Cement Price Trends Analyzed
JM Financial, a brokerage firm, has been carefully watching the cement market in India. They’ve found some important changes happening, and here’s what they’ve seen – as of December 2025.
Key Points
- Cement prices fell slightly, around ₹2 per bag nationally.
- Southern and Eastern India saw bigger price drops (3-4%).
- Demand for cement is growing, up by roughly 10% year-over-year.
- This growth will likely lead to a strong quarter for cement companies.
- Input costs (like petcoke) are increasing, impacting company profits.
- UltraTech Cement is recommended as a good investment.
Cement prices are getting cheaper. They dropped a little bit each month in December 2025. The biggest price changes were in the East and South of India, where prices went down by 3 to 4 percent. This is mainly because builders aren’t buying as much cement as before.
Builders are buying more cement than last year, about 10% more. This is good news for companies that make cement. It means they’re likely to make more money during the next three months.
But here’s the catch: the cost of making cement is going up. The price of a material called “petcoke” – which is used to make cement – has gone up, pushing up the cost for cement companies. This means they might not make as much profit as they used to.
JM Financial believes the best company to invest in is UltraTech Cement. They think the stock price will go up to ₹14,250 per share. However, they warn that it might take until April 2026 for cement prices to go back up, as builders slow down their buying.
Regional differences are key. Demand in Delhi NCR is weaker because of air pollution problems. Southern India should see more cement buying after the Pongal festival. And in Maharashtra, things are expected to improve after the local elections in January 2026.
Petcoke prices also changed. The cost of petcoke dropped slightly in December 2025, but the price went up on a quarterly basis. This is because of higher shipping costs.
Cement prices won’t bounce back immediately, but a stronger market is on the way.
