ACC on Sunday said cement demand will pick up by eight per cent next one year led by housing, retail and infrastructure sectors but monsoon failure could have adverse impact.
ACC on Sunday said cement demand will pick up by eight per cent next one year led by housing, retail and infrastructure sectors but monsoon failure could have adverse impact.
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"We continue to maintain an encouraging outlook for the industry in foreseeable future based on positive gains of growth in demand, led by housing, retail and infrastructure sector. We expect that demand for cement consumption will grow at around eight per cent at least for the next one year," ACC Managing Director Sumit Banerjee said.
During the first half of the current year, cement industry witnessed growth of almost 11 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year. "If the demand grows at a healthy pace, then we can assume prices are also likely to remain generally stable till next year, with some seasonal fluctuations," Banerjee said.
Banerjee said that the failure of monsoon, if it happens, however would have a delayed and indirect impact on future consumption. "A deficit monsoon will pose a serious threat to the rural economy. In such a case, we may have to focus on the growth of the infrastructure segment," he said.
India's per capita cement consumption is only 156 kg against China's 600 kg. The country's total cement production in the last year was 227 million tonnes and fresh capacity of around 48 million tonnes are going to come in the current year.
ACC has embarked on a Rs 3,000 crore expansion for taking cement production capacity to 30 million tonnes by mid-2010 from 22.63 million tonnes now. The company is in the midst of drawing up ambitious plans for the next stage of capacity addition which might come through both greenfield and brownfield expansions.
ACC is the largest cement manufacturer in India with 12 per cent market share.
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