India: rural demand revives December sales

India: rural demand revives December sales
12 January 2011


Cement sales seem to have revived across various Indian regions in December after a lull in the preceding two months, reports Business Line. The pick-up in cement demand was attributed to revival of infrastructure and real estate projects, especially in rural areas. The sales would have been much better if not for untoward developments in Rajasthan, one of the major cement manufacturing hubs.

“Dispatches from our plant in Rajasthan were impacted by the rail roko and agitation on road by the Gujjar community. Besides there were disruptions in Andhra Pradesh also,” said a cement company executive.

Mr Shailendra Choksi, Director, JK Lakshmi Cement, said the distribution was affected due to the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan development was a short-term phenomenon and agitations have been withdrawn and traffic returned to normal, he added.

The southern markets remained week despite revival in demand from real estate sector due to excess supply.

Demand is expected to gain momentum in the March quarter which is traditionally considered a strong as most of the infrastructure and real estate projects are revived post monsoon.
Published under Cement News