MEXICO: Slim y Del Valle, la fortaleza de Elementia

Uno es el hombre más rico de México. Su socio, otro multimillonario, pagó el mejor retorno de acciones de México durante sus nueve años como presidente de una compañía química. Juntos, hacen que hasta una cementera parezca glamorosa.

Elementia, empresa de Carlos Slim y Antonio del Valle Ruiz, planea captar unos 4 mil 500 millones de pesos en la oferta pública inicial que tendrá lugar el 9 de julio. Ambos prevén usar el producto de la venta de acciones para adquirir a rivales más pequeños y fortalecerse para hacerle frente a Cemex, el mayor fabricante de cemento del hemisferio occidental.

Será la primera OPI de cemento de México en por lo menos quince años y también la primera vez que los operadores pueden invertir junto a dos multimillonarios en una sola acción. 

Slim, que amasó una fortuna de 68 mil millones de dólares en las telecomunicaciones, no ha sacado a bolsa una de sus compañías desde la OPI de Grupo Sanborns en 2013. Del Valle condujo a Mexichem a un retorno accionario de 76 veces de 2002 a 2011.

“Individualmente, los dos son muy reconocidos en el mercado”, dijo el analista de Monex Fernando Bolaños. “No son aficionados”.

Las raíces de Elementia, que también produce metales, plásticos y materiales de construcción, se remontan a 1932 y una empresa llamada Eureka México. Es la quinta mayor cementera de México.

LARGA HISTORIA

Del Valle controla el 51 por ciento, mientras que Slim posee el 49 por ciento.

“Nos beneficia el apoyo de nuestros principales accionistas”, dice la última presentación de Elementia fechada el 25 de junio. “Ellos tienen una larga historia de crear valor en diversas áreas geográficas e industrias”.

Elementia dijo en una presentación que invertirá unos 250 millones de dólares de la OPI en los próximos tres años, principalmente para aumentar la producción de cemento. Entre los proyectos, se cuenta poner a punto la planta ubicada en Tula. La ampliación “aumentará nuestra capacidad de producción total a 3.5 millones de toneladas anuales” en 2017, informó.

La compañía planea utilizar unos 45 millones de dólares para entregar a la cementera francesa Lafarge el último pago de la compra del 47 por ciento de Cementos Fortaleza que todavía no poseía. La adquisición, con un valor de 225 millones de dólares se anunció el año pasado. 

Fortaleza es ahora la principal división de cemento de Elementia.

Cuando del Valle, de 77 años, dirigía la petroquímica Mexichem utilizó las adquisiciones para aumentar los ingresos.

“Tiene sentido que Elementia quiera expandirse”, declaró Sonia Baldeira, analista de Bloomberg Intelligence. “El juego consiste en acumular más cartera y capacidad. En el mercado hay espacio para triunfar aun cuando la competencia sea feroz”, afirmó desde Londres.

INDIA: Birla Corporation eyes 15­MT cement capacity in 4 years

M P Birla group firm Birla Corporation is looking to ramp up its cement production capacity to 15 million tonnes (MT) in the next four years. 

"Our current cement production capacity is 9.3 MT per annum. We want to take it to 15 MT per annum in the next four years," Birla Corporation Chairman Harsh Lodha told reporters after the company's AGM here today. 

With the increase in production capacity, Birla Corporation would be among the top­ 10 cement producers in the country, Lodha said. 

The company, which had signed an MoU with Assam Mineral Development Corporation (AMDC) for setting up a plant there, is waiting for the state agency to get the limestone mining lease after which a joint venture company would be formed. 

While AMDC would hold 12.5 per cent equity, Birla Corporation would hold the rest, Lodha said adding that the plant would have one million tonne capacity, which will be set up with a capital expenditure of Rs 600 crore. 

Lodha said there is an over supply in the cement market at present as capacities were built up (by cement companies) over the last three to four years on higher demand expectations.

But unfortunately, the demand did not rise leading to a glut in the market. 

Regarding the jute division, Lodha said the company was trying to develop new usages of the natural fibre as the market was basically dependent on the government packaging order.

ESPAÑA: Julio Rodríguez, nuevo consejero delegado de Cementos Molins

El exdirectivo de Schneider Electric ha sustituido hoy a Juan Molins Amat, que ejercerá de vicepresidente primero del consejo. 

