Saudi Arabian cement sales increased by 12.5 per cent YoY in April 2024 but fell 18.4 per cent compared to the previous month. According to Aljazira Capital, domestic cement dispatches in April stood at 2.92Mt, compared to 2.6Mt in the same month in the previous year, due to the base month having 11 extra days of Ramadan. The 18.4 per cent MoM decrease was due to the Eid Al-Fatir holidays. Total cement and clinker exports in April 2024 came in at 554,000t, down 30 per cent on the 790,000t seen in April 2023.
In the opening four months of 2024, local dispatches fell 1.2 per cent to 15.1Mt, compared to 15.3Mt in the 4M23. Exports in the 4M24 stood at 1.99Mt, marking a 31.5 per cent decline YoY. Clinker inventories at the end of April 2024 hit their highest level ever at 43.4Mt, up 17.9 per cent YoY and three per cent MoM.
Al Safwa Cement and Hail Cement saw the highest increases in shipments in April 2024, up by 78.7 per cent and 67.2 per cent YoY, respectively. Northern Cement reported a 66.7 per cent decline YoY, while United Cement was 21 per cent down. For the opening four months of 2024, Umm Al-Qura Cement saw the highest increase in dispatches YoY at 36.3 per cent, while Tabuk Cement saw its dispatches advance by 20 per cent over the same period. Northern Cement and United Cement posted declines of 57 and 25.3 per cent, respectively, over the same time frame.
According to Aljazira, the total utilisation rate for Saudi’s cement sector stood at 74.9 per cent in April 2024.
