Cement production registered a slow growth of 4.6 per cent during April-July 2016; however, this was higher than the 1.4 per cent growth in production during April-July last year. Demand for cement is expected to increase at 6 per cent in the current financial year, against 4.6 per cent during the last financial year, which is likely to support cement prices in the near term. Pick-up in the infrastructure segment, primarily road and housing segments, and likelihood of a recovery in the rural demand from the second half of the current financial year, given the better monsoons, are likely to be mainly demand drivers.
