SCG predicts Thai cement consumption will recover in 2017

Despite a disappointing performance in 2016, Siam Cement Group believes that demand in the Thai market will recover in 2017, reaching some 40Mt, the Bangkok Post reports.

In figures released for the fourth quarter of 2016, SCG revealed that domestic demand fell three per cent YoY. For 2016 as a whole, demand fell by two per cent.

The company also saw a decline in exports, shipping 2.6Mt of cement and 1.1Mt of clinker in 2016. In the previous year, the corresponding figures were 3.6Mt and 0.8Mt, respectively. Prices in 2016 also fell, declining from a high of US$65/t in 3Q15 to a low of US$49/t in 4Q16.

The fall in cement consumption in Thailand was driven by declining residential and commercial demand. Government consumption rose by nine per cent in 2016, but this was insufficient to offset decreases in the other two areas.

Depressed demand has also led to a sustained fall in domestic prices throughout the year. In the fourth quarter, the price of cement averaged THB1650-1700/t (US$46.80-48.30/t).

In a statement covered by the Bangkok Post, SCG President and CEO, Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said that he believed government infrastructure investment would act as a spur to the wider economy, boosting cement consumption by 1-3 per cent in 2017.