Displaying items by tag: volumes

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement recorded sales of US$10.9m in the first quarter of 2023, down by 22% from US$14m during the first quarter of 2022. The producer sold 215,000t of cement during the quarter, down by 22% from 282,000t.

Steppe Cement said that Kazakh cement demand fell by 13% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023. Its market share was 13%, compared to 14% in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

India: UltraTech Cement sold 106Mt of cement during the 2023 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2023. This corresponds to a 12% year-on-year rise from 94Mt in the 2022 financial year. The producer sold 30Mt of cement during the fourth quarter of the financial year, up by 14% year-on-year from 28Mt.

The Hindu newspaper has reported that UltraTech Cement ended the financial year with a cement production capacity of 134Mt/yr, including 2Mt/yr-worth of white cement capacity. It also operates three wall putty plants.

South Africa: PPC has forecast a drop in its cement sales volumes during the 2023 financial year, which will end on 31 March 2023. It says that its South African sales will drop by 4%, and its Botswanan sales by 7%. In the first half of the financial year, sales dropped by 2.6% year-on-year. PPC now says that disruptions at South African ports will likely limit the decline in its sales volumes in its home country by reducing competition from imports. South Africa imported 30% of cement consumed during the 2022 financial year, however congestion at ports and currency effects have kept this figure from rising throughout the present financial year.

PPC's CEO Roland van Wijnen said "Rising input costs and the objective of maintaining our market share continue to cause margin pressure." The group now expects to reduce its debt by 28 - 33% to US$39.5 - 42.2m in the 2023 financial year.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos’ full-year sales were US$4.88bn in 2022, up by 16% year-on-year from 2021. Its earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 6% to US$927m. Throughout the year, the group invested US$378m in expansions, modernisations and business support. Its cement volumes increased in North America, Spain and Tunisia. Revenues rose by 4% in North America and by 16% in Europe, Asia and Africa, but fell by 17% in Latin America.

Chief operating officer Osvaldo Ayres Filho said “We had another year of solid results, thanks to our discipline in the execution of our strategy and despite a global environment marked by high inflation, rising interest rates and the ongoing consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Locally, household indebtedness and credit tightening affected investments in new construction and renovation projects, which impacted the domestic cement market. Despite that, we increased our investments focused on improving competitiveness, developed and launched new businesses, and expanded our operations in important markets, such as Spain. The company is stronger, more resilient and better prepared for opportunities and challenges.”

UK: Breedon Group's sales were Euro1.57bn in 2022, up by 13% year-on-year from Euro1.39bn in 2021. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose by 16% to Euro166m from Euro143m. The group increased its cement volumes by 9.1% during the year, to 2.4Mt from 2.2Mt.

Breedon Group said "The outlook for the cement market is positive, underpinned by large ongoing infrastructure projects in the UK. In Ireland, housing and infrastructure are supported by the government’s development plans to accommodate a rapidly growing population."

Argentina: Loma Negra recorded sales of US$835m in 2022, up by 1.1% year-on-year from 2021 levels. The producer said that growth in revenues from cement was 'flattish,' however volumes rose by 9.7% to 6.72Mt from 6.13Mt. Its cost of sales was US$530m, up by 7.9% from US$491m. Meanwhile, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 3.8% to US$217m.

Loma Negra's CEO Sergio Faifman praised the 'extraordinary' results, saying "2022 was a year of many challenges and opportunities. The favorable evolution of Argentina's gross domestic product (GDP) during the year and the great performance of the construction activity gave a strong boost to the cement demand, with national shipments that were very close to exceeding 13Mt, allowing the industry to widely surpass the record reached in 2015."

Ireland: CRH recorded consolidated sales of US$32.7bn in 2022, up by 12% year-on-year from US$29.2bn in 2021. The producer's Americas Materials business reported sales of US$14.3bn, up by 15% US$12.4bn. Across the Americas, its cement revenues grew by 8% year-on-year. A 12% regional price rise offset a decline in the business' cement sales volumes. CRH's Europe Materials business reported sales of US$10.6bn, in line with 2021 levels. Its cement revenues were US$2.04bn across the region.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said "Our 2022 performance reflects the outstanding commitment of our people, the underlying strength and resilience of our business and the continued delivery of our integrated, solutions-focused strategy. Despite significant cost pressures throughout the year, we delivered further improvements in profits, margins and returns. Our strong cash generation together with our relentless focus on disciplined capital allocation has also delivered the strongest balance sheet in our history, providing us with significant opportunities for further growth and value creation going forward."

Pakistan: Thatta Cement produced 211,000t of cement during the first half of 2023 financial year, up by 3.7% year-on-year from 204,000t during the first half of 2022 financial year. Its clinker production rose by 55% to 190,000t from 122,000t. The producer despatched 215,000t of cement, up by 4.7% year-on-year from 205,000t. Its despatches of clinker fell to 0t from 4990t.

Thatta Cement said "During the period under review, persistent political instability and indecisive monetary measures have left the business to face gross challenges. Recent floods brought on by extremely strong monsoon rains have damaged the national infrastructure and created a food crisis. The catastrophic flood has killed thousands of people, besides flooding one-third of the country. This has further compounded the agony of an economy which has already been struggling for its survival due to ever increasing current account deficit, sharply rising inflation rate and massive rupee devaluation."

Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded sales of US$3.49bn in 2022, up by 17% year-on-year from US$3.05bn in 2021. The producer's cement sales volumes fell by 5.1% year-on-year to 27.8Mt from 29.3Mt. Its selling and distribution costs rose by over 50% to US$643m, yet profit after tax also rose, by 4.9% to US$833m.

The Premium Times newspaper has reported that the producer invested US$543m in is subsidiaries throughout the year. The group said that most of this investment took place outside of Nigeria.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement recorded sales of US$876m in the first half of its 2023 financial year, up by 42% year-on-year from US$616m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. It sold 3.57Mt of cement and clinker, down by 24% year-on-year from 4.7Mt. The producer's costs rose by 50% to US$585m from US$391m. It recorded a profit of US$73.1m, up by 6.8% from US$68.4m.

During the half-year period, total national cement sales dropped by 17% year-on-year to 20Mt, while Pakistan's cement exports fell by 49% to 1.7Mt. The aftermath of flooding, high interest rates, inflation and cost of goods and cuts to government spending all impacted the domestic cement market, while 'global recessionary trends' cut into exports, according to Lucky Cement.

Lucky Cement holds a 15% share in the Pakistan market and a 34% share in the export market.