La junta general de accionistas y el consejo de administración de Cementos Molins han aprobado hoy este relevo y han agradecido a Juan Molins los 45 años de dedicación profesional en la empresa.

Julio Rodríguez, de 53 años, era hasta ahora vicepresidente ejecutivo de Operaciones de Schneider Electric y miembro del comité de dirección mundial de la multinacional.

El ejecutivo ha desarrollado prácticamente toda su carrera profesional en Schneider Electric, compañía a la que se incorporó en 1984 y en la que ha desarrollado cargos de máxima responsabilidad tanto en España como en países como Portugal o Bélgica, informa Efe .

La junta de Cementos Molins, por otro lado, ha nombrado nueva consejera independiente a Andrea Kathrin Christenson y ha aprobado el reparto de un dividendo complementario de 0,01 euros brutos por acción por los resultados del ejercicio 2014 y de 0,09 euros por acción a cuenta de los beneficios de 2015.

AMERICA: Cementos Molins prevé uno de sus máximos años de inversión con 127 millones en 2015

Cementos Molins prevé que este 2015 marque uno de sus máximos ejercicios de inversión con una cifra consolidada de 127 millones de euros, principalmente en México, Bolivia y Argentina, ha explicado este jueves el director general de operaciones, Salvador Fernández.

En un almuerzo de prensa para hacer balance de 2014 y previsiones para 2015, ha repasado que la inversión consolidada de 2014 fue de 36 millones, y de 62 en 2013, y que el aumento de este año ha sido una "coincidencia" por la maduración de proyectos que estaban en preparación desde hacía tiempo.

En México y Bolivia, donde la participación de Cementos Molins en las sociedades locales es del 33% en cada una, está en construcción la segunda línea de producción en la fábrica de Apazapan en Veracruz (México) y una nueva fábrica integral de cemento en Bolivia, cuya entrada en funcionamiento está prevista en ambos casos para 2017; este año, la inversión de la sociedad mexicana es de 100 millones, y la de la boliviana de 85.

La nueva línea de producción de la participada mexicana contará con una capacidad de producción de 3.000 toneladas de clinker por día y permitirá a Corporación Moctezuma disponer de dos líneas de producción en cada una de sus tres plantas, situadas en Tepetzingo, Cerritos y Apazapan.

Por su parte, la nueva fábrica de la sociedad boliviana Itacamba Cemento tendrá una línea de fabricación de 2.000 toneladas de clinker por día.

En Argentina, donde en mayo el mercado del cemento registró su máximo histórico, Cementos Avellaneda --de la que Cementos Molins tiene un 51%-- prevé abrir este año una nueva cantera por 30 millones de dólares y renovar la fábrica de cal (8 millones de dólares en 2015 de una inversión total de 20), y tiene en estudio una nueva fábrica en San Luis por 134 millones de dólares, de los que se invertirían los primeros 15 este año, de forma que la inversión en Argentina en 2015, sumando otras actuaciones de mejora y mantenimiento, sería de 69 millones de euros.

INVERTIR PARA SOBREVIVIR

El vicepresidente primero de Cementos Molins, Joan Molins, ha sostenido que "crecer, invertir y correr riesgos es la única vía de sobrevivir" tras la caída del negocio en España por la crisis, aunque las sociedades nacionales operativas ya han vuelto a beneficios por el inicio de la recuperación inmobiliaria.

El nuevo consejero delegado de la compañía, Julio Rodríguez, ha afirmado en su segundo día en el cargo: "Continuamos apostando por el crecimiento exterior en mercados en crecimiento".

Rodríguez ha considerado que Cementos Molins es una empresa que en los últimos años ha hecho muy bien los deberes, y ha agregado que él llega "con la voluntad de continuar con un plan de crecimiento con un desarrollo internacional, sostenibilidad y anticipación a la evolución de la competencia".

2015 MEJOR QUE 2014

Respecto a las previsiones de resultados para este año, el director general corporativo, Carlos Martínez, ha calificado el primer trimestre de muy bueno --la compañía ganó 15,1 millones, un 132% más--, y ha adelantado que el segundo también puede ser bueno, pero no se puede extrapolar al conjunto del año, ya que hay incertidumbres como Túnez o la evolución de los costes energéticos.

