SL sees high demand for cement in 2011(pics: diytrade.com)

Sri Lanka‘s post-war reconstruction and floods helped boost demand for cement in the country, says a leading cement manufacturer.

Tokyo Cement, a Sri Lankan – Japanese joint venture says that much of the demand came from the government’s large scale infrastructure projects.

According to Tokyo Cement, the private sector has been mainly engaged in building housing and housing schemes as well as hotels.

In its 2011/2012 annual report, Tokyo Cement also points out that the surge in private credit too contributed towards higher demand for cement.

Accordingly, the total cement consumed in Sri Lanka during the year 2011 has recorded a figure of 4.58 million metric tones, a 21.6% year on year rise.

The local cement production during the year has risen by 13.6% to figure 1.97 million metric tones.

Cement imports too has gone up by 28.4% to record 2.58 million metric tones during the year 2011.

Tokyo Cement says this situation also helped it to grow during the year under review.

The firm’s pretax profit during the year 2011/2012 has gone up to Rs. 1.039 billion as against the profit of Rs. 842 million gained during the previous year.

Tokyo Cement (Lanka) Plc is a listed firm in the Colombo bourse.

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