Morocco's listed cement producers to end 2021 on positive note

Cement producers listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange are expected to end 2021 with net results up 30.1 per cent YoY, according to Ecofin Agency. The positive performance is driven by active real estate and construction sectors.

Holcim Group and Ciments du Maroc posted favourable operating conditions despite the COVID-19 health crisis with combined consolidated sales of MAD8.7bn (US$939m) in the January-September 2021, compared to MAD7.4bn in the 9M20. Their combined domestic cement sales during this nine-month period reached 10.2Mta, up 18.3 per cent when compared with the equivalent period in the prior year.

As the construction sector recovers, cement demand is forecast to expand by 13.6 per cent YoY, according to CDG Capital Insight. However, a 0.8 point slip in EBITDA margin by the end of the year is expected due to higher raw material and energy costs. In the 6M21, petcoke saw price rises of 86.3 per cent from an average price of US$41.70/t in 1H20 to US$77.7/t in 1H21. However, CDG Capital Insight said that this would be mitigated by the use of alternative fuels and other measures to be developed.