Displaying items by tag: Forecast

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement recorded a net loss of US$135m during the first nine months of its 2023 financial year, compared to a net profit of US$226m during the first nine months of the 2022 financial year. Nikkei Financial News has reported that the group lowered its financial forecast for the full 2023 financial year accordingly. Taiheiyo Cement now expects to record a loss of US$199m, compared to a US$221m profit in the 2022 financial year. The producer previously revised its earnings and profit forecasts downward following its first-half 2023 financial year results on 10 November 2022.

During the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, Taiheiyo Cement recorded sales of US$4.58bn, up by 14% year-on-year. The producer said that new US acquisitions during the year so far helped it to increase its cement volumes in that market.

US: Holcim has signed an agreement with Duro-Last to acquire the roofing systems producer for US$1.29bn. Reuters has reported that the acquisition will be Holcim's largest for all of 2022 and 2023 so far. Once the parties complete the transaction, Duro-Last's business will join Holcim's products and systems division. Holcim expects the deal to yield synergies of US$60m/yr, primarily through a reduction in the cost of materials.

Holcim expects its products and systems division to contribute a majority of its profit in North America once increased investment under the US government's Inflation Reduction Act begins to take effect. In 2022, the division accounted for 40% of regional profit. The group is committed to a global target of 30% of sales being attributable to the products and systems division by 2025, compared to 19% of sales in 2022.

India: Market research company CareEdge Research has forecast an 8 - 9% year-on-year rise in all-Indian cement demand to 380 - 390Mt throughout the 2023 financial year, which will end on 31 March 2023. CareEdge Research recorded an 11% year-on-year rise in domestic cement demand during the first eight months of the 2023 financial year, up to 30 November 2022. It attributed the growth to increased urban housing development and infrastructure activity. The market research company expects these factors to continue to drive demand growth into the final quarter of the financial year.

India produced 356Mt of cement in the 2022 financial year, up by 20% year-on-year from 296Mt in the 2021 financial year.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) has forecast 10% year-on-year growth in its consolidated sales to US$19.1bn in 2023, from US$17.4bn in 2022. The Bangkok Post newspaper has reported that the group expects sales to rise due to the reopening of the Chinese market and an anticipated growth in Thai domestic tourism.

High value-added goods and services constituted 34% of SCG’s total sales in 2022. The group increased its installed renewable power capacity by 78% to 234MW throughout the year. SCG has planned capital expenditure investments of US$1.22 - 1.53bn in 2023.

SCG president and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash said "The economic outlook for 2023 seems to be better than last year, but we will continue to monitor risk factors that may affect our businesses.”

US: Ed Sullivan, the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Market Intelligence at the Portland Cement Association (PCA), expects that cement consumption will decline in the second half of 2023 due to a worsening general economic outlook. However, he noted that order books for the construction industry were ‘strong’ for at least the next six months and that this would cushion the sector. Sullivan made his comments at a presentation at the World of Concrete conference in Las Vegas.

Sullivan said, "When looking at the big picture of real construction spending and cement consumption this year, we should expect both volumes to soften throughout the year, with significant declines in the second half of 2023." He added, "The downturn is expected to be short-lived as interest rates ease slightly and stronger infrastructure volumes materialise in 2024 and beyond."

Sullivan predicts that the US economy is gradually weakening under the weight of high inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical turmoil. However, he viewed the occurrence of a recession as unlikely. In the construction sector he forecasts that the private sector will continue decline in 2023 following a drop in 2022. Spending benefits from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are likely to be muted in 2023 before registering a stronger effect in 2024.

China: Tangshang Jidong Cement expects to record a 46-52% year-on-year drop in its full-year net profit in 2022. Reuters has reported that the producer forecasts a profit of US$198-223m throughout the year, compared to US$413m in 2021.

Vietnam: Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has forecast 6.1% three-year growth in national coal demand to 115Mt in 2025 from 108Mt in 2022. Four main industries – cement, fertilisers, metal and power generation – are expected to retain over 90% of the combined share of domestic consumption. Vinacomin expects national coal production to increase by 1.3Mt/yr over the period, retaining a 40 – 45% stake in the domestic market. Five-year consumption of imported lignite is forecast to rise to 70 – 75Mt throughout the period up to 2026.

Kenya: Bamburi Cement says that it expects its full-year earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to fall by 25% or more year-on-year during 2022. The Kenyan Wall Street newspaper has reported that the producer attributed the anticipated decline to increased energy costs and reduced cement demand.

During 2021, Bamburi Cement recorded a turnover of US$338m and a profit for the period of US$11.3m.

Ireland: CRH's consolidated sales were US$24.4bn during the first nine months of 2022, up by 13% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 levels. Regional sales grew by 18% in the group's America's Materials business, with a 12% rise in cement sales there, despite a drop in volumes. Elsewhere, for the Europe Materials business, sales remained level year-on-year, and higher pricing offset costs growths in all key markets except Asia and Europe West. The producer's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% to US$4.2bn.

For the full year 2022, CRH expects to record a profit before tax greater than that of US$3.1bn recorded in 2021.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said ‘‘Notwithstanding a challenging and volatile cost environment, I am pleased to report further growth in sales, EBITDA and margin during the first nine months of the year. This performance reflects the resilience of our business and the benefits of our integrated and sustainable solutions strategy. The strength of our balance sheet, combined with our relentless focus on disciplined capital allocation, provides further opportunities to create value for all our stakeholders." Manifold added "Looking ahead to the remainder of 2022, we expect to deliver full-year EBITDA of approximately US$5.5bn."

Bangladesh: Crown Cement has estimated the total cost of cement capacity currently unused in Bangladesh at US$1.46bn. The figure is even higher when maintenance costs are included, according to Crown Cement's chief advisor Masud Khan. Over the past 15 years, national cement capacity has nearly quadrupled to 83.3Mt/yr from 22.4Mt/yr, while demand has merely doubled to 46.7Mt/yr from 22.8Mt/yr. Khan estimated the cost per 1Mt/yr of new Bangladeshi cement capacity over the period at US$40m.

Khan said that producers continue to anticipate an acceleration in local cement consumption growth in the medium-term future. Reflecting on the situation up to the end of 2022, he said "They thought if they were not prepared for the growing demand, they would lose their market share. That was why they continued expansion, bearing the burden of excess capacity." Khan forecast a further decline in the industry's capacity utilisation if gross domestic product undergoes a forecast drop during the 2023 financial year, impacting on producers' results for the year.