Expect an increase in the demand for cement starting from the third quarter of 2023
The CEO of the Southern Cement Company, Aqil bin Kadasa, said, in an interview with Al-Arabiya, that the decrease in the company’s results during 2022 is due to the decline in the amount of sales and the profitability of the sold ton due to the drop in the selling price by 10% on an annual basis.
Aqil added that the business results were also negatively affected by the rise in production input prices, starting from the second quarter of 2022, with an average increase of 10% on an annual basis.
He added that the first quarter of 2023 witnessed a continued decline in selling prices, and it is not expected that prices will witness an increase during the second quarter of this year due to the low demand at this time from the month of Ramadan until the month of Dhu al-Hijjah.
He expected that the local market would witness an increase in demand for cement, starting from the third quarter of 2023, which would contribute to an improvement in selling prices, and that with the start of the implementation of many huge projects in the Kingdom in the coming period, that would support the improvement of the market, saying: “We look forward to participating in some These are big projects.”
He revealed the completion of the study of the technical and financial offers to establish a production line at the Jazan Cement Factory, which is a project to replace the old production lines, explaining: “We are currently in the final review stage of the offers in preparation for signing contracts as soon as possible.”
He pointed out that at the present time, following signing the contract for the Jazan line with a production capacity of 5,000 tons, in addition to the infrastructure for another production line with a capacity of another 5,000 tons, the market needs and demand for cement will be evaluated and studied, to determine the need to establish new lines or be satisfied with the current situation.