China grabs 13% of India's cement market

In the face of strong pressure from China, India's cement and slag lost 13% of its global market share to 3.71 million tons from April 1998 to March 1999 and 3.14 million tons from 1999 to 2000. Neighboring SAARC countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh, which tend to buy products from China, have suffered more. "After the freight, it is still cheaper to buy Chinese cement than Indian cement." An industry official in India said. In addition, China is also the world's largest producer of large-scale cement. According to industrial statistics, China's output is much higher than India's. In

1998, India accounted for 530 million tons of product exports to South Asian countries. In Nepal, India's biggest export destination, exports are estimated to have fallen by 7,420 tonnes. Exports to it were 816900 tons in 1999-2000, compared with 824320 tons previously. A similar decline occurred in Bangladesh, where cement imports from India fell to 528420 tons in March 2000, compared with 534550 tons in previous years, due to the use of Chinese cement. The officials added that as there are other Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, the competition will be fiercer and India must open up new markets for better development.