Seeing slight pickup in demand; expect good times ahead for cement: Sanjay Ladiwala

ACC and UltraTech Cement have both surprised the street with a massive topline beat this quarter. Is this indicative of a turnaround in the cement sector? In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sanjay Ladiwala, Chairman, Cement Stockists and Dealers Association of Bombay and Jaspreet Singh Arora of Systematix Shares and Stocks shared their views and outlook on the same.

We have seen prices firming up supported by some rise in demand. We have seen demand picking up in the north slightly in the west also, south has been lagging behind, signs in west and north are good price wise and volume wise. This is end of monsoon and we are seeing slight pickup in demand. So it looks like good times ahead, Ladiwala said.

Seen rise in some areas of northern market by Rs 10-15, he added.

Infrastructure sector is picking up substantially. We should see a healthy growth there in the foreseeable future. Low cost housing is slowly picking up and with the monsoons being good, rural demand also should pick up in January-February onwards, Ladiwala further mentioned.

We prefer playing PAN India players, so we prefer UltraTech and Birla Corporation at this juncture, said Jaspreet Singh Arora.