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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 2, 2026

 

MUMBAI – The repercussions of the war in West Asia are likely to weigh on demand in the cement sector, dampening the near-term outlook for cement stocks, analysts said. UltraTech Cement and JK Cement are the preferred stocks in the sector, according to analysts.

 

"Only if the war comes to an end within two to three weeks, we can expect cement stocks to recover," Tushar Chaudhari, equity research analyst at PL Capital Group - Prabhudas Lilladher, said. He also expects cement demand to be muted in 2026–27 (Apr-Mar) if government spending declines due to the war in West Asia.

 

Brokerage Yes Securities expects cement companies to record double-digit volume growth in the March quarter. This will be majorly driven by the year-end volume push, the brokerage said in a report. However, growth volumes in the March quarter are likely to be lower than the previous years due to subdued demand, despite the cut in goods and services tax rate to 18% from 28% in September, according to the brokerage.

 

"We believe subdued demand and higher-cost inventory may lead to lower profitability in Q4FY26 (Jan-Mar) and Q1FY27E (Apr-Jun), despite a marginal improvement in pricing," the brokerage said.

 

A rise in energy costs, expectations that the June quarter will be price-driven, and limited price increases following the GST rate cut will pave the way for meaningful price hikes, the brokerage said.

 

Equiris Securities sees the southern region having a steep hike of INR 50 per bag and other regions of INR 20-INR 30 per bag. "Industry is awaiting fresh price hikes to absorb the fuel price shocks on increase in pet coke, coal prices and packaging materials, which is likely to impact the profitability of players from 1QFY27 (Apr-Jun) onwards to the tune of INR 250- INR 300 per tonne," the brokerage said in its report.

 

TOP HEADLINES

 

* Shree Cement gets demand order of INR 1.49 bln from income tax dept

* NCLT Ahmedabad approves Penna Cement Industries' merger with Ambuja Cements

* Dalmia Bharat's kiln in Odisha shut for 14 days in Mar post sudden breakdown

* India Cements amalgamates 4 wholly owned subsidiaries with itself

* Nuvoco Vistas to challenge revised INR-1-bln tax order for 'wrong' invoicing

 

The 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:

Company	Price	Week-on-week  change in %	Resistance	Support
ACC LTD	1,325.90	0.90	1,354.20	1,275.60
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD	418.45	2.40	428.40	401.80
ANDHRA CEMENTS LTD	44.96	6.40	46.90	41.00
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD	2,564.10	(-)2.40	2,611.80	2,490.40
JK CEMENT LTD	5,170.50	1.70	5,315.80	4,917.80
JK LAKSHMI CEMENT LTD	588.15	0.30	609.40	555.40
SAGAR CEMENTS LTD	164.12	2.80	172.00	152.10
SHREE CEMENT LTD	23,125.00	(-)2.50	23,611.70	22,431.70
ULTRATECH CEMENT LTD	10,620.00	(-)3.90	10,847.30	10,251.30
INDIA CEMENTS LTD	356.00	-	369.50	340.80
Index	Levels
NIFTY 50	22713.10	(-)0.50	23159.10	21959.60
BSE SENSEX	73319.55	(-)0.40	74834.00	70788.60

 

End

 

Reported by Arundathi A R

Edited by Sahu George Titus

 

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