Saudi cement, clinker sales up 18.7%

Sales of cement in Saudi Arabia remained weak, up only 11.8 per cent year-on-year, the second lowest growth figure in 16 months. However, due to increased sales of clinker in the kingdom and continued growth of cement exports, the overall sector cement and clinker sales increased by a reasonable 18.7 per cent y-o-y in May.

Meanwhile, private players' market share increased to 21.5 per cent from 15.8 per cent a year ago and 21.4 per cent in April, according to the latest NCB Capital report on the sector. In May, five companies lost domestic market share to seven companies.

Arabian Cement was the biggest gainer of the month, increasing its share by 0.79 per cent. On the other hand, Yamama Cement was the biggest loser of the month with its market share falling by 0.58 per cent.

Saudi Arabia has 12 cement companies with an estimated annual cement production capacity of 48 million tonnes. Total cement and clinker sales, including exports for May, stood at 4.12 million tonnes, reporting an increase of 18.7 per cent y-o-y and five per cent month-on-month. Cement exports stood at 112,000 tonnes in May, up 41.8 per cent y-o-y. On a m-o-m basis, cement exports grew seven per cent from 105,000 tonnes in April.

In May, cement production decreased by 4.9 per cent m-o-m to 3.73m tonnes. However, clinker production increased by 10 per cent m-o-m to 3.62m tonnes. Clinker stock as a percentage of domestic cement sales decreased to 223 per cent from 233 per cent in April and the high of 481 per cent in September last year.

In May, total cement sales in Saudi Arabia stood at 3.79m tonnes versus 3.61m tonnes in April and 3.39m tonnes in May 2009. Domestic clinker sales in May this year stood at 128,000 tonnes compared to 140,000 tonnes in April and 7,000 tonnes in May 2009. In May 2010, cement and clinker exports stood at 112,000 tonnes and 94,000 tonnes respectively.

Four companies exported cement during the month – Saudi Cement, Eastern Province Cement and Northern Region Cement. In May, cement and clinker sales in Saudi Arabia were up 15.4 per cent y-o-y to 3.91m tonnes compared to 3.39m tonnes in May 2009.

However, there was a big discrepancy between cement and clinker; domestic cement sales went up 11.8 per cent y-o-y to 3.79m tonnes, but clinker sales increased 1729 per cent year-on-year.