Thailand: slower consumption for Siam Cement

Domestic cement consumption for Thailand's Siam Cement (SCC) is expected to be weaker over the next year, according to local paper The Nation. An SCC group meeting of local investors with Siam Cement's CEO, Kan Trakulhoon, and CFO Chaovalit Ekabut shed light on the company's current prospects and the cement market going forward.

Trakulhoon explained that a softening of the property market and the slow movement of state infrastructure projects will see a slowdown in domestic cement consumption in 2H13. GDP growth is likely to be in the range of 2-3 per cent YoY in 2H13 and domestic cement demand is expected to rise less than five per cent YoY, decelerating from nine per cent YoY in 1H13.

Demand for general building materials is also weakening, particularly at the low end of the market, but there is still some scope for sales growth of mid- to high-grade materials.

SCC’s cement-building material growth will be mainly volume driven, led by new investments and robust demand expansion in Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia. SCC reaffirmed that new cement plants will be completed in Indonesia (1.8Mta) and Cambodia (0.9Mta) by mid-2015, while groundbreaking is planned next year for a 1.8Mta cement factory in Myanmar, which is expected to be completed in 2016.