Saudi cement firms despatched 19.36Mt of cement in the six months to June 30, up 4.7 per cent from the same period earlier, data in a NCB Capital report showed.
In the five months to May 2009, cement sales rose 1.96 from the same period a year earlier, according to NCB Capital data.
For the month of June, Saudi cement firms distributed 3.38Mt of cement against 2.8Mt a year earlier, but down 2.5 per cent from May 2009, it added.
On an individual basis, Qassim Cement Co achieved the strongest annual growth in first-half sales at 23.3 percent followed by production leader Saudi Cement Co which posted a 4.4 per cent growth compared to the same period of 2008, according to NCB Capital.
Most cement companies posted lower profits in the second-quarter due mainly to a government ban on exports that blocked income from markets in other parts of the Middle East.
The ban was introduced in June 2008 to tame a surge in cement prices in the domestic market on the back of a surge in demand from a plethora of giant projects.
In May, the government allowed cement manufacturers to export part of their surplus production provided they sell their product at the local market for SAR200/t.
