Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania’s only cement manufacturer, posted 6.173 million litas (Euro 1.8m) in sales for January, a surge of 47.3 per cent from the year-earlier figure of 4.19 million litas.  "The growth resulted on a 58 per cent surge, to 30,000t, in cement sales on domestic market," said Arturas Zaremba, Akmenes Cementas CEO.  Exports remained almost unchanged, with the top export destinations, as previously, including Latvia, the Kaliningrad region and Finland. 
 
The cement manufacturer posted sales of 119.823 million litas for full 2005, a rise of 14 per cent versus 2004. In 2006 the sales are expected to grow 10-15 per cent. Cemex, the Mexican cement giant, controls a 33.95 percent stake in Akmenes Cementas through a subsidiary company. Four Lithuanian private individuals hold a combined stake of 51 per cent.