Cemex continues with price increases in Mexico this 2023

“It is important to highlight that, after several quarters in which we have been able to mitigate inflation in dollar terms, I see more evidence in the recovery of the margin. Although the EBITDA margin decreased in the fourth quarter, the contraction was the lowest of the year and sequential margins stabilized in a quarter in which we historically see a significant decrease due to seasonality”, said Fernando González Olivieri, CEO of the cement company.

The results are attributed, in the case of Mexico, to the increase in demand for the construction of industrial buildings in the north of the country, tourist activities in the peninsulas and the need for new logistics and distribution spaces in the center of the territory.

This caused, particularly in the country, sales in all of 2022 to grow 11%, EBITDA to decrease 3% and the cash flow margin to fall 4.1 percentage points. To continue stabilizing the figures, as of January 1, Cemex further increased the price of its products.

In the United States, the constant price increase resulted in an increase in sales of 2%, an EBITDA of -1% and a drop of 0.4 percentage points in the margin, when comparing 2022 against 2021.

In Europe, the price of cement grew, throughout the year, 35% compared to 2021, so the operating flow increased 9%, although the sales volume fell.

The region hardest hit in profits was Central, South America and the Caribbean, since in 2022 they had a 2% increase in sales, but a 9% lower EBITDA and a 3.1 percentage point drop in the flow margin.

Globally, when comparing 2022 against 2021, the cement company had 12% growth in sales due to higher prices in all regions, in its local currency, and a 1% decrease in cost of sales, although operating expenses grew 1.8% due to higher logistics and distribution expenses. In EBITDA, the drop was 1% reaching 630 million dollars.

Only considering the fourth quarter, sales grew 8%, EBITDA fell 2% and the margin 1.7 percentage points.