Displaying items by tag: Sales
Saudi Arabia: Cement sales have fallen by 19% year-on-year to 22.6Mt/yr in the first five months of 2017. Clinker production decreased by 11.3%, according to a market report by Al Rajhi Capital. Northern Cement and Najran Cement recorded the highest declines in the period at 50% and 43% respectively. The report does not expect demand to pick up in the remainder of 2017. Overall it forecasts a 14% fall in sales volumes to around 47Mt in the year. Saudi Cement, Yamama Cement, Yanbu Cement and Najran Cement hold 50% of the total inventory in the sector at 4.9Mt, 4Mt, 3Mt and 2.8Mt respectively.
Indonesia: The Fitch credit rating agency says that cement sales are starting to rise due to increased investment in infrastructure projects but that overcapacity will continue to limit improvements in cement producers' profitability. Indonesian Cement Association's (ASI) data show that domestic cement sales volumes rose by 7% year-on-year in May 2017 to 5.5Mt. Sales volumes for January to May 2017 increased by 4% to 25.3Mt.
Fitch has attributed this growth to a 13% growth in sales of bulk cement, which is used mainly for infrastructure-related developments. By region, the main driver of the increase was in central Java, where toll road projects are underway and where sales rose by 17%. Demand for bagged cement, which is generally used for property developments, rose by 5% in May 2017.
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia increased its cement sales by 10% year-on-year to 11.5Mt in the first five months of 2017. The cement producer was pleased with the result, despite competition concerns and lower than expected government infrastructure spending, according to the Antara news agency. Company communications chief Sigit Wahono added that the company controls about 43% of the local market and this has remained stable since 2012. At present its market depends on bagged residential retail sales.
Vietnam: Cement sales rose by 6% year-on-year to 17.8Mt in the first quarter of 2017, according to data from the Vietnam Cement Association (VNCA). The total includes 12.9Mt of domestic sales and 4.8Mt of exports sales according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. Local cement production rose by 3.8% to 14.3Mt.
Argentine cement despatches bounce up in March 2017
07 April 2017Argentina: Data from the Asociacion de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland, the Argentine cement association, show that cement despatches rose sharply by 15.5% year-on-year to 1.03Mt in March 2017 from 0.89Mt in March 2016. Cement producers have described the result as the ‘best’ March in history, according to the Clarín newspaper. Despatches for the first quarter of the year rose by 5.8% to 2.71Mt from 2.56Mt. Consumption figures were similar. Cement producers have attributed the increase to higher demand for bulk cement caused mainly by government infrastructure spending. It is hoped that newly announced initiatives to boost house building will also boost the bagged cement market.
Saudi Arabian sales take a slump
15 March 2017Saudi Arabia: Mubasher has reported that cement-making companies in Saudi Arabia witnessed a near 35% decrease in sales in February 2017. The cement companies sold 4.1Mt of cement in February 2017, down from 5.4Mt for the year-ago period. The companies' production also decreased by 26% in February 2017 to 4.0Mt, compared to 5.5Mt in the same month of 2016.
The country's cement inventory increased to 1.07Mt in February 2017, up by 18.2% year-on-year from 906,000t. Yanbu Cement topped cement sales in February 2017, as it registered sales of 474,000t, with a drop of 21.26% year-on-year from 602,000t.
Demonetisation likely to deliver Indian cement industry first fall in volumes since 2001
06 March 2017India: A report by HDFC Securities suggests that the Indian cement industry will witness its first decline in cement sales volumes since 2001 due to demonetisation. The research by Ankur Kulshrestha and Sarfaraz Singh says that cement volumes fell by 13% year-on-year in January 2017 following a 9% decline in December 2016. They added that cement demand, although weak, is recovering from the shock with the south of the country least effected.
"Our channel checks across the country show cement demand, though still weak, is recovering from the effect of this move. Though states undergoing political processes (Uttar Pradesh and Punjab) are an exception to this recovery as of now, there is a possibility demand may pick up once the government formation is complete," said Kulshrestha and Singh. They added that energy prices contributed much of a surge of cement industry profitability in the last financial year or so.
Philippine cement sales rise by 6.6% to 26Mt in 2016
01 March 2017Philippines: Cement sales rose by 6.6% year-on-year to 26Mt in 2016 from 24.4Mt in 2015 the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) has said. CEMAP president Ernesto Ordonez attributed the increase in sales to ‘continuing momentum for increased infrastructure,’ according to the Philippines Star newspaper. Despite this sales, volumes fell in the fourth quarter of the year. Ordonez blamed this on the run-up to the elections in 2016 and bad weather. Increased public and private infrastructure spending is expected to keep the local cement industry buoyant in 2017.
Cement sales fall by 10.7% in 2016 in Argentina
07 February 2017Argentina: Sales of cement have fallen by 10.7% year-on-year in 2016, according to data from the National Statistics and Censuses Institute (INDEC). Overall, the domestic construction sector declined by 12.7% in 2016
Brazilian cement body says 2017 may be worst year ever
19 January 2017Brazil: The National Union of Cement Industry (SNIC) has said that 2017 may be the worst year on record for the local cement industry. Domestic sales of cement fell by 11.7% year-on-year to 57.2Mt in 2016. SNIC’s new president Paulo Camillo Penna described the situation as the worst in the industry’s history. He added that following capacity utilisation rates of 70% in 2015 and 57% in 2016 that he expects the rate to fall below 50% in 2017. SNIC forecasts that sales of cement will contract by 5 – 7% in 2017.