A sharp fall in the recall price of cement in Andhra Pradesh1 despite an unofficial cartel, is giving the jitters to south-based cement majors. Cement rates1 pegged at 140 rupees a bag in Hyderabad by the manufacturers7 have crashed to less than 120 rupees a bag in the last fortnight. Dealers maintain that they had to 'undersell' due to lack of demand. This can be partly attributed to builders1 who had observed a token two-day 'purchase bandh' last month.
NSTL
