Siam Cement sees 10% rise in domestic demand, Thailand

Siam Cement Group (SCG) expects domestic cement consumption to be double than its earlier forecasts for 2012 as demand is on the path of recovery.

Kan Trakulhoon, the president and chief executive, said capacity utilisation at SCG, the country's largest cement maker, this year will be on a par with last year at 18Mt or 78 per cent of its overall production level.

He said the company aims to achieve maximum cement production capacity of 23Mt within the next three years thanks to recovering demand and rising exports to Myanmar.

Exports will drop by 25% to 6Mt, but this decline can be offset by surging consumption at home, where demand in the residential, commercial and infrastructure segments have rebounded sharply, he said.

"Growth in domestic demand should come in at 10 per cent this year, double our earlier forecast of five per cent," said Mr Kan. He said SCG expects domestic cement sales will soar by 20% to 12Mt this year.

Exports to Myanmar are projected to increase by 53.8 per cent this year to 2Mt..