Portugal: Semapa has reported that its cement sales grew by 11% year-on-year to Euro477m in 2015 from Euro430m in 2014. It attributed the increase to growth in turnover of operations in Portugal, Lebanon and Angola and the integration of the Supremo Group on 1 July 2015.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for its cement business grew by 14.7% year-on-year to Euro85.4m from Euro74.4m in 2014. However, its pre-tax profit fell to a loss of Euro18.3m from a gain of Euro9.7m a year earlier.

The Portuguese industrial conglomerate noted that cement sales in Portugal rose by 3.4% year-on-year in 2015, the highest increase since 2008. In Lebanon it reported a 8.6% year-on-year drop in cement consumption in 2015. In Tunisia it reported a drop in cement demand in the second half of the year. In Angola it reported that cement consumption fell by 11.7%. Despite these market conditions its turnover in Lebanon and Angola grew in 2015.

In Brazil Semapa acquired the remaining 50% of the Supremo Group in June 2015, taking control of its 2Mt/yr production capacity. However, Semapa reported SNIC data that the Brazilian cement market has dropped by 9.2% in 2015.

Looking ahead, Semapa forecasts that the cement market is expected to drop slightly in 2016 but with growth in Portugal.