Profit Rally for China's Cement Industry Basically in Shape

BEIJING, June 11 -- China's cement sector has led the rally among the building material industry since the second quarter of this year, Zhang Renwei, head of China Building Materials Federation (CBMF), said at a cement forum on Tuesday.

    According to rough calculation, the cement industry's profit level has bumped up since May thanks to burgeoning demands, comparable to the first quarter when the aggregated profits fell a minor five percent year on year to 2.28 billion yuan, pushed down by supply outpacing demand.

    In the first four months, China's cement output was up 13.05 percent year on year to 429 million tons, with April output rising 17.53 percent, a peak since last August when cement output growth first began softening.

    China's cement prices also eyed a 0.6 yuan rise to 283 yuan per ton in April, the first rally from October 2008.

    Boosted by a government stimulus package, the entire building materials industry has been excitedly stirring about since the year began. Data shows that large-scale building materials producers posted 163.3 billion yuan in industrial added value Jan-Apr, up 14.4 percent year on year, while April took up 50.3 billion yuan, up 15.4 percent.

    (Source: chinamining.org)