Chennai, July 10: Despite the havoc created in cement despatches due to a major truck strike in the month of April, cement sales have shown an uptrend in Tamil Nadu.The three major companies in the state, viz, India Cements, Madras Cements and Chettinad Cements have reported a substantial rise in their despatches compared to the last quarter and a fair rise when compared to the despatches in the same period last year.As far as Madras Cements is concerned, while cement production grew by 9.6 per cent over the same period last year, sales grew by 10.39 per cent. The same trend was observed in Chettinad Cements which reported an 8 per cent increase in production against a 9 per cent increase in despatches.

The first quarter started off on a bad note for the cement companies with the truck strike which cut off despatches for more than ten days and left the companies with accumulating stocks. But apparently this has not put a spoke in the wheels of the industry which saw a good growth rate in sale quantities.Meanwhile, prices have also displayed a firm trend. Since April 1, retail prices of cement were hiked by around Rs 3 to Rs 4 per bag with a view to pass on rising input costs.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.