Local demand is expected to grow, driven by the announced projects leading to improvement in cement selling prices, Aqeel Kadasah, CEO of Southern Province Cement Co., told Argaam.
Commenting on the third-quarter financials, Kadasah said he hopes these results will drive the start of the cement sector recovery and improvement in local demand.
Export sales increased significantly, while local sales witnessed slight growth to 1.45 million tons in Q3 2022, compared to 1.43 million tons a year earlier, the top executive said.
Export sales of clinker to Yemen reached 432,300 tons, Kadasah said, noting that export prices are still lower than expected.
As for the impact of the interest rate hike on the cement sector, he said that the central bank data shows mortgage loans dropped over 20%, which affected local cement sales, especially in areas where there are no major government projects.
Cement sales revenues declined due to higher costs of some production inputs, the CEO said, adding that financing charges amounted to SAR 3.15 million in the third quarter.
The cement producer reported a net profit after Zakat and tax of SAR 238 million in the first nine months of 2022, a 28% decline from SAR 331 million in the year-ago period. In Q3 2022, net profit rose 20% to SAR 89 million, according to data available with Argaam.
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