Indian cement makers drop as early monsoon rains stoke demand fears

Ultratech Cement

27/05/2025 06:36

** Shares of Indian cement makers decline

** Sector leader UltraTech ULTC.NS drops 2.3%; Ambuja ABUJ.NS down 1.3%; Shree Cement SHCM.NS and ACC ACC.NS slip nearly 1%

** Early onset of monsoon rains spurs fears of construction slowdown, demand drag, five analysts tell Reuters

** Monsoon rains hit India's southern coast on May 24, earliest in 16 years

** South India-focussed cement makers Ramco TRCE.NS and Dalmia Bharat DALB.NS down roughly 1% each, extending losses

** Over past few days, dealers have started offering discounts in South India, says Nishant Bagrecha, research analyst at Incred Equities

** Adds, we feel this could be potential indication of prices moving towards seasonal dip

** Q1 cement volume growth can be lower than expectations. Q1 growth was anticipated to be strong given general elections-led weak base last year - Abhishek Jain, head of research at Arihant Capital Markets

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru)

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