Lithuania’s only cement manufacturer Akmenes Cementas on Tuesday reported 151.2 million litas (EUR 43.83 mln) in sales revenue for the first eight months of this year, a rise of 38 percent from 109.4 million litas a year earlier. Akmenes Cementas CEO Virginija Berezniak attributed the revenue growth to rising cement sales in Lithuania. She said cement sales in the domestic market rose by 10.4 percent year-on-year to 688,600 tons. Sales in Latvia for January-August soared by 50 percent year-on-year to 81,000 tons.

However, exports to the neighboring market have been on the decline in recent months, Berezniak told BNS. Akmenes Cementas posted a net profit of 25.1 million litas for the full year 2006, on revenue of 188.04 million litas. The cement plant is located in Naujoji Akmene, in northwestern Lithuania.