En todo caso, ha afirmado que 2015 "será un año bueno, mejor que 2014", cuando Cementos Molins triplicó su beneficio hasta 30,8 millones de euros por la menor caída del negocio nacional --que siguió en negativo con pérdidas de 27,7 millones, pero mejoró un 40,6% respecto al año anterior-- y el crecimiento del internacional, que aportó un resultado de 58,5 millones (+3,1%).

Este año, el negocio nacional ya registra algunos meses resultados positivos, aunque en conjunto le pesa el coste de la financiación para inversiones que, aunque se realicen en el exterior se contabilizan en la matriz en España.

NIGERIA: CBN denies rice, cement importers access to fore

Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) says importers of rice, cement and other products will no longer access Foreign Exchange from CBN, banks and bureau de change for such importation.

Speakimg to newsmen on Wednesday, Emiefiele said the measure would prevent further depletion of the country’s foreign reserve.

He said the country was spending huge amount to import things that could be produced locally.

Emefiele said the apex bank would not continue to support the importation of such items through the use of the hard earned foreign exchange.

Some of the products include margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, meat and processed meat products, vegetables, private airplanes and jets, Indian incense, tinned fish, galvanised steel sheet, roofing sheet and furniture.

“Importers who may want to continue importing these goods would have to sort their foreign exchange from their own private sources.

“The CBN will continue to be vigilant around this policy, keep reviewing the list of items as it becomes comfortable that these items can be produced locally if we apply ourselves sufficiently.

“This policy change is in line with the belief that Nigeria cannot attain its true potential by simply importing everything into the country.

“We have to decide what we really want for our country and I believe that the time is now for that deep and honest conversation,’’ he said.

He said in spite of relative positive Gross Domestic Product growth over the past seven years, there was no corresponding reduction in unemployment and poverty.

He said bank’s analyses of the situation had compelled it to stop forex access to some of these goods to encourage local production and consumption for economic development.

He also said that the Federal Government was spending about N1.3 trillion on the average annually to import rice, fish, sugar and wheat.

“Why should we continue importing rice into Nigeria when vast amount of paddy rice produced by local farmers across rice belts are being wasted and ignored?

“What will it take for these importers to stop importation and go into processing this locally produced rice.

“Why are they not utilising large expanse of arable land for cultivation instead of importing rice into the country?’’ he said.

Emefiele said that Nigeria had been creating jobs for other countries, while importing rice into the country.

He said it was unfortunate that sardines, toothpicks, among others, were imported into the country.

Emefele said the apex bank had no power to ban the importation of the items but noted that it would work hard to ensure support for local production.

He said local production would reduce poverty, unemployment and pressure on the reserve.

“I believe that the current situation we found ourselves affords us a unique opportunity to embrace self-sufficiency in Nigeria.

“We should also reduce our appetite for everything and anything foreign, conserve reserve and create jobs at home for our people.

“With full complement of the bank management, we would continue to look for areas which the bank can play a catalytic financial role to achieve the goal in the near future,’’ he said.

On lifting of ban on importation of textiles and furniture by the Nigeria Customs, he said CBN would not provide foreign exchange for people that would want to import such products.

NIGERIA: CCNN LAUNCHES N48B EXPANSION PROJECT

Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) has launched an expansion project estimated at about N48 billion to modernise and increase capacity of its 55-year-old cement plant.

The expansion project would increase the company’s installed capacity by 200 percent to 1.5million metric tonnes, CCNN Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Alf Karlsen, disclosed yesterday.

He stated this at Wamakko local Government Secretariat, Sokoto during the distribution of 2,600 bags of cement worth N6million to its host communities.

“The expansion is part of the ongoing modernisation and cost optimisation programme aimed at reducing average cost and enhancing productive capacity with a view to ensuring that CCNN remained competitive in the cement industry,” he stated.

Mr. Karlsen, who was represented by Head, Corporate Affairs of the company, Sada Suleiman, said the increase in installed capacity would enable the company to maintain its current market share and expand into new markets.

He disclosed that they had completed the process of acquiring new mining areas and expansion of quarry area, with Sabon Gida, Danatu and Gidan Mubaga communities relocated to a new settlement.

To ensure an improved life for the communities, he added that CCNN provided electrification, Primary and Islamiyya Schools, fully furnished clinic as well as mechanised borehole and reticulation to the entire settlement.

