Cement sales in Saudi Arabia fall 6% in December

Aggregate cement sales from 17 producers in Saudi Arabia slipped by six per cent in December to 3.82Mt, compared to 4.08Mt in December 2017, reported Yamama cement.

Twelve cement firms recorded lower sales with Northern Province Cement seeing the biggest fall of 51 per cent YoY during the period in review. City Cement's sales declined by 27 per cent while Yanbu Cement and United Cement recorded lower sales as well, both down 26 per cent.

Five cement producers bucked the trend, led by Hail Cement, which achieved increased sales of 23 per cent in December, while Southern Province Cement and Yamama Cement saw a rise of 25 per cent each YoY.

Cement exports from eight Saudi cement producers amounted to 148,000t in December led by Saudi Cement's 90,000t of exports, followed by Najran Cement  (15,000t), Eastern Province (14,000t) and Yanbu Cement (14,000t). Clinker exports in December were much higher led by Yanbu Cement's 228,000t, Al-Safwa Cement (103,000t), Saudi Cement (95,000t) and Northern Cement (82,000t).

Clinker production in the kingdom rose 17 per cent YoY to 4.35Mt in December and clinker inventories amounted to 42.34Mt last month, up 19 per cent YoY.