SCCC set for double-digit growth
Siam City Cement plans to keep its business growing at double-digit pace this year.
"We will also maintain our share at 27 per cent of the domestic market this year," Chantana Sukumanont, executive vice president for marketing and sales, said yesterday.
The company earned Bt3.29 billion profit on revenue of Bt23.15 billion last year, up 22.18 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively. About 20 per cent of its sales came from the export market.
It has declared an annual dividend of Bt13 per share.
It forecasts domestic cement consumption to rise 4 per cent to 29 million tonnes this year from 27.93 million tonnes last year.
Up to 40 per cent of the demand for cement will come from the government’s infrastructure projects, including railways and roads, 30 per cent from the private sector and the remaining 30 per cent from renovation and rebuilding projects.
Rising energy cost
The cement price will stay at nearly the same level as last quarter until next quarter when energy and labour costs will rise.
"We will not increase our cement price but the total cost to end users when they buy cement will increase on average about Bt200 per tonne, reflecting the rise in energy costs," she said.
The market price is Bt2,000-Bt2,400, depending on the type of cement. This is still below the controlled price of Bt2,600, which means there is room for cement producers to lift their prices this year.
"We don’t want to increase cement prices at this time because we want to help people to renovate their residence, but their cement cost will rise due to energy costs rising," she said.