Chairman Wamakko local government area of Sokoto State, Alhaji Ahmed Abdullahi Kalambaina, commended CCNN for the cement distribution and other projects executed for its host communities.

He noted that the gesture would help in boosting the cordial relationship between the company and its host communities.

ECUADOR: GOBIERNO APADRINA INVERSION DE CEMENTOS YURA

El gobierno de la revolución ciudadana ratificó el compromiso de aprobar el contrato de inversión entre Cementos Yura-Grupo GLORIA con Unión Cementera Nacional de Ecuador,UCEM.

El pasado 23 de febrero, los mencionados grupos empresariales se aliaron. GLORIA del Perú asumió el compromiso de invertir 230 millones de dólares para que la Cementera Nacional del Ecuador, UCEM, a través de las fábricas Chimborazo y Guapán,produzcan 2 400 toneladas anuales de Clinker o materia prima para la elaboración de cemento.

La Directora de Fusiones y Adquisiones del Grupo GLORIA, Paola Medina, tras una reunión con la ministra coordinadora de la Producción, Empleo y Competitividad, Nathalie Cely, ratificó el compromiso de Cementos Yura en apoyar la política industrial del Gobierno Nacional y trabajar de la mano con el Ministerio de Industrias y Productividad para integrar a empresas ecuatorianas en el desarrollo de esta inversión.

Por su lado la ministra ratificó el compromiso del Gobierno Nacional para que en los próximos días se proceda a la aprobación del contrato de inversión en el Consejo Sectorial de la Producción: “Nuestro trabajo es impulsar la inversión productiva que genere más y mejor empleo y facilitar su establecimiento en el páis”, dijo.

Además aseguró que “la inversión debe generar beneficios para toda la cadena productiva; lo impulsaremos en conjunto para que proveedores nacionales, en el marco del Programa Ecuador Compra Ecuador, puedan proveer de insumos en sectores como el de metalmecánica, entre otros”.

COLOMBIA: LA PRODUCCIÓN DE CEMENTO CRECIÓ 6% HASTA MAYO

En lo corrido del año, hasta mayo, la producción de cemento gris en Colombia sumó 5,2 millones de toneladas, que representaron un incremento de 6 por ciento con relación al mismo periodo del 2014, según el Dane.

Por su parte, los despachos aumentaron 5,9 por ciento al acumular 5 millones de toneladas.

Esta tendencia alcista se explica, principalmente, por la dinámica en los diferentes canales en los que se comercializa el insumo.

De hecho, la distribución se incrementó 8,3 por ciento en depósitos y grandes establecimientos, entre otros. Le siguieron los constructores y los contratistas (con 4,9 por ciento) y las concreteras (con 2,2 por ciento) aportando en conjunto 5,7 puntos porcentuales a la variación de 5,9 por ciento.

Al evaluar el desempeño por regiones, el departamento de Antioquia fue el que más demandó cemento en el periodo analizado, con un alza de 14,3 por ciento.

Bogotá ocupó el segundo lugar con 14 por ciento; sin embargo, en este punto hay que tener en cuenta que para efectos de la información el Dane incluye los despachos a Funza, Mosquera, Soacha y Chía.

Esto traza otra tendencia que no es nueva, pero que sigue fortaleciéndose: más constructores impulsando obras civiles y de vivienda en los municipios vecinos por la imposibilidad de hacerlo en la ciudad a causa de la incertidumbre del Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial (POT) y otras normas.

Incluso, en el tercer lugar del listado está Cundinamarca, con un aumento de 9 por ciento en los despachos, lo que ratifica la situación expuesta anteriormente: más firmas moviendo inversión en diferentes obras, pero fuera de la capital.

ANGOLA: Fábrica de cimento de Angola prevê aumento da produção

A Fábrica de Cimento do Cuanza Sul (FCKS) pretende aumentar a produção a curto e médio prazo a fim de atingir 4500 toneladas/dia, superando a actual produção de 4200 toneladas/dia, informou o director do departamento de contabilidade.

Alberto Kiala adiantou à agência noticiosa Angop que o aumento produção vai resultar de uma maior disponibilidade de recursos financeiros para a aquisição de matérias-primas, como combustíveis e outras.

