The impact of COVID-19 on India's cement industry

COVID-19 has put a halt to the good growth Indian cement mills were enjoying, with volume growth for Jan-Feb’20 at 6.8% year on year. The extent of the current slowdown is anyone’s guess. That said, we take stock of pricing, cost trends, assume half of Q1FY21 as a lost quarter, capture fixed costs, factor gradual recovery and trim estimates/TPs and revisit ratings.

Ritesh Shah, Cement – Analyst, Investec Capital Services India, speaks to us on the outlook of the cement sector in the coming months.