Cement demand in South India improving 

Chairman of India Cements N Srinivasan, speaking at the company’s 72nd AGM said that cement demand in the Southern region of the country is increasing with growth in infrastructureNSE 0.28 % and housing. The company expects that demand in the second quarter will also improve despite the floods in Kerala and the transporters’ strike. “After a long time cement demand is slowly picking up in the south, which has the problem of capacity overhang having 160 Million tonnes( out of total capacity of 400 to 425 million tonnes in the country) against the demand of around 70 to 80 Million tonnes,” he said. “This year we are seeing good volume and going forward we will be operating almost at full capacity in the fourth quarter ( Jan- March) of this year resulting in better performance” The Southern region recorded a growth of over 20 % cement output in the first quarter of the current fiscal driven by the infrastructure spend by the Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and also as a result of the lifting of sand mining ban in Tamil Nadu, he said. With the Central and State Governments’ focus on infrastructure projects and housing schemes and the expected higher public spending ahead of General Elections next year, recovery in cement demand is expected to continue resulting in further improvement in capacity utilisation levels in the coming months, according to him.