A empresa, produtora do cimento de marca “Yetu”, estreou-se no mercado angolano em Fevereiro de 2014 e ocupa uma área de 14 mil hectares.

A fábrica, um complexo de produção, possui unidades para o fabrico do clínquer, uma central de energia com 41 megawatts e fábrica de sacos de papel para embalar o cimento.

O cimento é composto por calcário, argila e gesso, matéria-prima disponível naquela província, provindo o óxido de ferro da Jamba Mineira, província da Huíla.

EGYPT: Arabian Cement completes latest addition to alternative fuel processing

Egypt’s third biggest cement producer, Arabian Cement Company (ACC), has completed its latest addition to the alternative fuel processing machinery at its plant in the Suez governorate, the company announced Sunday.

The added equipment, called “Hot Disc”, allows ACC’s plant to rely completely on coal and alternative fuel to run its operations, the company noted in the statement.

ACC currently has a designed fuel mix of 70% coal and 30% alternative fuels. The alternative fuel that will be used will be a mixture of agricultural wastes, municipal sludge, and RDF. Use of alternative fuel is expected to result in reducing emissions by approximately 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year on average.

Arabian Cement has sought to utilise alternative energy to increase its capacity to 100%. The company is currently running at approximately 80% of its capacity, while around 70% of the energy it uses is coal-based. In the meantime, 10% of its energy is reliant on alternative energy, such as waste and biomass.

Last year, Arabian Cement held the first initial public offering (IPO) after the 25 January Revolution in 2011, with the company aiming to raise $100m by listing on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Following the government’s approval in April last year to use coal as a source of energy in the industrial sector, Arabian Cement took steps to commence testing coal in thermal power generation.

Arabian Cement recorded an 11% increase in revenues of EGP 585m during the first quarter of 2015, compared to the same quarter last year. This, however, this did not lessen the significant drop in the company’s net profits, which plummeted by 52% to reach EGP 56m.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled EGP 184m, 19% lower than the EGP 227m recorded during the corresponding quarter last year.

INDIA: JSW Cement to start four greenfield grinding units

JSW Cement, a part of the JSW Group, plans to start two more greenfield grinding units each in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu as part of its game plan to reach its cement and clinker capacities to 20 million tonnes per annum by 2018.

In an interaction with Deccan Herald, JSW Cement Director and CEO Anil Kumar Pillai said the company is expecting green shoots from demand side in the current fiscal and will gain pace in the next fiscal. 

“The government’s new infrastructure-led industrialisation game plan will really boost the cement demand. Already analysts predict a double-digit GDP growth rate which give 15 per cent hike in cement demand,” said Pillai.

He said the greenfield projects in these two states is part of JSW Cement’s Rs 9,000-crore investment plan. “Each of these projects will have an investment between Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore. In Tamil Nadu, we identified one location at Tuticorin and the other will be near Puducherry. It will take 36 months to commission these units. Funds for these projects will be raised via internal accrual and bank borrowings,” he said.

The company CEO said JSW is scouting for land in West Bengal and will announce the details soon. The company has production plants in Vijayanagar and Bellari (Karnataka), Dolvi (Maharashtra), and Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh. The company has achieved 55 per cent of its production capacity in the last fiscal and produces portland slag cement (PSC), portland pozzolana cement (PPC) and grounded granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) cement.

“In the last fiscal, we produced 3.2 million tonnes of cement and set a target of 4.2 million tonnes in the current fiscal. We are expecting to achieve 65 per cent capacity utilisation once growth momentum gains in the third and fourth quarter,” he said.

When asked about the pricing of cement in the country, he said it should be determined by the market forces. “We want to build the JSW Cement brand as a an aspirational and premium brand. Here trade sales via distribution channels and institutional customers comprise 65 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. We are educating the consumers and have decided to allocate a corpus of Rs 3 core for advertisements,” said Pillai.

Brushing aside industry rumours that JSW Cement was in the race for acquiring French major Lafarge’s cement assets located in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, Pillai stated the company was open to inorganic growth and will not go for exports.

To another query, he said the company is installing a 10 megawatt (mW) energy producing unit from waste gas in Nandyal. 

“JSW Cement has committed an investment of Rs 100 crore for this project and it will be commissioned within 12 to 14 months,” he said.

