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Informist, Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

MUMBAI – Shares of cement companies are likely to edge lower next week owing to broader negative market sentiment on rising tensions in West Asia. However, technical analysts said cement stocks have witnessed some weakness in the recent session, so the possibility of some bounce back cannot be ruled out.

"Being a moderately high beta space, the cement sector has witnessed notable declines across both midcap and large-cap stocks," Vatsal Bhuva, technical analyst at LKP Securities, said. Key players such as UltraTech Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC Ltd., and JK Lakshmi Cement are currently trading below their 50-day moving averages, indicating a weak technical setup," he added. If selling pressure on cement stocks persists next week, the sector is likely to remain under pressure and may see further downside, Bhuva said.

The prices of global pet coke and thermal coal recently edged higher amid escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia. The average imported fuel costs in Jan-Mar are up by INR 72 per tonne on a sequential basis, Nomura said in a report. "We believe spot cost prices will increase due to geopolitical tensions, leading to an INR 20-30 per tonne rise in fuel costs," the brokerage said.

These higher costs pose a headwind, implying that sustaining cement spreads will largely depend on timely and sufficient price hikes rather than easing input costs, the report said. The brokerage estimates that the cement industry may require an additional price increase of around INR 10 per bag in the near term to offset the elevated spot fuel costs.

Moreover, the demand for domestic cement was healthy in Jan-Mar, with volume growth estimated to be around 7–8% on year, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services. However, the war in West Asia may pose a risk to the supply chain, the brokerage said. A significant portion of imported gypsum and petcoke originates from West Asia.

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Following are the resistance and support levels for key cement stocks for next week as per calculations based on their prices on the National Stock Exchange:

End

Reported by Simran Rede

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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