Global producer Votorantim Cimentos ended the second quarter of 2022 with consolidated net revenue of R$6.7 billion, an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to favorable price dynamics, in addition to the positive impact of additional sales resulting from acquisitions made in 2021.
The Brazilian company’s global cement sales for the quarter totaled 9.6 million tonnes, down 2% from prior-year period.
“Several factors impacted the world economy, which had already been weakened by the pandemic: higher-than-expected inflation across the world (especially in Brazil, the United States and Europe); tighter financial conditions; a worse-than-expected slowdown in China, reflecting COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns; and further negative repercussions from the war in Ukraine, with an increase in the cost of fuel, freight and energy,” said Marcelo Castelli, Global CEO of Votorantim Cimentos.
“Despite this challenging environment, the company demonstrated its operational resilience through cost management and pricing pass throughs. As a result, our numbers in the second quarter of this year, despite being lower than 2Q21, were better in comparison with historical records, surpassing our results in 2020, 2019 and 2018,” Castelli said.
In North America, Votorantim Cimentos’ net revenue was R$2.1 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 8% compared to the prior-year period, as a result of strong demand in Canada and the United States, combined with favorable price dynamics.
In Brazil, net revenue was R$3.2 billion in the second quarter of 2022, a 24% increase compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, net revenue in Latin America dropped 17% from the second quarter of 2021 to R$205 million, mainly due to Uruguay’s market dynamics after the entry of a new competitor in mid-2021.
