BS reported that cement prices in Mumbai may fall after supply of the building material more than doubled following a government ban on exports of the product in April 2008. Sources in Cement Stockiest & Dealers' Association of Bombay said that "Prices may fall by as much as INR 15 for a 50 kilogram bag. Ban on cement exports has increased the supply to Mumbai. We expect a cut in cement prices in the next 15 days."

A Western Railway spokesperson said that "Earlier, we used to get a single rake containing 2,000 tonnes of cement in two to three days. Now, we get is 2 to 3 rakes on a daily basis at our Jogeshwari yard."

In Mumbai, the railway yards for cement are at Jogeshwari, Mulund and Bori Bunder, which is, at present, all flooded with cement bags. Since Gujarat was at the forefront of cement exports, accounting for more than 90% of the entire overseas sales, the ban has meant additional cement being diverted to Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Mr HM Bangur president of Cement Manufacturers' Association and also MD of Shree Cement said that "Gujarat cannot absorb any more cement, whereas Rajasthan is also a cement surplus state. This has caused an oversupply to Mumbai which could sharply erode the profitability of Gujarat-based cement manufacturers."

Currently, the cement prices in Mumbai are ruling at INR 255 a bag in the wholesale market, whereas on the retail front, they have reached up INR 270 to INR 275 a bag. ACC, UltraTech, Ambuja, Binani, JK Lakshmi, Vasvadatta and Jaishree Cement are the different cement brands sold in Mumbai.

Cement prices in Mumbai have always been in the focus as prices are the highest here among the other metros in the country. The city alone consumes 0.65 million tonnes of cement a month, which is more than the monthly consumption of states like Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

India exported 3.65 million tonnes of cement and 2.37 million tonnes of clinker in financial year 2008.