[Translator] The aggregate business of Vulcan Materials performed strongly in the first half of 2023

Vulan Materials, incorporated in New Jersey on February 14, 2007, is a producer of construction materials, primarily crushed stone, sand, and crushed rock. The aggregate business of Vulcan Materials is one of its core businesses, which mainly produces various types of aggregates, including gravel, crushed stone and sand. These aggregates are an important part of concrete and mortar, which are used to build infrastructure such as houses, factories, highways, bridges, water and electricity. The company has 404 aggregate plants in 22 States in the United States, with a proven aggregate reserve of 15.6 billion tons. In the first half of

2023, the operating income of Volcanic Materials Company was 3761.8 million US dollars, an increase of 7.63% over the same period last year, and the operating cost was 2876.5 million US dollars, an increase of 3.47% over the same period last year. The company's operating income and operating cost increased year by year. In addition, except for 2022, the net profit of other years is basically on the rise. Volcano Material Company's good operation is attributed to its diversified products, strong brand effect, healthy cash flow and so on.

Figure 1: Basic operating information of Vulcan Materials Company from H1 2019 to H1 2023 (US $10,000)

Data source: Cement Big Data (https://data.ccement.com/)

According to Vulcan Materials Company (Vulan) Tom Hill, Chairman and CEO of Materials, said that in the first half of 2023, better strategic planning and strong aggregate business stimulated the profit growth of Vulcan Materials. Among them, the gross profit rate of aggregate increased by 23.53% year-on-year, and the cash gross profit rate per ton of aggregate increased by 23%. In addition, large-scale industrial projects and real estate have a large demand for aggregates. The company expects that all businesses, including aggregates business, will continue to develop strongly, sales will continue to increase, and EBITDA will increase to 1.9 billion to 2 billion yuan, an increase of 150 million dollars over February expectations.

Specifically, Vulcan Materials' aggregates business performed well in the first quarter of 2023, as the company delivered 84.2 million tons of aggregates in the quarter, up 9.7% from a year ago. Gross profit per tonne of aggregate was $5.79, up 4.8% year on year. In the second quarter of 2023, Vulcan Materials' aggregates business performed strongly, with the company delivering 93 million tons of aggregates in the quarter, up 10% from a year ago. Gross profit per ton of aggregates was $6.15, up 5% from a year ago, an increase that reflects the Company's solid performance and strong operational execution in the aggregates market. At the same time, Vulcan Materials added several new aggregate projects in the first half of 2023:

(1) Idaho Aggregate Project: Vulcan Materials expanded its existing aggregate business in Idaho, which will increase the company's aggregate production and market share in the state. (First Quarter 2023)

(2) Utah Aggregate Project: Vulcan Materials has opened a new aggregate plant in Utah, a project that will increase the company's aggregate production and market share in the state. (Q2 2023)

(3) Colorado (CO) Aggregate Project: Vulcan Materials has opened a new aggregate plant in Colorado, a project that will increase the company's aggregate production and market share in the state. (The second quarter of 2023)

To sum up, the aggregate business sales volume and gross profit of Huoshen Material Company continued to increase, together with the three major aggregate projects, which fully reflected the continuous expansion and investment of Huoshen Material Company in the aggregate market, and the aggregate business is developing strongly.