Displaying items by tag: decline

Pakistan: The Economic Survey 2023-24, unveiled by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, reported that the capacity utilisation of Pakistan's cement industry fell to 54.6% in the first nine months of the 2024 financial year (July 2023 – April 2024), the lowest level recorded since data collection began in 2006. Despite an overall production capacity of 82.3Mt, the industry managed only 37.5Mt/yr in local dispatches and exports during the period.

Türkiye: Türkiye's cement exports to Azerbaijan dropped by 10.5% in January - April 2024, to US$16m, compared to the same period in 2023. In April 2024, exports to Azerbaijan fell by 16% to US$4.1m, according to the Turkish Ministry of Trade. Türkiye's global cement exports decreased by 8% to US$1.4bn from January to April 2024. Cement exports in April 2024 experienced a 9.2% year-on-year decline, to US$339m. From April 2023 – April 2024, Türkiye's total cement exports were valued at US$4.5bn.

Ukraine: The cost to rebuild Ukraine post-war is projected at US$487bn, according to a report commissioned by the United States Agency for International Development. The report states that to support the reconstruction, Ukraine must produce 15-16Mt/yr of cement for three years, a significant increase from current capacities. Protectionist measures in place since 2019 have restricted cement imports and a decline in production and a shrinking market could lead to an increase in construction costs, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Amid these projections, CRH, which operates three plants in Ukraine, announced in summer 2023 that it aims to purchase two more from Buzzi's subsidiary Dyckerhoff. This deal is valued at €100m, with the company stressing the importance of its investments in Ukrainian cement plants to boost the country’s domestic production to 15Mt/yr, according to Forbes Ukraine. The deal is reportedly under scrutiny by Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee due to market concentration concerns, which could drive up cement prices and overall reconstruction costs.

Serhiy Pylypenko, CEO of the Ukrainian building supplies firm Kovalska, Ukraine’s largest cement user, said “We need more players and to diversify the market instead of making it more compact because the competition is very weak. Market concentration allows uncontrolled pricing and the cost of construction and the cost of recovery to skyrocket."

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.”

Pakistan: The cement industry saw a slight decrease in cement dispatches in April 2024, falling to 2.94Mt from 2.95Mt in April 2023, according to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. Despite an 8% fall in local sales to 2.33Mt, an increase in exports by 46% to 614,264t in April 2024 partially offset this decline. Specifically, north-based plants saw a 4.8% reduction in dispatches to 2.1Mt in April 2024, while south-based plants experienced a 12.7% year-on-year increase to 854,911t. Export volumes also reflected regional differences, with north-based exports increasing by 73% and south-based by 39%.

In the 2024 financial year so far, total cement dispatches have risen by 2.5% to 37.5Mt, driven by a 65.4% increase in export dispatches to 5.72Mt compared to April 2023. However, domestic sales have declined by 4.1% to 31.7Mt. The north-based plants dispatched 26.2Mt domestically, a 3.6% year-on-year decrease, while south-based plants dispatched 5.55Mt, down by 6.5% from April 2023.

A spokesman for the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association said "The government needs to announce industry-friendly measures in the upcoming budget that can boost construction activities in the country. We need to increase our capacity utilisation to bring in economies of scale and to control our operations costs in order to reduce the overall impact on the end consumer.”

Vietnam: Cement production in Vietnam has fallen by 0.7% year-on-year in the first four months of 2024, reaching 57.6Mt, according to the latest data from the government’s General Statistics Office. In April 2024, the country’s cement output was 16.8Mt, a year-on-year decline of 0.7%.

In 2023, the country produced 120.1Mt of cement, representing a year-on-year decrease of 4.5% from the previous year.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement disclosed a decrease in profit for the third quarter of the 2024 financial year, due to shrinking gross margins and a fall in cement sales, according to Pakistan Press International. The company's unconsolidated earnings decreased by 27% from the previous quarter. Gross margins narrowed from 36% to 28.8%, impacted by higher coal prices, increased power costs and a shift towards clinker exports which resulted in a 10% quarterly drop in cement sales volumes. Overall revenue declined to U$98.7m. Despite this, Lucky Cement's earnings over the first nine months of the fiscal year 2024 have grown by 67% year-on-year, supported by higher gross margins and increased income from higher interest rates and dividends from Lucky Cement Investments.

China: Beijing-based China National Building Material (CNBM) anticipates its first-quarter losses to increase by more than 50% to US$180m, up from US$72.6m in 2023. The company attributes the increased losses to lower selling prices for its key products, worsening performance of associates, and higher currency losses, despite a decrease in cost of sales. Following a meeting with CNBM, Citi analysts reported a 10% year-on-year fall in demand for the cement sector in the first quarter of 2024, with a forecasted full-year decline of 3%-5%.

Spain: Cement consumption has dropped by 10% in the first quarter of 2024, totalling 3.3Mt. This represents an 11% year-on-year decrease compared to the same quarter of 2023, according to the latest data released by Oficemen. The 2024 quarterly decline was influenced by a 23.6% fall in consumption in March 2024 to 1.1Mt, 339,869t less than March 2023. Over the last 12 months (April 2023 - March 2024), consumption fell by 6.4% to 14.1Mt, nearly 1Mt less than in the previous corresponding period of April 2022 – March 2023.

Oficemen general director Aniceto Zaragoza said "Aside from the situational circumstances of March 2024, the year-moving data reflect a negative trend, resulting from 10 months of decline. This is concerning but in line with our forecasts that anticipated a negative start to the year, with a modest recovery in the second half, provided that the international and local situation remains stable.”

Cement exports have declined by 25.1% in the first quarter of 2024, standing at around 1Mt. In March 2024, the decline was 32.4%, with a loss of 178,953t, marking nine months of consecutive declines. Over the year-moving period, the fall is 14%, with a total of 4.8Mt of cement exported. representing a loss of almost 800,000t less than in the previous 12 months.

Türkiye: Exports of cement products from Türkiye to the US have decreased by 12% year-on-year to US$165m from January - March 2024, according to the Türkiye Trade Ministry. The ministry also reported that in March 2024, cement exports to the US fell to US$57.5m, representing a 28% year-on-year decrease. Overall, Türkiye's global cement product exports dropped 7.4% to US$1.1bn in the first quarter of 2024. In March 2024, exports were down 11% at US$390m. Despite these declines, Türkiye achieved cement product exports totalling US$4.5bn from March 2023 - March 2024.