City building projects boost Steppe Cement

Kazakh cement maker Steppe Cement narrowed losses in the half year to 30 June as it benefited from the central Asian country's government continuing to support big building projects in main cities.Steppe sold 601,099 tonnes of cement during the period, against 523,156 during the same period the previous year and also benefited from the average price rising to $72 a tonne from $61 a tonne.Pre-tax losses narrowed to $2.8m from $4.6m on revenues that rose to $43m from $31.6m.Steppe said it expects cement prices to increase "significantly" in the second half. Although new cement makers have come onto the scene, Steppe says it expects to maintain its market share at 21% over the full year."The Kazakhstan Government has continued its infrastructure projects and ongoing support for completion of real estate projects in Almaty and Astana," Steppe said. "It has been recently announced that this support will continue in the smaller cities."Astana replaced Almaty as Kazakhstan's capital in 1997 and has seen a proliferation of new buildings. Among these are the Presidential Library, due to be opened next year, which is being funded by the mining giant Kazakhmys.---RG