Indian Cement Sector Update

Top 5 players report dispatches decline of 3.2% yoy

• Unseasonal rains, labor shortage due to festive season impact dispatches in November. Top 5 players report aggregate dispatch decline of 3.2%
• Cement prices see some softness across regions - cuts of Rs 2-10/bag; across North, central & south. Dealers expect prices to remain sluggish till mid December owing to poor demand
• Demand growth remains key to sustain prices hikes taken in October. Seasonal logistical bottlenecks (wagons supply to food grains & crop) could provide some support to prices
• Remain NEUTRAL on sector, positive on ACC, Grasim & Shree, negative on Ultratech, India Cement & Madras Cement

Structural Collapse: Need of Design Verification Authority

Major TV channels and newspapers ferociously covered the recent story of a building collapse in Delhi that killed over 60 people (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Building-collapse-in-Delhi-kills-over-60/articleshow/6933971.cms). Authorities kept playing the blame-game (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Building-collapse-MCD-Delhi-Police-begin-blame-game/Article1-627696.aspx).

Such collapses are not rare in a country like India. We always wonder if it was a structural failure, a construction failure or a maintenance failure.

The design team (however, most of these constructions are not even properly design by a professionally competent structural engineer) always find construction and maintenance issues.

I think the government must implement some regulatory framework so that such unfortunate events can be avoided. A system must be in place ensuring that the construction meets the various IS standard of practice. Any government body, like Municipal Corporations, PWD or CPWD must be authorized to approve design and check the quality of construction at various stages. Even they should be made responsible to see if a building is properly maintained.

One of my friends from Pune informed me that the Municipal Corporation there issues licenses to the Structural Engineers only after getting an appropriate 'Grade Certificate' from the ISSE -Indian Society of Structural Engineers. But who will insure if the construction is design by a licensed structural engineer.

Or should we have a separate Design Verification Authority completely independent of Municipal Corporations, PWD, CPWD etc?

Some people argue that such failures are rarely due to faulty structural design; most of the times there are other reasons.

What do you think, please share your opinion.

Building Material Exchange

Building Material Exchange, BuMex (http://bumex.in/) is live and running.

BuMex established itself with the intention is go beyond traditional online B2B marketplace and become a full-service B2B exchange for Indian construction industry.

BuMex plans to capture and capitalize the market inefficiency prevailing in Indian construction industry by providing a common platform to market players to source / sell product and services online.

BuMex provides Suppliers, typically manufactures and distributors, with direct access to Buyers on national level that have an immediate need for building material and construction industry related services.

BuMex services the buying community, engineers or purchasing professionals that have the need for building material or any construction related services. The site serves as an online supplier relationship management tool that helps determine market pricing and saves Buyers time through helping them source smarter by becoming more efficient at creating, delivering and tracking the RFQ process.

To come on board with us as an Industry Expert, Investor or Mentor, please contact me at info@bumex.in

BuMex is also participating at The Next50 Global Innovation Challenge

The Next50 Global Innovation Challenge is a part of the Innovation Initiatives being run on the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur – India's premier technology and Innovation University.