Chilean cement producer Cemento Polpaico reported net sales of CLP89,359m (US$107.6m) in the first quarter of 2022, up 7.5 per cent when compared with CLP83,145m in the 1Q21.

However, the company’s net profits declined by 66.9 per cent in the 1Q22 to CLP1365m from CLP4124m in the 1Q21. The reduced performance has been attributed by the company to a rise in production  and distribution costs on the back of higher inflation, rising exchange rates and increasing input costs.

In the 1Q22 the group dispatch volumes were down by 7.3 per cent when compared with the 1Q21.