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LONDON (Alliance News) - Steppe Cement Ltd Tuesday said revenue in the first nine months of 2015 fell 4% year-on-year as increased sales were offset by lower cement prices.
The cement maker in Kazakhstan said revenue in the third quarter of 2015 experienced a small rise to KZT7.77 billion from KZT7.65 billion a year previously. That brought revenue for the first nine months of 2015 to KZT16.04 billion, down 4% year-on-year from KZT16.77 billion.
That revenue fell in the first nine months as the 4% year-on-year rise in sales volumes to 1.34 million tonnes from 1.29 million tonnes of cement was offset by average sale prices dropping to KZT11,905 per tonne of cement from KZT12,987 per tonne a year earlier.
For the first 9 months of 2015, the cement market in Kazakhstan increased by 14% compared to the corresponding period in 2014, while imports remained unchanged at 13% of the total consumption, said the company.
"Steppe Cement revises upwards its estimate of the cement market for 2015 to 9.5 million tonnes, with Steppe Cement's market share at 18%," it said.
An Alliance News calculation based on those figures shows that Steppe Cement's market share means it will sell just over 1.7 million tonnes in 2015.
Steppe shares were untraded on Tuesday morning at 17.50 pence.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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