Cement prices rose slightly, demand gradually warmed

Last week, the national cement price rose slightly by RMB 1.2/tonne (0.31%) month-on-month to RMB 372.7/tonne, with Zhengzhou, Lanzhou and Yinchuan rising by RMB 10-35/tonne, while Changsha and Urumqi saw a slight decrease. The weather in the northwest and northeast regions has been warming. Demand has gradually increased. Low-cost areas have started to pick up. East China and South China have been affected by rain weather. Last week, the average clinker price and operating rate increased, and the storage capacity ratio decreased. On a year-on-year basis, northeastern profitability was significantly higher than that of the same period of last year. Southwest China, South Central China, and North China were lower than the same period of last year. Northwest China and East China were significantly lower than the same period of last year.

With the warming of the weather, the demand for cement in the east began to recover, but it failed to provide effective support for the current high inventory and excess production capacity. Enterprises still need to continue to stop escalating prices, and it is expected that prices will continue to bottom out in April-April. The demand for cement in the west mainly depends on infrastructure construction. The slow recovery makes the demand continued to be weak, and the new pressure is even worse. The prices in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region are relatively low, and the future trend needs to focus on the recovery of demand and corporate awareness of cooperation.