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi cement firms begin to cut production to shore up prices

Cement production in Saudi Arabia declined by the steepest levels on record last month as producers sought to run down stocks in a bid to shore up ­prices.

In a report on the country’s cement market, the Saudi investment bank NCB Capital said that production of clinker (a raw form of cement) fell by 12 per cent year-on-year in May.

It said the country’s biggest producer, Saudi Cement, had started to cut production in a bid to support prices that had been falling in recent months, as companies in more remote regions began undercutting in busy cities such as Riyadh and Mecca.

The NCB Capital analyst Mohamed Tomalieh said the decline in production was a deliberate attempt to shore up prices rather than a response to current market conditions.

“We believe cutting production aims to control supply and price discounts,” he said.

The cut helped to bring clinker inventory levels down to 19.4 million tonnes – down from a record high of 21.4 million tonnes in December.

The kingdom’s cement mountain has been built up partly as a result of decrees issued by the late King Abdullah to make sure the country did not run out of supplies. A cement shortage in Mecca in 2012, where the redevelopment of the Grand Mosque was taking place, led to a black market trade and soaring ­prices.

In April 2013, the king set aside US$800 million to be spent on importing supplies and building kilns to boost capacity.

However, an amnesty and subsequent crackdown on illegal migrants later that year led to hundreds of thousands of workers leaving the kingdom, causing widespread project delays.

Demand has not kept pace with supply since.

Although cement sales increased by 6.9 per cent year-on-year, this was from a low base as last year’s figures were affected by the labour shortage.

Moreover, Samba Financial Group said in its latest Saudi country report that there are “signs of a slowdown in activity” in the kingdom, as it reins in capital investment in response to lower oil prices.

“This fits with our view that the government will contain capital spending this year and next, before relaxing its stance somewhat in the 2017-20 period as oil prices begin a more sustained recovery,” it said.

“Regulatory issues are also having an influence: any ­government project with a value over 100m Saudi riyals (Dh97.9m) now needs approval from the new economic and development council before ­proceeding.”

The property market has also slowed following the introduction of a 70 per cent loan-to-value lending limit on home loans late last year.

INDIA: Cement market in North India likely to recover by FY18

North India's cement market, which currently accounts for 31 per cent of country's total consumption, is expected to make a recovery only by FY 2017-18 on account of demand revival in the infrastructure sector, according to a report.

Historically, North India is a well-balanced market with high capacity utilisation, low fragmentation and little inward dispatch threat from other manufacturing regions. But a large proportion of the cement market is dependent on rural or retail sales, Ambit Capital said in a report.

"A confluence of growth impediments - slowdown in rural sales, weak demand for organised housing and elusive infrastructure recovery - have further deteriorated cement demand/pricing in north India.

"North India's large share in major infrastructure projects exudes hopes of demand upcycle, but we believe it will take until FY'18 for a meaningful recovery," it added.

In 2014-15, North India consumed 79 million tonnes or 31 per cent of India's cement consumption, the report said.

"While 2015-16 was mooted to be a recovery year, demand has worsened, as rural sales decline sharply, real estate inventory has hit an all-time high and infrastructure recovery remains elusive with weak government tendering," it said.

Increasing prominence of regional manufacturers in a market with limited logistic challenges (largely roads) has led to price wars. Now prices in north India are at a 35 per cent discount to south India, it added.

Regional players accounted for 51 per cent capacity share in 2014-15 as against 45 per cent in 2006-07.

North India is facing growth challenges, on account of infrastructure recovery remaining elusive and rural demand deteriorating significantly in the last one year due to poor rainfall, low subsidies, wage growth and paltry MSP hikes.

Besides, real estate business is facing liquidity constraints due to government's clamp-down on black money, the report said.

It has projected that North India will be a key beneficiary of the infrastructure ramp up in India, given a majority share in large infrastructure projects (roads, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, etc).

"However, a strong and sustained volume growth will take till 2017-18 as retail demand will recover with a few quarters lag to infra demand," the report said.

Regional manufacturers with scale and cost efficiencies will benefit the most in an infra-led cement demand recovery, it added.

Pan-India players trade at rich valuations, run earnings downgrade risks and do not have the best cost efficiency to meaningfully improve RoCEs, as volumes might grow but chances of a sharp pricing recovery are scanty, it said.