Riyadh - Mubasher: The production of Saudi cement companies dropped by 10.4% in August, leading to a similar knock to the sales which declined 9.93%, while inventories decreased by 2.79%.
Saudi cement manufacturers produced 4.3 million tonnes in August compared to 4.8 million tonnes in the month before, while sales reached 4.41 million tonnes down from 4.89 million tonnes, according to Yamama Cement Company.
Production levels retreated in 11 out of 15 cement companies, while sales declined in 10 companies and increased in the remaining 5, which is shown in the case of Al Jouf Cement which production fell 9.9% while its sales rose 24.4% leading to an 88% drop in its inventories.
The cement companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadwul) witnessed a 21.2% drop in profits in the second quarter of 2016 to SAR 1.3 billion ($315 million) from SAR 1.67 billion ($445 million) in Q2-15.
Profits also declined in H1-16 by 13.89% year-on-year to SAR 2.9 billion from SAR 3.37 billion in the same period last year.
