Siam City Cement expects flat second quarter
Siam City Cement Plc (SCCC), Thailand’s second-largest cement manufacturer, expects local cement consumption to be flat this quarter due to recent unrest after 7% YoY growth the first quarter.
Chantana Sukumanont, SCCC’s executive vice-president, said some residential projects were postponed while transport of cement was affected during the peak of the riots.
"We expect some of the residential projects will restart again in the third quarter. Construction of the Supreme Court near the Royal Plaza has been slightly delayed and will hopefully resume later this year," said Mrs Sukumanont.
SCCC, 35% owned by Holcim, maintains its projection that 2010 cement consumption will grow by 3-5% from 2009 to 25Mt this year.
The company aims to sell 11Mt of cement this year, including exports to Burma, Laos and Cambodia.
Mrs Sukumanont added that the government should move quickly on its infrastructure projects to rebuild the confidence of foreign communities. Water distribution networks in rural areas would also create jobs.
In the first quarter, SCCC’s sales rose 5.5% from the same period last year to THB5.41m, due mostly to higher export sales. Net profit was THB816.8m, compared with THB805m a year earlier even though the operating profit margin declined on lower domestic cement prices. Published under Cement News
