Texas holds up while California drops
In its first trading quarter, to the end of August, Texas Industries’ turnover declined by 2.7% to US$256.4m and the pre-tax profit was down by 13.5% to US$17.2m.
Group cement volumes fell by 5.6% to 1.Mt (1.22Mst) while the cement turnover was down by 9.7% to US$111.4m. The average cement price achieved declined by 4.5% to US$100.78/t (US$91.43/st). Average cement prices improved by 1% in Texas, but deliveries in California dropped, by 8% in bulk cement and by 12% for bagged cement.
As a result of the weaker markets in California, the share of the group’s cement sales originating in Texas during the period rose from 62% in the previous year to 69% this time. The new cement plant in California is performing well, but capacity is not used to the full because of the poor market conditions. An additional 1.27Mta of capacity at the Central Texas works should come on stream towards the end of 2009, or early in 2010, while at the North Texas plant, work is in hand to boost annual capacity by 0.46Mt. When these extensions are completed, it will give Texas Industries a total cement capacity of some 7m tonnes per annum. Published under Cement News
