HSBC sees dull Q3 for Indian cement makers

Ambuja Cements

06/01/2026 07:46

** Dec-qtr likely to be weak for Indian cement makers as prices fell 1%-3% sequentially, say analysts at HSBC Research

** Attempted price hikes in eastern India did not last - HSBC

** Second half of 2025 was disappointing, expect trend to reverse over coming months - note

** Despite capacity additions outweighing incremental cement demand, we believe increased industry consolidation will lead to price hikes - HSBC

** Brokerage's top picks:

Company name
HSBC's rationale
UltraTech Cement ULTC.NS
Scale (sector leader), efficiencies
Ambuja Cements ABUJ.NS
Capacity growth, cost savings, valuation discount to ULTC
Dalmia Bharat DALB.NS
Most exposed to price changes in south, east markets

** ULTC up 1% on the day, ABUJ and DALB down 0.9% and 0.3% respectively

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com;))