Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's cement demand will pick up in the second half 2013, ending a slump that began in 2012, according to Philippe Richart, the head of Holcim (Lanka) Ltd. However, he added that cement volumes were 7 - 9% down year-on-year in the first half of 2013. In 2012 the firm posted revenues of US$152.9m.
"We expect the second half to be better, whereas 2012 saw a little bit of a decline," said Richart. "Overall we think the market this year will be probably down by 2%."
Tokyo Cement, another Sri Lankan firm which operates grinding plants had also said demand has fallen by 7% in the first quarter but that an improvement was expected.
Official data shows that Sri Lanka's domestic cement production was down by 3.4% year-on-year to 320,000t in the first two months of 2013. Imports were down by 34% to 593,000t. However, production picked up in March 2013 and first quarter production was up by 0.7% year-on-year. Imports for the first quarter also surged by 118% to 854,000t.