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Informist, Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

MUMBAI – Shares of cement companies may see some upmove in the coming sessions after their recent fall, according to analysts covering the sector. While most of the major sectoral players reported better-than-expected earnings for the March quarter supported by strong volumes and higher realisations, brokerages flagged near-term challenges of higher raw material and transportation costs owing to the US-Iran war. Next week, market participants will watch out for the March quarter earnings announcement from Ambuja Cements and Shree Cement.

Analysts expect cost inflation due to the ongoing war to take a hit on cement companies' earnings in the first two quarters of 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). Some analysts, however, believe that the expected incremental price hikes would be enough to pass on the impact of cost inflation due to customers. 

In April, all India average cement prices increased by INR 15 per bag on a month-on-month basis to around INR 396, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities Research said in a report Sunday citing their cement channel checks. Regionally, the sharpest increase was observed in East India, up INR 27 per bag, followed by the north, south, west, and central regions, which saw an INR 9–INR 15 per bag price hike. 

At the beginning of April, most regions announced price hikes in the range of INR 30–INR 40 per bag. However, barring the eastern region, realisations suggest that only INR 10–INR 15 per bag has been successfully implemented and sustained so far, the report said. The brokerage attributed this to peak summer conditions, marriage season, labour shortages, and assembly elections in select states. "While migrant labour availability is expected to improve in the second half of May, extreme heat and water scarcity are likely to continue constraining construction activity in the near term," Nirmal Bang said. Its channel checks indicated that volumes declined around 25–30% on a monthly basis in April. 

The recent geopolitical tensions since late February have led to a sharp increase in energy costs, particularly across pet-coke and coal, the brokerage said, adding that this may exert margin pressure on cement companies in the near term. It expects the low-cost inventory to be exhausted by mid-May, coupled with tight availability of packaging materials and elevated granule prices are likely to add to cost pressures going forward, Nirmal Bang said. However, recent cement price hikes should partially offset these headwinds, it added. 

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* India Cements posts INR 547.5 million PAT in Jan-Mar vs loss year ago

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 Arya S. Biju

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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