JK Cement, part of the JK Organisation, is looking to hike prices in the fourth quarter after November and December saw a decline in price, a top company official said. There was a 4 percent decline in prices in November and December saw a further decline, Rajnish Kapur of JK Cement told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

He said, "Normally Q4 is the time and the price increase does happen historically, also, because demands are at its best. In the month of November, we saw demand drop off close to 4 to 5 percent and rather price drop of about 4 percent."

After a good growth in October, November saw a 20-30 percent decline in demand month-on-month, Kapur said, adding that it is not normal. “Our margin has seen some pressure, but it is not severe,” he said. In the coming months, however, the company is optimistic about the demand, “project pipeline is strong,” Kapur added.

The company is looking at an 8-10 percent volume growth in FY22. However, it has cut the volume growth guidance from 20-25 percent to 8-10 percent in FY22.

He said, “I would say that if we get to double-digit growth this year, it would be pretty good. But my estimate would be anywhere between 8 to 10 percent growth.”

JK Cement shares were down over 2.5 percent at Rs 3,479 on the National Stock Exchange at 9:35 am on Friday.

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(Edited by : Yashi Gupta)

First Published:Dec 17, 2021 10:06 AM IST