Russia 2010 cement demand seen rebounding
Russia will require 5-10 per cent more cement next year to meet a modest recovery in demand from state-backed infrastructure projects and a construction market emerging from crisis, a senior industry official told Reuters.
Mikhail Skorokhod, president of Russian market leader Eurocement Group, said in an interview cement prices would stabilise at current levels before rising in the next few years, when his company will have five new factories at its disposal.
"We expect the cement market will start to recover next year, albeit at a slow tempo," said Skorokhod
"In October and November, orders picked up from a number of indicative sectors of the Russian economy -- metallurgy, chemicals, fertilisers. This means that construction will be the next sector to display growth."
Russian cement consumption would increase to between 46Mt and 48Mt in 2010 from the 43.8Mt expected this year, Skorokhod said. As well as private firms, state projects would also demand more cement, he said.
Eurocement is building five new factories in Russia, which by 2013 should raise its overall capacity to 42Mt. Skorokhod said the new, energy-efficient plants would allow Eurocement to improve its output regardless of whether the market required all its plants to run at full capacity in 2013. If the market in 2013 does not allow us to load all our capacity, we will work on new, more competitive and efficient production lines and conserve the rest of our capacity until such time as the market requires it," he said. (Edited report from Reuters.)
Published under Cement News
