Listed cement companies report high-speed growth
China produced 109.537Mt of cement in August this year, up 21.3 per cent YoY. This is the fifth month running for the country’s monthly cement output exceeding 100Mt, reports Xinhua Business Weekly.
According to statistics published by the National Bureau of Statistics, total cement output reached 762.2877Mt in the first eight months of this year, up 21 per cent YoY. China Cement Industry Association predicts that the domestic cement output will hit a historic high and is set to exceed 1.2bn for the whole year.
Entering the peak season, brisk cement production and sales will continue, and the profit of cement industry as whole is likely to grow over 50 per cent this year.
Meanwhile, the utilisation rate of production capacity of cement industry is expected to reach 90.1 per cent this year. Rapid growth of demand has forcefully propped up rapid growth of the output.
But as growth of domestic fixed assets investment slows down in 2007, China’s market demand for cement can no longer enjoy ’high-speed’ growth.
Thanks to brisk market demand, listed cement companies have bottomed out. According to statistics of Galaxy Securities, the main operating turnover of the 10 listed cement enterprises totaled 15.235bn yuan in the first half of 2006, up 26.73 per cent year on year; their gross profit hit 1.075 billion yuan, an increase of 859 million yuan or up 398.5 per cent year on year; and their net profit, 509.0663 million yuan, an increase of 470.1237 million yuan.
By September 29, five listed cement companies have announced their anticipation for over 50 per cent profit increase for the third quarter of this year. They are Tianshan, Qingsong, Huaxin, Jiangxi Cement and Jidong.
As September-October is the major construction period for most projects in China, cement price may rise slightly in the period and then fall in November-December. But profit of the industry as a whole may still grow sharply, and is expected to be over 12bn yuan this year, up over 50 per cent YoY
