HK Stock Market Move | Anhui Conch Cement (00914) rose over 4% in the afternoon. This year, the willingness of cement companies to raise prices may be relatively strong. The company has cost and location advantages.

Anhui Conch Cement (00914) rose over 4% in the afternoon, up 3.95% as of the time of publication, trading at HK$20.25 with a turnover of HK$1.17 billion. According to Digital Cement Network, as of January 10, the national average price of cement was 411 yuan/ton, down 2.5 yuan/ton compared to the previous month, and up 37.5 yuan/ton year-on-year. With the approach of the Spring Festival, the operating rate of downstream industries is further decreasing, and cement companies are clearing inventory before the holiday, leading to an expected continued decline in cement prices. EB SECURITIES predicts that the willingness of cement companies to hold up prices in 2025 will remain strong, and expects a significant increase in the average price year-on-year. Shenwan Hongyuan Group pointed out in a research report that when the cement industry in China reached its profit bottom in 2015, the average net profit per ton of listed companies in the cement industry was 1.1 yuan/ton. Anhui Conch Cement, with its advantages in cost per ton and core location in East China, maintained a net profit of 29.4 yuan/ton, higher than the industry average by 28.3 yuan/ton. The companys profitability advantage at the current cycle bottom may serve as a reference for Anhui Conch Cement's profit bottom.