Industry leaders, including UltraTech, Ambuja Cements, Shree Cement, Dalmia Bharat, JK Lakshmi Cement and JSW Cement, saw higher capacity utilization and expansion in volumes. However, overall profitability was affected by rising input costs, provisions under new labor laws and higher prices for petcoke and coal.Despite these challenges, revenue figures were supported by premiumization, improved product mix and higher non-trade sales.
Besides gray cement, companies also reported robust growth in their Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) businesses, which registered high double-digit growth.
Leading cement maker UltraTech reported a 15 percent increase in its consolidated sales volumes to 33.85 tonnes (MT) in the December quarter.
However, turnover fell by 0.4 percent year-on-year. The occupancy rate was 77 percent, compared to 72 percent in the same period last year. In the earnings call, CFO Atul Daga said cement prices remained subdued after the GST change. However, there has been an improvement in prices across all segments of the country.
“There have been cost increases in the cost of pet coke and coal, the new labor law will have its own impact and the depreciation of the rupee. All this will have an impact on the cement industry. And of course, there is reason to pass on these cost escalations in prices,” he said.
The average pan-India cement price rose 1 percent year-on-year to Rs 330 per 50 kg bag in December 2025.
“In the ninth quarter of FY2026, prices rose 4 percent to Rs 345/bag (50 kg). In FY2025, cement prices fell 7 percent year-on-year to Rs 340/bag,” an ICRA report said.
Coal prices remain under pressure, the report said. Pet coke prices rose 10 percent year-on-year to Rs 12,280/MT in January 2026 and 7 percent during the ten months of FY26, although diesel prices remained stable.
Adani Group company Ambuja Cements, which recorded the highest ever quarterly sales volume at nearly 18.9 million tonnes, up 17 percent, and market share improved to 16.6 percent. It reported an improvement of Rs 5 per bag in sales realizations with focus on premium and blended cement.
CEO Vinod Bahety said volume will grow by double digits in the coming quarter. The company balances growth between ‘volume and value’.
“And therefore, you will see a faster improvement in my realization, in my blended cement, in my premium cement. And therefore, even at the risk of losing low EBITDA volume, which we will do, but we will play a balancing game between volume and value,” he said during his earnings calls while answering a question.
Bahety remained ‘bullish’ on demand for the cement industry.
“The fourth quarter should also see growth of around 8 percent. And therefore, the leading players will see double-digit growth again in the March quarter,” he said.
Shree Cement Ltd, the country’s third-largest cement group by capacity, did not specify its total sales volume but said it rose 2 percent year-on-year. The company is focusing “on value over volumes” because there is “a large difference between our sales price and the sales price of competitors like UltraTech,” management said in the earnings call.
The company, which sold 2.7 million and 3.3 million tonnes of cement in November and December respectively, said January is broadly in line with December 2025.
“We expect the same momentum to continue with much higher realization, and it should automatically improve our capacity utilization,” Shree Cement management said.
Dalmia Bharat’s revenues improved 10 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,506 crore, while EBITDA improved 18 percent to Rs 602 crore.
Replying to a question in the earnings call, MD & CEO Puneet Dalmia said, “In the third quarter, prices were softer than the GST cuts, especially in our key operating regions East and South.”
“Although the fourth quarter has started with some improvement, we will see how prices will develop in the coming months,” Dalmia said, adding that he “remains optimistic that prices will be supportive in the medium to long term.”
JK Lakshmi Cement management said non-trading prices have fallen drastically after the GST cut.
“I see prices will do better. Firstly, because of improved demand. Secondly, costs are going up. So prices will definitely rise in the future. Non-trading prices have risen in most of the market. Even trading is likely to follow suit,” management said in the earnings statement.
Similarly, JSW Cement’s volume sales rose 3.56 percent to 3.56 tonnes in Q3/FY26. However, Cement’s third quarter realization declined by 3.9 percent quarter-on-quarter. EBITDA per tonne decreased quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to the decline in cement prices in the third quarter of FY26 and an increase in raw material costs, partially offset by operating leverage.
However, JSW Cement, part of the $23 billion JSW group, expects infrastructure-led growth, driven by strong capital investment from central and government bonds, to drive demand for the sector.
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