Rajnish Kapur, COO, JK Cement, on Wednesday, said that there is an unprecedented increase in raw material costs. He mentioned that the increase in input costs has been around 70 percent which could impact demand in the short-term.

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"We have seen an unprecedented cost increase of fuel. In a day, we saw coal prices shooting through the roof and therefore, there is an increasing pressure at this point of time in terms of cost in the cement sector. Consequently, I don't know if the impact on demand is going to be very severely felt; there could be a short-term impact. Cost increase has been fairly substantial. We can see over 70 percent kind of a price increase," he said.

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On price rise, he mentioned that the company already took a hike of 4-5 percent. He explained that in the northern market, the company was able to take a hike of Rs 10 per bag.

"In March, in north India, we have been able to take a price increase of about Rs 10 per bag and even in south, we have taken about 1-1.5 percent kind of a price increase. The first four to five months till August of the current year of FY22, we witnessed a price degrowth of 4-5 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis every month. September was neutral and then October-November onwards, we have seen a 4-5 percent price increase. So we are already sitting at a 4-5 percent YoY higher price compared to what it was in the last financial year," he said.

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On demand, he said that the cement industry normally does well in the month of March. Giving details about the company, he said that the company completely sold out in its primary market.

"March is a month where normally as an industry, we do very well and therefore at this point of time, in the month of March, we are seeing a fairly good uptick of demand. In the markets where we operate as JK cement and our main market is north India, there, we are looking at an almost sold out kind of a condition this month," he said.

Watch the video for the full interview.

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(Edited by : Dipikka Ghosh)

First Published:Mar 23, 2022 11:58 AM IST