RHI Magnesita held back by Chinese market in 3Q18

RHI Magnesita's 3Q18 results reported that the company's cement and lime segment continues to be held back by reduced cement production in the Chinese market and the company's ongoing focus on pricing and quality, against more commoditised competitors.

However, CEO Stefan Borgas said: "The solid results in third quarter reflect a continuation of the positive trends we saw in the first half, driven by strong end-markets, the positive response by customers to the full portfolio and solution offering, a stable raw material pricing environment, which we expect to extend into 2019, and the delivery of the merger synergies.

"The merger integration continues to go well and we remain on track to achieve our recently increased synergy targets of EUR60m in 2018 and EUR110m by 2020. Our expectations for full-year 2018 operating results remain unchanged."

RHI Magnesita forecasts stable prices for raw materials going forward, but government controls in China have led to a significant reduction in raw material output which is expected to continue over the long-term.