RHI Magnesita gives first quarter 2020 trading update

Print this page

Austria: RHI Magnesita has published a trading update in which it says that ‘the difficult market environment of the second half of 2019 continued into the first quarter of 2020, with limited impact from the COVID-19 outbreak.’ Demand remained consistent year-on-year, with its industrial division continuing to perform well, particularly in cement.” The company noted lower raw material costs due to ‘reduction in overall demand and uninterrupted supply from China.’ RHI Magnesita has increased its focus on cost management, temporarily closing one Mexican and three European plants, introducing short-time working and deferring at least Euro45.0m of capital expenditure in 2020.

In the second quarter 2020, RHI Magnesita said, “The trading environment has become increasingly challenging” as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, which caused a drop in ‘customer activity and order book levels.’ In spite of this, cement sector sales ‘remained relatively resilient,’ with some producers ‘accelerating maintenance work in shutdowns,’ partially offsetting the effects of project postponements.

Last modified on 01 June 2020

Register for the Global Cement Weekly email newsletter

Global Cement Weekly is Global Cement’s weekly email newsletter. Keep up to date with cement industry news, analysis, diary dates and news of people in the sector.

Register >

URL: https://www.globalcement.com/news/item/10800-rhi-magnesita-gives-first-quarter-2020-trading-update

© 2024 Pro Global Media Ltd. All rights reserved.