Strong margin improvement at Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta Materials sold 180.1Mt (198.5Mst) of aggregates in 2006, which was 2.3% less than in the previous year.
Turnover rose by 10.6% to US$2,206.4m and the EBITDA advanced by 17.0% to US$542.3m, while the trading profit moving ahead by 25.5% to US$388.0m.
Aggregates prices increased by 13.5% over the year. Fourth quarter prices were 14.9% higher across the group, with the Mideast area showing the strongest advance in prices at 17.6%. The group is expecting price inflation to continue and envisages average prices to improve by around 10% in 2007, in spite of continued delays in infrastructure spending in the important North Carolina and South Carolina markets and overall weaker demand for aggregates in the first half of 2007.
For limestone for chemical uses and for railway ballast, on the other hand, improved demand is being looked for, though demand from the steel industry may decline. Published under Cement News
