According to the semi-annual report of 2024, the net profit of many listed companies in the cement industry declined year on year. Behind the pressure of profit, the downturn of the real estate market has dragged down demand, the imbalance between supply and demand has made enterprises involved in price war, and the industry efficiency has continued to decline.
Experts said that in the face of the unfavorable market environment, the leading cement company has enhanced its profit resilience by virtue of its own advantages, and its market share has been expanded; the implementation of relevant policies such as carbon trading is expected to drive the industry to develop more rationally and accelerate the clearance of backward production capacity. At the same time, listed companies have tapped new growth points and laid out aggregate and commercial mixing business.
In the first half of the year, most enterprises in the cement industry were facing a decline in net profit and an expansion of losses. Specifically, the loss attributable to shareholders of China Building Materials in the first half of the year was 2.018 billion yuan, while the profit attributable to shareholders in the same period last year was 1.404 billion yuan. The net profit of Western Cement in the first half of the year decreased by 27.3% compared with the same period last year. Jidong Cement realized operating income of 11.22 billion yuan in the first half of the year, down 22.55% from the same period last year, with a net profit loss of 806 million yuan.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the national cement output in the first half of the year was 850 million tons, down 10% from the same period last year. Industry insiders said that from the macro level, cement demand continued to weaken, with the national fixed asset investment and infrastructure investment growth continued to decline slightly. The real estate market is still in the bottoming stage, the national real estate development investment and real estate development enterprises housing construction area year-on-year decline has expanded. The semi-annual report
of Conch Cement in 2024 shows that the sales volume of cement clinker products of the company decreased by 3.35% year-on-year, the operating income decreased by 30.44% year-on-year, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.326 billion yuan, down 48.56% year-on-year. In response, Conch Cement said at the performance conference: In the first half of the year, the real estate market has not yet stabilized, the growth rate of infrastructure investment has slowed down, the domestic market demand has continued to decline, and the cement price has been running at the bottom. The company adheres to the goal orientation, actively responds to external adverse factors, the overall decline in sales and profits is better than industry average, and the operating performance remains resilient. At the same time, the strong growth of aggregate and commercial mixing business and the further extension of the industrial chain have become an important support for the company's operating performance. Under the background of the decline of
cement profitability, related listed companies have extended the industrial chain. In recent years, the integration trend of "cement-commercial mix-aggregate" and other links is obvious, and the coordination between upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain is further strengthened. Since
2022, Conch Cement has increased aggregate production capacity construction. Conch Cement said that the real estate industry was deeply adjusted and demand continued to shrink. The company's main cement business maintained a reasonable market share, and the contribution of new business formats increased. Wei Rushan, executive director and president of
China Building Materials Co., Ltd., said at the mid-term performance conference that in the first half of the year, the company continued to reduce production and operation costs, financing costs, and accelerate transformation and upgrading. The basic building materials segment will be transformed and upgraded with "cement plus", internationalization, "double carbon" and high-end, intelligent and green, so as to enhance the sustainable development capability; the new materials segment will further enhance the core competitiveness and promote the international layout.
Shangfeng Cement said that the company will adopt a more robust and pragmatic strategy to cope with changes in the industry situation. On the basis of fine cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency enhancement, the company extends the industrial chain of environmental protection, logistics and new energy, continuously promotes the transformation and upgrading of business structure, builds core competitiveness, and supports the sustained and stable growth of the company. In recent years, the company's aggregate business has developed rapidly, and its main advantages lie in location layout and resource reserves. The company has sufficient high-quality resources to support the sustained growth of aggregate business, while meeting the long-term stable operation of the main cement clinker industry.
Demand is expected to pick up
, industry insiders said that under the combined effect of demand, supply, policy and industry self-discipline, the future trend of the cement industry is expected to improve.
At the same time, industry insiders said that with the introduction of a new round of policies to support the development of the western region and the construction of key projects, the demand for cement building materials industry will be boosted. Under the strategy of developing the western region in the new era, the landing of capital related to infrastructure in the western region has accelerated significantly, and the related enterprises that lay out the infrastructure in the western region are expected to benefit.
Tianfeng Securities Research Report shows that with the arrival of the peak season in September, the progress of special bonds and special bonds at the infrastructure end has been accelerated and major local projects have been started, and the demand for cement is expected to pick up. Recently, the cement shipment data continued to recover, and the price side also rose synchronously. At present, most cement enterprises are still in a state of loss. With the strengthening of industry supply self-discipline, the superimposed demand is expected to improve marginally, and the industry profit center is expected to be lifted.
