Mumbai: India's cement industry is likely to make a notable rebound this fiscal year in both volume growth and pricing, say large cement producers. This would mark a relief for the industry which bore the brunt of tepid growth and weak pricing power in FY25.
"FY26 should be far, far better than FY25," Vinod Bahety, chief executive officer at Adani Cement, told analysts recently. "In fact, FY25, if you slice it, the first 9 months and the last, say, 3 months, you will find the key differentiations already and that March 2025 quarter is also spilling over to now, say, June as well," he said.
Anchored by increased outlay by the Union government and higher spending on housing in rural markets, cement makers expect consumption of the construction material growing in high single digits in FY26. Sales grew by a lower-than-average 4%, hit by extreme weather conditions, and an overall slowdown in infrastructure spending ahead of the general election.
"Given the government's focus on infrastructure and housing projects, along with increased rural and urban demand, a sustainable volume growth of 7- 8% is expected, going forward," UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement producer, said in a statement.
The Aditya Birla Group company-having a more than a fourth of the industry's total capacity of 655 million tonnes, and about a fourth of the market share-is confident of strong volume growth. "We expect to grow in double digits this year on a higher base," chief financial officer Atul Daga told analysts after quarterly earnings.
The Centre has earmarked '11.21 lakh crore as capital expenditure for this fiscal, a 10% increase from last year. Rural housing and infrastructure collectively make up two-thirds of total cement demand in the country.
India-the world's second-largest market for cement-has seen a robust growth in demand over the last few years. This, in turn, also led to most companies aggressively expanding their capacities. The last one year also saw several buyouts including India Cements, Penna Cement, Orient Cement, and Vadraj Cement.
"Looking ahead, I expect consolidation to continue, driven not only by acquisitions but also by organic expansion as larger players scale up capacity more rapidly than the other smaller companies," Puneet Dalmia, CEO, Dalmia Bharat, told analysts. "Over the next two years, the top four companies are likely to account for about 60% of the industry's total capacity."
"FY26 should be far, far better than FY25," Vinod Bahety, chief executive officer at Adani Cement, told analysts recently. "In fact, FY25, if you slice it, the first 9 months and the last, say, 3 months, you will find the key differentiations already and that March 2025 quarter is also spilling over to now, say, June as well," he said.
Anchored by increased outlay by the Union government and higher spending on housing in rural markets, cement makers expect consumption of the construction material growing in high single digits in FY26. Sales grew by a lower-than-average 4%, hit by extreme weather conditions, and an overall slowdown in infrastructure spending ahead of the general election.
"Given the government's focus on infrastructure and housing projects, along with increased rural and urban demand, a sustainable volume growth of 7- 8% is expected, going forward," UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement producer, said in a statement.
The Aditya Birla Group company-having a more than a fourth of the industry's total capacity of 655 million tonnes, and about a fourth of the market share-is confident of strong volume growth. "We expect to grow in double digits this year on a higher base," chief financial officer Atul Daga told analysts after quarterly earnings.
The Centre has earmarked '11.21 lakh crore as capital expenditure for this fiscal, a 10% increase from last year. Rural housing and infrastructure collectively make up two-thirds of total cement demand in the country.
India-the world's second-largest market for cement-has seen a robust growth in demand over the last few years. This, in turn, also led to most companies aggressively expanding their capacities. The last one year also saw several buyouts including India Cements, Penna Cement, Orient Cement, and Vadraj Cement.
"Looking ahead, I expect consolidation to continue, driven not only by acquisitions but also by organic expansion as larger players scale up capacity more rapidly than the other smaller companies," Puneet Dalmia, CEO, Dalmia Bharat, told analysts. "Over the next two years, the top four companies are likely to account for about 60% of the industry's total capacity."
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