Saudi Cement Sector Operates at lowest local sales since 2019

Al Jazeera Capital has revealed a decrease in the total operational rate of the Saudi cement sector to 63.5% in December 2023, compared to 63.9% in November of the same year. This marks a decline from the 67.7% rate recorded in the same month in 2022.

According to Al Jazeera Capital, local cement shipments in 2023 fell by 8.8% to 47.57 million tons, down from 52.18 million tons in 2022, recording the lowest annual local sales since 2019. Meanwhile, cement export sales in 2023 also saw a decrease of 5.4% to 8.5 million tons compared to the previous year.

The report highlighted that the sales-to-clinker production ratio in December 2023 was 95.6%, with the highest sector ratio being 193% at Yanbu Cement. The exports of cement and clinker dropped to 543,000 tons in December, a 34.7% decrease compared to 831,000 tons in the same month of the previous year. Nine companies were involved in cement exports during the month, led by Saudi Cement with 191,000 tons, followed by Yanbu Cement with 119,000 tons, and others.

The clinker inventory reached 39.95 million tons in December 2023, an increase of 14% from the same month in the previous year and 1.6% from the previous month, marking the highest level since September 2020.

In terms of market share, Yamama Cement had the largest share in December 2023 with 10.9%, followed by Arabian Cement at 10.6%. On the other hand, Northern Cement had the smallest market share at 1%, followed by Jouf Cement and United Cement with 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively.

Source

Maaal