"Ambuja Cements` cement sales in December 2011 rose by 5 per cent M-o-M and 6 per cent Y-o-Y to 1.93 million mt. As per cement dealers, most of this monthly improvement has been on account of inventory push by the company as Ambuja follows CY. With this, Ambuja concluded CY11 with 6 per cent Y-o-Y volume growth,`` said Karvy Stock Broking.

"As per our interactions with industry participants, we expect industry sales for December 2011 to grow between 4-6 per cent M-o-M (up 8 per cent Y-o-Y). This would imply nine months YTD growth at 5.4 per cent Y-o-Y. Cold weather conditions in the northern half of India and lack of infrastructure and realty projects would continue to subdue demand growth at least for the next two months, it added.