Steppe Cement Limited said Monday that for the half-year ended June 30 sales volume for cement rose to 442,227t compared to 412,042 tons in the first half of 2008, an increase of 7.3% year-on-year.
Revenue in Kazakh Tenge, or KZT, declined 38.4% to KZT 3,881m versus KZT 6,300m in the first half of 2008.
Whilst the cement market in Kazakhstan decreased by 25% to 2.1Mt in the first half of 2009 from 2.8 million tonnes in the corresponding period in 2008, Steppe Cement’s market share increased to 20.3%, compared to 14.5% in the corresponding period in 2008.
Average price for delivered cement decreased 42.6% to KZT 8,776 per ton (ex-VAT) versus KZT 15,290 per tonne in the corresponding period in 2008.
Ex-factory price for the current period stood at KZT 7,727 per tonne or $51.4 per ton at the current exchange rate.
Ex-factory price has increased since May 2009 and reached KZT 10,477 per ton to date in July.
Steppe Cement’s net debt level reduced by $19.6m from $92.2m as at end 2008 to $72.6m mainly due to the fund raising exercise completed in May and repayment of bank borrowings in 2Q.
