Cement Prices up 50 pct in Five Years.

New Delhi: The average price of cement has gone up by nearly 50 per cent in the last five years to Rs 243 per 50 kg bag in 2009-10 buoyed by increased construction and real estate activities.

Quoting information provided by Cement Manufacturers' Association and two leading manufacturers, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that cement's average price was Rs 163 per 50 kg bag in FY'06.

The price rise was the stiffest in 2006-07 as it became dearer by Rs 43 per bag to stand at Rs 206 but in 2009-10 it just went up by Rs 5 a bag from Rs 238 in 2008-09.

During the 2007-08 fiscal, average price of cement was Rs 238 a bag.

However, as cement is largely a regional product and the price of it depends upon the dynamics of demand-supply in that particular region, cement's price also varies from region to region.

This is evident from the fact that when a 50 kg bag of cement cost Rs 234 in Bhopal in 2009-10, it was Rs 262 in Guwahati, Rs 252 in Chandigarh and Rs 306 in Jammu.

India had produced 201.06 million tonnes of cement in 2009-10 and consumed 198.04 million tonnes during the year.

Exports fell from Rs 881 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 665.73 crore in 2009-10.

Source : financialexpress.com