On the evening of April twenty _ sixthPiratemegawaysConch cement released its quarterly report. In the first quarter of this year, the company achieved operating income of 213.Piratemegaways28 billion yuan, down 32% from the same period last yearPiratemegaways.08%PiratemegawaysThe net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 1.502 billion yuan, down 41.14% from the same period last year. The net cash flow generated by operating activities during the period was 159 million yuan, a decrease of 94.87% compared with the same period last year.
For the reason for the decline in performance in the first quarter, Conch cement said that the decline in sales and prices of cement products in the company's cement business led to a decline in operating income and profits compared with the same period last year, which further led to a decrease in cash flow from operating activities in the first quarter compared with the same period last year.
Monitoring data from the Digital cement Network show that in the first quarter of this year, the country's cumulative cement production was 337 million tons, down 11.8 percent from the same period last year. In March, the national monthly cement output was 154.6 million tons, down 22% from the same period last year. The cumulative and monthly cement production in the first quarter is the second lowest since 2011, only better than the same period in 2020.
Li Kunming, a cement analyst at cement big data Research Institute, told the Securities Daily that in the first quarter of 2024, the downstream demand of cement recovered slowly, the output continued to decline, the contradiction between supply and demand further intensified, and the market competition was still fierce. Cement prices have been falling all the way, and the industry as a whole shows the operating characteristics of "shrinking demand, fierce competition, high inventory and low prices". Although peak-breaking efforts and kiln opening delays were intensified in many areas in the first quarter, manufacturers were slow to remove inventory under weak demand. The clinker storage capacity ratio was 62.8% at the end of March, which was at a high level in the same period.
"March was originally the peak season for cement sales, but this year the cement industry is still under great pressure." A person in charge of Conch cement told the Securities Daily that the company's cement production declined in March from a year earlier, and cement production in April recovered slowly from March, but by a small margin, and the company's April production is expected to be the same as the same period last year.
In addition to Conch cement, a number of A-share cement companies that have reported quarterly reports also reported losses or a decline in net profit in the first quarter of this year.
Li Kunming believes that with the further stabilization of the real estate industry in the second quarter and the accelerated issuance of special bonds, cement demand is expected to continue to be released, but it should also be noted that the volume of project start-up may be variable, and the overall demand may still be lower than that of the same period last year. Under the high inventory pressure, the rising space for cement prices is greatly suppressed, and profits are expected to be at a relatively low level in recent years.