Displaying items by tag: volumes

Uzbekistan: Cement sales on the Uzbekistan Commodity Exchange (UZEX) grew by 58% year-on-year to 5.9Mt in 2024, with average monthly sales exceeding 0.49Mt, according to Business World Magazine.

Ahangarantsement held 18% of total cement sales volume, followed by Kyzylkumsement (3%) and Bekabadcement (1%). Tashkent and the Tashkent region observed the highest demand for cement at 34% of purchases, followed by Samarkand (15%) and Kashkadarya (14%). Ferghana held 8%, with other regions purchasing smaller volumes.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement has published its nine-month trading update for 2024, showing a drop in sales of 2% year-on-year in nine months up to 30 September 2024, to US$63m. Sales volumes remained level year-on-year at 1.34Mt. Regulatory News Service has reported that Steppe Cement attributed medium-term increases in production and the stabilisation of costs to capacity expansions and other capital expenditure investments since 2022. Nine-month domestic cement consumption was 9.1Mt, in line with nine-month 2023 levels. Imports accounted for 319,000t (4%) of total consumption. Meanwhile, exports totalled 720,000t.

Regarding results for the third quarter of 2024, CEO Javier del Ser Perez said "We recovered both volumes and pricing in the third quarter of 2024, following a price adjustment in the second quarter. While competition remains strong, our plant has continued to enhance its capacity and productivity, enabling us to offset the impact of past inflation. We remain focused on driving higher volumes and cash generation.”

Spain: The first eight months of 2024 have seen a 1.4% decrease in Spain's cement consumption, totalling 9.64Mt, a drop of 141,740t from the same period in 2023, according to data released by Oficemen. Despite this overall decrease, the industry experienced mixed results in the summer months, with a notable 12.5% increase in July 2024 and a 6% decline in August 2024.

Cement demand over the last 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024, has decreased by 3%, showing an improvement of 1.3% compared to the figures recorded in June 2024. The total volume of cement sold was 14.3Mt, reflecting a decrease of 462,636t from 2023.

Exports dropped by 17.5% in the first eight months of 2024, although this is an improvement from the 20% decline noted at the end of the first half of 2024. Despite a 13.5% growth in exports in July 2024, August 2024 saw a fall of 18%.

General director of Oficemen, Aniceto Zaragoza, said “Despite the decline in August 2024, the evolution of accumulated consumption in 2024, once the figures for the two summer months have been incorporated, has improved by almost two percentage points since the 3% drop recorded in June 2024, which confirms our forecasts of a moderate change in trend towards more positive data for the end of the 2024 financial year."

US: Peru-based Unacem recorded a rise in cement sales volumes in its US operations during the second quarter of 2024 to 324,000t, a 96% increase from the same period in 2023. It partly attributed the growth to the addition of the Tehachapi plant in California in August 2023, which contributed 159,000t during the reporting period, Noticias Financieras News has reported.

However, in the Peruvian market, Unacem reported cement sales volumes of 1.37Mt, down by 2.8% compared to the second quarter of 2023. 

India: Cement volumes in India are projected to rise by 7-8% year-on-year in the 2025 financial year, driven by sustained demand from the infrastructure and housing sectors. This forecast is supported by the government's focus on infrastructure projects, sanction of additional houses and industrial capital expenditure, according to a report by the credit rating agency ICRA.

The Indo-Asian News Service reports that capacity addition in the cement industry is estimated at 63-70Mt between FY25 and FY26, with approximately 33-35Mt expected in FY25 alone. The capacity utilisation is expected to rise to 71% in FY25 from 70% in FY24, backed by higher cement volumes.

Brazil: The heavy rains and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul state have negatively affected cement sales in May 2024, with volumes dropping by 5.6% year-on-year to 5.3Mt, according to the National Union of the Cement Industry (SNIC). Overall sales for the first five months of 2024 reached 25.2Mt, a slight increase of 0.8%. Despite a 0.8% growth in GDP in the first quarter of 2023, the construction sector saw a 0.5% decline due to high interest rates impacting financing and investments. A positive business outlook is expected for the second half of the year, buoyed by labour market trends and wage increases.

Paulo Camillo Penna, President of SNIC, said "In support of the population affected by the severe floods and rains, cement plants in Rio Grande do Sul are fully operational to assist in reconstruction, with normalised supply of the product, which will be essential for the execution of hundreds of necessary projects throughout the state."

Barbados: Trinidad Cement, owners of Arawak Cement Company, noted a decline in the Barbados cement market in 2023, according to its annual report.

Managing director Francisco Aguilera Mendoza said "In Barbados, the overall market declined by 14.3%, of which Arawak Cement Company experienced a decline of 8.8% in domestic cement volumes compared to 2022. Trinidad and Tobago’s cement export volume fell by almost 11% when compared to 2022, due to supply chain constraints and an increase in the local market demand. This drop in cement exports was almost fully compensated by our clinker exports to Barbados that started in 2023 after Arawak Cement’s change in its operating model.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement's sales more than doubled to US$584m in the first quarter of 2024. Group earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 67% to US$221m. Profit grew by 3% to US$80.5m. Consolidated cement volumes rose by 16% to 7.3Mt, while domestic Nigerian volumes rose by 26% to 4.6Mt.

CEO Arvind Pathak said “These results underscore our ability to adapt and thrive in a dynamic business environment while delivering value to our stakeholders.” He added “We continue to prioritise innovation, cleaner energy transition, and cost leadership towards achieving our vision of transforming Africa and building a sustainable future.”

India: Adani Group subsidiary ACC raised its sales by 13% year-on-year to US$649m in the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year, Mint News has reported. The company’s operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 78% to US$100m, leading its profit to rise by a factor of three to US$89.8m. ACC sold 10.4Mt of cement, up by 22% year-on-year from 8.5Mt, and 660,000m³ of ready-mix concrete, down by 7% from 710,000m³. For the full 2024 financial year, the company produced 36.9Mt of cement and 2.68Mm³ of ready-mix concrete. Its sales were US$2.4bn, its earnings US$368m and its profit US$280m. This was the first full-year financial report for a year ending on 31 March, following ACC’s transition from reporting years ending on 31 December as part of Germany-based HeidelbergCement (now Heidelberg Materials).

CEO Ajay Kapur said “The trust of our customers and our commitment to building a sustainable future with investment in efficiency improvements, green power etc. has furthered our success as we emerge even stronger than before.”

Switzerland: Cement production fell to 786,000t in the first quarter of 2024, representing a year-on-year decrease in volume of 8%. Cemsuisse attributes this decrease to ongoing challenges in planning construction projects amidst uncertainties in interest rates, energy prices and supply chain stability.