Cement despatches rise

Due to robust demand from the cement consuming sectors, cement industry reckoned new high in despatches in January. The industry, with over 50 players, sold 18.19 mn tonne in January, surpassing its earlier high of 18.1 mn tonne in March 2009. Jaiprakash Associates came up with a whopping growth of over 60 per cent whereas JK Lakshmi Cement posted 38 per cent rise in its despatches in January. Similarly, Birla firms, UltraTech Cement and Grasim Industries sold 16.5 per cent more cement and Shree Cement’s despatches jumped 18 per cent.The industry has so far added around 22 mn tonne of new capacities and is expected to take its overall capacity to close to 245 mn tonne in the current financial year. The country’s cement consumption has risen from 113.86 mn tonne in 2003-04 to close to 190 mn tonne in 2008-09. Contact: JK Lakshmi Cement. Tel: 011-2331 1112. Fax: 011-2372 2251. Website: www.jklakshmi.com