ACC records muted cement sales growth due to slower demand

Moneycontrol Bureau

ACC, the largest cement producing company in India has recorded a 5% jump in its production figures at 2.17 million tonnes, (Year-on-Year) for the month of April. Sales of the company grew marginally to 2.07 million tonnes fron 2.05 million tonnes YoY.

Even brokerages suggest that prices in northern India have already shown signs of softening. The onset of monsoon would lead to a drop in cement demand in the western region, too. "Recent cost increase such as railway freight hike and excise duty hike will also show up in near term, say analysts.

Recently, ACC posted a decent performance for the March quarter, boosted by an increase in cost. Its revenues rose by 19.3% to Rs. 2,860.2 crore YoY.

The increase in revenue was a combination of higher sales despatches, quite typical of the March quarter, and stable cement prices for the last six months. Consequently, realizations per tonne at Rs. 4,256 were 9.3% higher than a year ago