Rising cement sales volumes in the Philippines

The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines has reported an 18.6% rise in cement sales in the July – September quarter, at 6.37 million t. In the nine months to the end of September, sales volumes were up 13.6% to 18.28 million t. The increase has been driven by infrastructure spending and an uptick in the property sector.

In 2014, cement sales hit a record of 21.3 million t, up 9.6% y/y, and capacity utilisation increased to 85%. Domestic production was reportedly almost 10 million t ahead of consumption.

At the end of October, Holcim Philippines Inc reported a 12.67% increase in profits for the first nine months of the year, reaching P9.99 billion, while 3Q15 income was P1.53 billion, up from P721.96 million in 3Q14. As well as high demand, the company attributed its success to improvements that have enabled the plants to operate longer between maintenance stops.

Prior to that, San Miguel Corp announced that it would be increasing its investment in the cement industry, spending US$1 billion to build three new cement plants.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui

Sources:

• The Standard
• Manila Bulletin

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/03112015/rising-cement-sales-volumes-in-the-philippines-900/