BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) — Cement producers in China are confident in their full-year performance and believe the epidemic impact on the industry is limited, the Xinhua-run Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.
Due to the epidemic, cement prices in some areas have declined, but compared with the same period last year, the prices are still strong.
The cement price in east China was quoted at 506.8 yuan per metric ton (tonne) on Tuesday, lower than the performance in the previous half month, but it increased by 7.46 percent compared with the same period last year, according to data of the 100ppi.com, a commodity information provider.
As the epidemic occurs in the first quarter, the off-season period for construction, it currently has no significant impact on the cement industry, said the research report released by Golden Credit Rating International Co., Ltd., a credit rating agency.
The above view has been confirmed by cement companies. Tangshan Jidong Cement Co., Ltd. (000401.SZ) said that the epidemic outbreak has occurred during the traditional off-season of the market, and the current epidemic has not affected the company’s building materials products. The cement market in north China usually starts transaction boom after March.
As for the cement performance throughout the year, Golden Credit Rating pointed out that in the medium and long term, the cement demand will be gradually released along with the work resumption, and is expected to maintain stable growth throughout the year.
With the effectiveness of the epidemic prevention and control, cement enterprises are urged to resume production in an effort to ensure adequate supplies. The low cement demand and price downtrend are expected to reverse with the resumption of key construction projects in many areas, said the report. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
