Cementerie del Tirreno, or Cementir for short, has reported a 3.4 per cent increase in turnover for 2003 to €292.6m.  The operating profit at the EBITDA level rose by 3.6 per cent to €87.7m.  Higher input costs, notably for energy, led to a €2m decline in the EBITDA from the Italian operations to €72.6m, but the contribution from Cementas in Turkey grew by some 50 per cent to €15.1m aided by the restructuring programme introduced when Cementas was acquired in 2001.  The Turkish subsidiary is also being used to supplement local production in the Italian market.  The profit improvement was more marked at the trading level with a 5.5 per cent increase to €52.9m.  Unusually for a cement company, Cementir, which is controlled by the Caltagirone construction group, has no gearing with €112.7m of net cash in the balance sheet, while shareholders’ funds advanced by 14.7 per cent to €510.9m. At present, Cementir is the fourth largest cement producer in Italy, behind Italcementi, Buzzi Unicem and Colacem Published under Cement News