Taiwan Cement: China’s demand to slow in 2012

Taiwan Cement Corp expects China’s cement demand to expand by 7-8% in 2012, compared to the double-digit growth of the past few years, and annual production capacity to total around 2.2bnt. The China Cement Association predicts China will churn out 1.88bnt of cement in 2012, accounting for 56% of global output, with China’s cement production to reach 2.07bnt this year.

Taiwan Cement said China’s cement sector will see moderate recovery in 2Q2012

after an off-peak season in 1Q, believing sizable demand growth will be in 3Q2012. However, the company also believes that prices will remain stable despite the softening market. The firm attributes this mainly to several large cement producers undertaking repair and maintenance projects in the first quarter.

Taiwan Cement said it will see production capacity in China reach 60Mt in 2012 and will speed up its merger and acquisition activity to raise capacity, aiming to be a top-10 cement producer in China by 2016.