coal, petcoke, and diesel, which have increased the average cost of production.
The rating agency claims that while being on a low foundation from the prior fiscal, the 17 per cent increase in cement demand during the first quarter of this fiscal year offers some hope.