Slowdown signs -Ukrainian cement plants to reduce output
Mr Otto Lose GD of Dyckerhoff Zement has said that Dyckerhoff expects its Ukrainian cement plants to reduce production 20% in 2009.
Without indicating the expected production volume for last year or this year that he said that "The year 2009 will be a difficult one and we are forecasting a roughly 20% drop in cement production at Ukrainian plants that are part of the group compared to 2008.”
Mr Lose said earlier that “Last year’s production and sales were expected to remain at about the same level as in 2007, when Ukrainian plants churned out 2.58 million tonnes of cement, up 12.9% from 2006.”
He added that the company would have to raise its prices to remain profitable. He said that “We definitely should raise cement prices for our clients, otherwise we would not be able to post a profit in 2009. Unfortunately, we still can not say when and by how much we will raise prices since this is determined by the market."
Mr Lose said the problem of payments for products the company has already shipped off has never been so acute. He said that "The situation on the Ukrainian construction market is steadily getting worse. Clients’ debt to us is quite high. In such a situation, each person appraises the market and tries to find a balance between prices, the size of receivables and sales volumes."
Mr Lose also said that the group is studying the possibility of exporting cement from Ukraine.
(Sourced from Interfax)
Published under Cement News
