Global gray cement prices fall US$3.2 in 4Q2014, down 4.5% QoQ

Global cement trade prices fell 1.9 percent year-on-year, according to preliminary figures presented in the 1Q2015 Global Cement Trade Price Report (GCTPR).

The GCTPR is a benchmark price assessment for monthly worldwide gray cement, white cement, clinker, and slag trade, ex-works and effective market prices published by CW Research, the research desk of global industry advisory and analysis boutique based in Greenwich, CT USA.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, the GCTPR global gray cement FOB price index fell by US$3.2 per ton, or 4.5 percent QoQ. While FOB prices traded flat in Asia in 4Q2014 (up 0.8 percent QoQ), price depreciation for gray cement was most noticeable in Scandinavia and the Baltics, where prices declined by US$5.0 to (-7.7 percent QoQ), Western Europe, with less international, ocean-bound trade averaged US$88.5 per ton (-7.4 percent YoY). However, bucking the trend, Mediterranean Basin FOB prices for gray cement rose 4.4 percent YoY to US$59.6 per ton.

On a monthly basis, gray cement exports volumes weakened towards the end of the year, dropping by 9.1 percent and 7.4 percent MoM in November and December 2014, respectively. In terms of pricing, global average FOB rates for gray cement fell by US$1.9 per ton (-2.8 percent) in December 2014 after trading flat in the previous month.

ÔÇ£Global gray cement FOB prices peaked at US$73.4 per ton in July 2014, but took a bit of a beating in the second half of the year, ending at US$67.5 per ton,ÔÇØ said Robert Madeira, CW Group's Managing Director & Head of Research.

From a tonnage perspective, gray cement traded volumes for the GCTPR 20-country index of lead reporting countries was down to 9.3 million tons in 4Q2014 from 9.8 million tons in 3Q2014 (-4.3 percent QoQ). The GCTPR currently covers trade prices and volumes for 56 countries. Notably, exported gray cement volumes in the Mediterranean Basin increased 4.4 percent YoY in 4Q2014 reaching 3.5 million tons. Scandinavia and the Baltics exported 0.7 million tons of gray cement during the quarter, up 18.8 percent YoY.

Slag, clinker and white FOB prices followed similar paths, falling 16.8 percent, 1.9 percent and 3.3 percent QoQ, respectively. Volumes of exported slag tumbled by 8.4 percent QoQ to 3.7 million tons in 4Q2014 (the countries in the reporting set for 4Q2014 represented 69 percent of global trade vs 3Q2014). Clinker exported volumes decreased by 1.9 percent QoQ to 6.0 million tons in 4Q2014 (volume traded by the reporting countries during the quarter accounted to 62 percent of global slag trade vs 3Q2014).

ÔÇ£To provide a complete view of cement prices, we include also in the GCTPR ex-works and what we call ÔÇ£market prices,ÔÇØ not only import and export price. As a highlight, we saw ex-works prices in the majority of countries we track struggling in the quarter. There were however some notable exceptions such as the US (+4.9 percent), China (+3.5 percent) and South Africa (+5.3 percent). In South Africa, the highest ex-works prices for the entire year were seen in 4Q2014,ÔÇØ said Prashant Singh, Associate Director at CW Research.

Notably, retail prices in the US and the UK markets have stabilized, aided by the rebound of the construction sector, while in Latin America price volatility has been more notable. Mexico, for instance saw prices increasing by 1.3 percent, and Colombia experienced a decrease of 2.4 percent.

For more information, placing an order, or interview inquiries, please contact Liviu Dinu, Market Services & Marketing Consultant, CW Group, by phone at +40-744-67-44-11, or e-mail at  [email protected].