Cement sales volumes across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fell in December on both an annual and monthly basis, reflecting softer demand at year-end, although full-year volumes still posted strong growth driven by gains from leading producers, said a report by Al Rajhi Capital, a leading financial services provider in the kingdom.

Total cement sales volume fell 1.8% year-on-year and 1.4% month-on-month to 5.14 million tonnes in December, . 

Despite the slowdown, FY2025 sales rose 10% from a year earlier to 56.2 million tonnes, supported mainly by sharp increases at Yamama Cement, Saudi Cement and Arabian Cement, it stated.

Fourth-quarter sales remained resilient, rising 4.8% year-on-year and 10.2% quarter-on-quarter to 15.59 million tonnes, indicating momentum heading into year-end, it added.

Yamama Cement reported a sharp decline in December volumes but ended FY2025 with a significantly higher market share of 15.1%, up from 11.9% in FY2024. 

Saudi Cement followed with a 13% share, compared with 12.5% a year earlier. Riyadh Cement maintained solid sales momentum during the month.

Regionally, December sales weakened in the Northern, Eastern and Central regions, down 8.6%, 5.7% and 1.1% year-on-year, respectively. The Western region posted the strongest growth at 1.7%, followed by the Southern region at 0.5%, said Al Rajhi Capital in its report.

For the full year, the Central region led growth with a 17.8% increase, followed by the Eastern and Western regions at 11.8% and 9.8%, respectively. Sales declined in the Southern and Northern regions by 2.5% and 1%.

As per the Al Rajhi Capital report, clinker inventories edged down 0.6% month-on-month to 43.8 million tonnes in December. 

Riyadh Cement held the lowest inventory levels, equivalent to four months of last-twelve-month average sales, compared with an industry average of 11 months, it stated. 

Saudi Cement and Yamama Cement followed at six months, while Southern Cement recorded the highest inventory at 20 months, it added.-TradeArabia News Service