Coal news and updates

Ambuja Cements sees 7% growth in cement demand post-2015

April 23:  Ambuja Cements Ltd, India's leading cement producer, feels that in the current scenario, the mid-term outlook for the cement industry appears challenging but expects a 6-7% per annum growth in demand after 2015 if the new government at the centre pushes for reforms.

"We expect the capacity utilisation rate of the industry to improve gradually from the current 73% to 80% by 2018 given the slowdown in the pace of capacity addition and the gradual recovery in cement demand," the company said in its annual report.

In 2013, the company's sales volumes fell by 2% to 20.94 million tons (mt) compared to 21.31 mt in 2012 while cement exports declined 20% to 0.10 mt as against 0.12 mt in 2012. Clinker sales, however, increased marginally during the year to 0.56 mt from 0.55 mt in the previous year.

"In the first half of 2013, industry demand was slow due to fall in construction activities and a virtual halt in government spending. During the second half, the early arrival of the monsoon compared with the previous year did not augur well," the company said.

In the domestic market, the company's growth in cement sales was the lowest in the western and southern region where sales dropped 2.5% to 8.09 mt as compared to 8.30 mt in 2012.

In the eastern region, sales stood at 4.21 mt in 2013 as against 4.22 mt in 2012 registering a decline of 0.2%. In the north, the company's cement sales declined by 1.7% to 8.64 million tons in 2013 compared to 8.79 million tons in 2012.

The company's production in 2013 fell 3% to 20.96 mt from 21.62 mt in 2012 while clinker production declined by 10% to 14.27 mt from 15.81 mt in 2012.

With this, the company's production was the lowest in the last three years.