Pricing gains propel public producers in third quarter
“The third quarter was a strong one for Heidelberg Materials,” says Dominik von Achten, chairman of the managing board at Heidelberg Materials. “With group-wide energy-saving measures, cost discipline and price adjustments, we weathered further increases in energy and raw material prices and maintained our result from current operations at the level of the previous year’s third quarter.
“The environment remains challenging,” von Achten adds. “Due to high global inflation and the continuation of highly volatile price developments in the energy sector, we anticipate a slight weakening of demand in the coming months – especially in residential construction. However, the third quarter has shown that we are well prepared for this.”
Cemex
Net sales grew 13 percent in the third quarter at Cemex, which attributed its growth to double-digit price increases in aggregates, concrete and cement.
Cemex operations in the U.S. reported net sales of $1.32 billion in the quarter – an increase of 19 percent versus the third quarter of 2021. The company’s operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) increased 10 percent in the quarter to $197 million.
“Our pricing achievements this year have allowed us to more than offset inflationary costs in dollar terms, but stubbornly high inflation and supply chain headwinds have delayed our ability to regain margins,” says Fernando González, CEO of Cemex. “We are fully committed to margin recovery and will continue our efforts in [the] fourth quarter, as well as into 2023.”
Summit Materials
Summit Materials, meanwhile, noted that its average selling price for aggregates increased 10.2 percent in the third quarter.
“We are positioned to achieve strong pricing growth in 2022, driven in large part by double-digit growth across all lines of business in the third quarter and catalyzed by accelerating aggregates and cement pricing,” says Anne Noonan, president and CEO of Summit. “We continue to view the pricing environment as favorable, and we expect to see substantial exit velocity heading into 2023.”
According to Summit, its net revenue in aggregates increased by $3.2 million to $163.5 million in the quarter. The company’s adjusted cash gross profit margin in aggregates, however, decreased to 53.3 percent – down from 60.3 percent in the third quarter of 2021.
One deal Summit Materials completed in the quarter was the acquisition of Florida-based SCI Materials.
Arcosa
Arcosa’s third-quarter construction products revenue totaled $244.2 million, a 7 percent increase over last year’s third quarter.
The company says the increase was primarily due to strong organic pricing that was partially offset by lower overall volumes.
Wet weather and cement availability that constrained ready-mix customers and delayed projects in certain markets contributed to the volume decline, Arcosa says. The company adds that deceleration in new, single-family residential construction activity contributed.
“During the quarter, overall construction activity was healthy, and the outlook for public infrastructure and nonresidential spending remains very positive,” says Antonio Carrillo, president and CEO of Arcosa. “Pricing momentum continued to be strong in the third quarter, offsetting inflationary cost pressures, leading to margins consistent with the second quarter.”
Holcim
Sales of aggregates were up in the third quarter at Holcim’s North American operations, with the company reporting a 1.9 percent gain in volume over the prior-year period.
According to Holcim, aggregate sales totaled 36.2 million metric tons.
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