Exports drive Akmenes’ growth, Lithuania

Lithuania’s sole cement producer Akmenes Cementas is operating at almost full capacity as it benefits from its strategy to increase exports, business daily Verslo Zinios reported

"Today we rely on exports for growth," it quoted Akmenes Cementas CEO Arturas Zaremba as saying.

The company this year is targeting at least a 10 per cent increase in annual sales and a rise of around 15 per cent in revenues thanks to growing exports.

Akmenes Cementas expects that its LTLT350m (EUR 101.4m) modernisation project, due to be completed in mid-2013, will help it in its efforts to gain a foothold in export markets.

The new dry cement production line will allow the factory to produce up to 1.5Mta of cement. Its two operating lines, which will be closed after the modernisation, have a total capacity of over 1Mta.

The new production line, once put into operation, will help the company to cut its fuel costs almost by one-third and thus bring down its production costs. That will make the cement manufacturer more competitive, Zaremba said.

The CEO forecasts that cement consumption in Lithuania will decline by five per cent this year compared with last year.