Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement has counteracted falling sales volumes with a price rise. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 15% year-on-year to 0.65Mt in the first half of 2017 from 0.76Mt in the same period in 2016. However, its sales revenue rose by 4% to US$26m from US$25m.
Overall the cement producer said that the country’s cement market contracted by 1% during the reporting period. Cement shipments from local producers rose by 5% though as imports remained flat and exports doubled due to favourable foreign exchange rates. Steppe Cement’s local market share fell to 15% from 18% but its exports rose markedly to 11% of its sales from 4%. The cement producer forecasts that the country as a whole will consume 9Mt of cement in 2017.