Coal news and updates

India’s cement output falls 1.35% in July m-o-m

September 17: India’s cement production (except ACC and Ambuja cements) stood at 22.68 million tons (mt) in July 2014, down by 1.35% from 22.99 mt produced in June 2014, according to a compilation by ICMW.

During the corresponding month of the previous fiscal of 2013-14, India’s cement production stood at 19.59 mt.

During the first four months of the current financial year of 2014-15, total cement production stood at 93.23 mt as compared to 83.89 mt produced during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Total cement production during 2013-14 stood at 255.63 mt compared to 248.23 mt recorded during the previous year.

Market conditions having slightly improved, cement manufacturers are operating at around 75% of the total installed capacity while the remaining 25% is still lying idle due to lack of adequate orders, said an industry source. However, the cement industry is a bit optimistic about further improvement in the market in the near future, he said.

Despite lukewarm demand, some of the major cement manufacturers are in a capacity addition mode and coming up with new grinding units in central India. This is primarily due to ready availability of ash, a senior cement industry official said on conditions of anonymity.

The following table shows India’s month-wise cement production in 2012-13 (revised), 2013-14 and 2014-15: