10 November 2023

Greece: Titan Cement reported increased sales during the first nine months of 2023. They grew by 14% year-on-year to Euro1.89bn. Sales rose by 24% in Greece and Western Europe, by 16% in the US and by 13% in Southeast Europe. However, they fell by 5.9% in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Meanwhile, the company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 72% to Euro397m. Group net profit more than doubled to Euro198m. Titan Cement maintained a level of capital expenditure in line with that in the first nine months of 2022, at Euro158m.

Titan Cement maintained its positive growth outlook for the full year in 2023, but expects to experience the effects of an anticipated ‘temporary cooling’ in global economic activity in 2024. The producer said that Euro8bn-worth of investments in on-going infrastructure projects in Greece will likely help to offset these effects locally.

Albania: The government will raise the tax on coal by a factor of five, to Euro0.15/kg. EmergingMarketWatch News has reported that the measure will bring Albania’s industrial products into line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s recommended minimum emissions tax of Euro55.8/t CO2. Without this, exporters to the EU would have to settle the difference.