Siam Cement PCL, Thailand’s largest industrial conglomerate, is expected to report a sharp decline in second-quarter net profit from the previous quarter due to softening profit margins for petrochemical products and seasonal weakness in cement sales. 
 
The company’s performance will likely show a slight improvement over last year’s second quarter, however, as petrochemical prices and cement sales were higher compared with 2004. 
 
The cement business is expected to post softer sales on the quarter, due to a decline in construction activity associated with a string of public holidays in April and higher costs from rising oil prices. Analysts said cement sales increased on the year, however, backed by strong demand for public infrastructure projects. 
 
Local cement sales in the second quarter rose 10% on the year to 2.64Mt. Prices remained unchanged from the first quarter this year, around THB1,650-THB1,700/ton, but fell from around THB1,800 in last year’s second quarter, according to Capital Nomura Securities. 
 
The brokerage firm forecast that revenues from the cement business in the quarter will be around THB9.32 billion, up 5% on the year, but down 12% the on quarter.