The total turnover of “Les Ciments de Bizerte” at the end of December 2023 fell by 32.56% (or TND 9.7 dinars), according to the company’s business indicators for the fourth quarter of 2023 published on Tuesday by the Tunis Stock Exchange.
During the same period, the company’s local turnover fell by 34.29% compared to the same period in 2022, reaching TND 19.599 million in 2023. Similarly, the demand for binders in the local market continued to decline, both for the sector as a whole and for the company.
“In fact, 2023 saw the lowest level of binder consumption (cement and lime sales) since 1999, with sector-wide sales at 4.978 million tonnes, well below the installed capacity of 12.5 million tonnes,” the company explained.
This fall in national demand for binders was mainly due to the recession in the construction sector, which hit the building industry following the rise in property prices and the public works sector, characterised by the absence of major engineering and construction projects, the drough
t and overcapacity in cement production, combined with a sharp fall in national demand for binders.
The decline in Ciments de Bizerte’s total sales is part of the downward trend in the Tunisian cement sector as a whole, with volumes sold down by 10.03% compared to 2022.
In addition, the breakdown of the mobile bridge at Bizerte affected the company’s need to import petroleum coke, the only source of thermal energy for clinker production.
This also led to a production stoppage in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to the lack of visibility regarding the return to normalcy of the Bizerte bridge.
Regarding the outlook for Q1 2024, Ciments de Bizerte’s main objectives are to increase clinker and cement production to meet demand, control production and distribution costs and improve its share of the local market.
The company also plans to carry out the planned hiring to promote the human factor, diversify its export customers and seek new customers, particularly in Libya, and make the quayside facilities profitab
le by exporting clinker and cement in bulk.
Les Ciments de Bizerte” is a public company in the form of a limited company with a share capital of TND 14,598,283,000, in which the State holds 99.52% of the shares and the private sector 0.48%.
In 2002 its capital was increased to TND 35,237,833,324 to meet the costs of its modernisation programme, which will consolidate its strategic position in the rapidly changing national binder sector.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse