Saudi cement dispatches down in April: report

Saudi Arabia’s cement dispatches fell 9.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 4.2million tons in April due to continued pressure on the sector’s fundamentals, Aljazira Capital said in a report.

The highest increase of cement dispatches in April was recorded by Hail Cement and Tabuk Cement AT 90.2 percent and 31.9 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Riyadh Cement saw the steepest decline of 43.3 percent, followed by City Cement with a 37.1 percent decrease.

Najran and Riyadh Cement recorded the highest cement sales/clinker production ratio of 181 percent and 150.6 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Umm Al Qura Cement and Yamama Cement showed the lowest ratios of 70.7 percent and 75.9 percent, respectively.

As for the inventory level, Umm AlQura Cement and Arabian Cement registered the highest increases of 256.8 percent and 164.8 percent, respectively.

The highest market share in April was recorded by Southern Cement at 13.2 percent, while Northern Cement had the lowest market share of 2.6 percent.

“Umm AlQura cement traded at the lowest P/E of 13.84x, followed by Qassim cement with P/E of 15.34x. On the other hand, Hail cement traded at the highest P/E of 77.79x,” the report said.