India’s demand growth shifts gear
The April-June 2019 quarter saw India’s cement growth slow, putting the brakes on a long spell of double-digit advances. Higher cement prices and lower input costs have helped support producer profit margins, but with no immediate demand recovery in sight, government infrastructure and affordable housing projects are the main beacons of light.
The Indian cement sector has seen another interesting quarter with the economy and pace of cement consumption
slowing, the sustainability of higher cement pricing under question and consolidation of the cement sector continuing
The Indian economy experienced a slowdown in the April-June 2019 quarter, registering GDP growth of five per cent – its slowest pace of growth in over six years and nearly 50 basis points lower than Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimates. The steep slowdown was mainly on the back of very weak manufacturing and agricultural growth, and a visible downturn in domestic consumption. As a result, economists have cut the country’s GDP growth rate for the current financial year to as low as 6.2 per cent. The latest GDP figures mark the fifth consecutive quarter of slowing growth. Only in March 2013 did India report a slower rate of 4.3 per cent.
