HK Stock Market Move | Most cement stocks are falling, and the market may continue to have a weak trend in the second half of the year. Institutions have an optimistic attitude towards future cement prices.

Most cement stocks have fallen, as of the time of writing, Anhui Conch Cement (00914) fell by 3.91% to HK$17.18; WESTCHINACEMENT (02233) fell by 2.27% to HK$0.86; CR BLDG MAT TEC (01313) fell by 2.01% to HK$1.46; Huaxin Cement (06655) fell by 1.80% to HK$6.53. On the news front, according to statistics from the China Cement Association's "Digital Cement" magazine, national cement prices fell by 51 yuan per ton year-on-year in the first half of 2024; in the second half of 2024, cement prices continued to decline. Data from China Cement net shows that as of August 30th, the national cement price index closed at 343.64 points, down 1.25% month-on-month. Regionally, demand in the northern region continued to be sluggish, with market activity significantly lacking, and a few regions pushing up cement prices, but finding it difficult to implement effectively; in the southern region, downstream construction showed signs of improvement, but the recovery rate was still slow, and the market supply and demand remained weakly balanced. Overall, cement market demand remains weak, and the national market continues to operate in a weak trend. Tianfeng's research report pointed out that in the first half of 2024, the cement sector's revenue/net profit attributable to owners were RMB 127.9 billion/ RMB 300 million, a year-on-year decrease of 24.1%/96.2%, with an ROE of 0.1%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3 percentage points, and a net profit margin of -4.9% reaching 0.3%, mainly dragged down by the price decline. The average price of cement in the first half of 2024 was around RMB 362/ton, a year-on-year decrease of RMB 64/ton (-15%); since April, the cement industry has started to raise prices, with the average price of cement in Q2 increasing by RMB 6/ton to RMB 365/ton, and the net profit margin in Q2 has turned positive compared to the previous quarter, maintaining a relatively optimistic outlook on future cement prices.