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Business News/ Market / Stock-market-news/  Cement industry’s capacity utilization to remain stagnant: ICRA
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Cement industry’s capacity utilization to remain stagnant: ICRA

Of the six different maturities of gold bonds, four have dropped by over 5% in the last one month; global coffee prices have done well in 2016, making up some of the losses in 2015

The cement sector is one of the worst hit by demonetisation. Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
The cement sector is one of the worst hit by demonetisation. Photo: Hindustan Times

Despite limited capacity addition, capacity utilization of cement industry is likely to remain stagnant in fiscal year 2017 as demand growth is expected to be weak, rating agency ICRA said in a report. In the first seven months of FY17, demand growth in the cement sector was already modest at 4.8% and after the note ban, is likely to be affected negatively by disruption to the real estate sector.

The cement sector is one of the worst hit by demonetisation; volumes have been dented severely and a pick-up in consumption may not happen anytime soon. Hence, the outlook for the second half of FY17 is unlikely to be as bright as anticipated earlier by many analysts.

Sovereign gold bonds lose shine after gold prices fall

With gold’s sharp fall globally as well as in the domestic market, sovereign gold bonds have bled over the last one week. Of the six different maturities of gold bonds being traded on the exchanges currently, four have dropped by over 5% in the last one month, National Stock Exchange data shows. Gold bonds derive their prices from the underlying asset, which is the metal’s price.

Gold bonds were introduced by the government with the aim of weaning away consumers from physical gold. In four tranches, the government raised Rs2,240 crore by issuing gold bonds with six different maturities. Bonds that were issued at a higher price by the government have fallen the most, data from NSE shows.

Growers got a coffee high in 2016

Global coffee prices have done well in 2016, making good some of the losses suffered in 2015. The year belonged to the underdog Robusta, as its price rose by 27.6% while that of the higher-priced Arabica variety increased by 12.3%, according to data from the International Coffee Organization. Lower production due to weather affecting the crop in leading coffee growing countries is the main reason for higher prices.

Global coffee exports in the 11 months ended October was down by 0.6% with that of Arabica up 3.9% while that of Robusta was down by 7.7%, shows ICO data. December has bought chilly news, however, as coffee prices are falling on fears of an improvement in supply and depreciation in the Brazilian currency.

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Published: 29 Dec 2016, 01:47 AM IST
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