Southern Cement holds 13% market share; prices in Q2 2021 not conducive for exports: CEO

One of Southern Province Cement plants

Southern Province Cement Co.’s sales and production market share stood at 13% by the end of H1 2021, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aqeel Kadasah said in a statement to CNBC Arabia.

The company's gross sales during Q2 were in the domestic market, and the firm did not export as the prices were not encouraging, he added.

Southern Cement exported about 160,000 tons of clinker in Q1 2021, mostly to Yemen and Bangladesh, Kadasah noted, pointing out that the clinker stockpiles reached 2.3 million tons by the end of H1 2021.

The cement producer hopes to compensate a part of the profit decline during H2 2021, the CEO stated.

Commenting on the establishment of a production line at Jazan plant, he said the company began the usual procedures and talks with a number of consulting and implementing companies to determine the scope of the work. Any updates will be announced in due course, he added.

The cost of the project has not yet been determined, indicating that similar large lines cost between SAR 1.3 billion and SAR 1.4 billion, and take 30 months to 36 months of work.

A part of the project will be self-financed and the remaining will be financed through local banks, in order to maintain the company's usual distributions to shareholders.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Southern Cement posted a net profit after Zakat and tax of SAR 270 million for H1 2021, a 15% decline from SAR 318 million in the prior-year period. Q2 net profit stood at SAR 95 million.