Party in the North

Cement manufacturers are a happy lot these days as cement is one of the rare commodities that is doing brisk business. Strong demand from the North, West and Central India saw double-digit volume growth in Q2. While large caps did well - Shree Cement and Ultratech reported volume growth of 18.6 and 12 per cent respectively, it was the midcaps the stole the show with volume growth of as high as 30 per cent (y-o-y). Mangalam Cement, Heidelberg and JK Cement top the volume growth charts in midcaps. Weak demand in the South meant that manufacturers there did not join the party the rest of country was enjoying. Capacity additions of the past couple of years seems to have caught up. Madras Cement, Dalmia and India Cements infact, saw volumes decline. Realisations pick-up The monsoon months generally see realisations fall. This year too realisations fell by 5-6 per cent (q-o-q) in the North, yet on a yearly basis they were still up 8 per cent on the back of higher prices. Manufacturers of southern India also saw realisatio