High raw material cost eats into ceramic industry's margins

Mumbai : Faced with several issues, the Rs 10,000 crore Indian ceramic industry is going through a rough patch. According to industry sources, high fuel prices and transportation costs have hit the industry hard. With constant increase in gas and fuel prices over the past one year, the transportation costs have also increased by 20-25 per cent and this has directly hit the profit margins the industry players.

Due to rise in fuel costs, our landing cost for raw materials has increased by almost 30 per cent. High gas prices and increasing fuel price have affected production cost and we cannot pass it on as industry is going through slowdown," said Hasmukh Patel, managing director, Asian Granito India Ltd., who is also a director of Indian Council of Ceramic Tiles and Sanitaryware (ICCTAS).