Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement improves 1H14 sales

Kazakh cement producer Steppe Cement Ltd reported cement sales of 709,459t for KZT9125m (US$49.7m) in 1H14 which compares with 564,440t of cement for KZT8165m in the 1H13. This represents a YoY increase of 26 per cent in volume terms and 12 per cent in value terms.

The rise signals a shift from the company's 2013 strategy of pursuing higher selling prices to this year's plans to strive for higher sales volumes.

Average price for the current period for delivered cement was KZT12,862/t (ex VAT) (US$70/t), compared with KZT14,465/t in the corresponding period of 2013. Meanwhile, the ex-factory price for the current period was KZT10,797/t (US$58.8/t), compared with 12,084/t in the corresponding period of 2013.

The cement market in Kazakhstan remained flat during the 1H14 compared to the same period last year. Steppe Cement managed to increase its market share to 19 per cent in 1H14 from 15 per cent in the same period of 2013. While the market has picked up since the tenge devaluation in February 2014, the company has revised its national demand estimate for 2014 to 8.2Mt, which is unchanged from 2013.