Czech cement output slumps by a quarter in 1H
Cement production in the Czech Republic fell by around one-quarter YoY to 1.656Mt in the first half of this year, the Association of Cement Producers has said on its website.
Cement sales on the Czech market decreased at roughly a similar pace and reached 1.506Mt.
"While results of cement sales on the domestic market in the first quarter were influenced above all by very unfavourable climate conditions, which in the first quarter of last year were very favourable, the second quarter was already affected by the full impact of the economic downturn," Zdenek Kadlec from cement producer Holcim Cesko said.
Cement exports registered an even bigger fall compared with the other indicators, decreasing by around 34 percent year-on-year to 191,577 tonnes.
"Supply exceeds demand in virtually all the neighbouring countries and cement exports are becoming more expensive owing to high logistics costs," Kadlec said.
Although the decline of the Czech construction segment as a whole can reach several percent, cement production can drop by 10 to 20 percent as the structure of construction projects on the market is changing, he said.
"The share of smaller projects, repairs and reconstruction which consume considerably less cement and concrete is rising. In contrast, the share of industrial construction projects is decreasing dramatically," Kadlec said.
Cement consumption is thus returning to the level from 2005 and 2006, he added.
Source: Prague Daily Monitor
Published under Cement News
