India’s Cement sector is showing signs of stable long-term growth. According to a latest UBS Securities report, the volume growth in the cement sector is expected to outpace India’s GDP growth in the medium term. 

Driven by strong housing, commercial and infrastructure demand, the capacity addition in the cement sector is expected to surge in the current fiscal year. The sector is optimistic about the revamped GST rate and is hoping for a potential GST rate reduction from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, which will likely boost demand and profitability. 

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Amid the recent positive outlook and revamped GST, the top Indian cement companies made headlines in the last week for reasons ranging from capex, stake sale, share price movement and more.

Here is a look at four leading cement companies in the week and their top news in the week and their performance on Google Trends. 

UltraTech Cement 

Last week, Ultratech Cement announced a 6.49 per cent stake sale in its subsidiary cement company, India Cements.  The company said that it will sell the shares via an offer for sale. The move by the company is driven by SEBI regulations, which require the company to bring down its ownership in India Cements to 75 per cent. 

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Ambuja Cement 

Ambuja Cement was among the UBS Securities’ top picks in the last week. UBS Securities gave a ‘buy’ call on the company with a target price of Rs 710, a potential upside of 21 per cent. 

While the analysts remain positive on Ambuja Cement, the company’s stock a shown some volatility in the past week. The stock lost 2.69 per cent in the last week. From its highest of Rs 599 on Monday morning, Ambuja Cement’s share closed at Rs 579 on Friday. 

ACC Cement 

Last week, with a TP of Rs 2,350, ACC Ltd also received a positive outlook from UBS Securities. Geojit BNP also maintained a ‘buy’ call and a TP of RS 2,052 on ACC Cement.

Further, many reports from last week indicate that ACC Cement is working to optimise fuel mix, to boost its margins. The optimised fuel mix could reduce 10 per cent of the kiln fuel cost of the company. 

Dalmia Cement-

A Geojit BNP Paribas report for last week indicates that Dalmia Cemets is aiming to reach a total capacity of 75 MT by FY28. Further, the company, which has 267 MW of renewable energy capacity, is also looking to expand its green energy portfolio.