IMF forecasts global economic growth

As we go to press, preparing for another Conexpo-Con/Agg show in Las Vegas, some of the glitter of that city seems to be rubbing off on major sector companies. It is the time of year when the companies unveil their fourth-quarter/full-year results, and reviewing the financial figures for 2013 it seems to have been another successful year for most quarry operators with many recording growth in both turnover and profits.

Good results, given that the last few years have been particularly tough. The release of financial results often makes observers look to see where the growth has come from and why, and indeed where the prospects are in 2014.

For most regions globally the news is upbeat although some companies experienced a difficult year in Eastern Europe-Central Asia where bad weather and the demand for building materials saw a decline in many countries of Eastern Europe because of weak economic development and low infrastructure spending. Other parts of Asia and Africa have shown considerable growth.

Indeed, in Africa, the 7635 Dangote Group, a conglomerate that also operates cement works, has ambitions to join the world’s top ten companies, while in India Pacific Stone Mart is aiming to become the world’s biggest quarry operator.

With the 4362 International Monetary Fund (IMF) expecting the world economy’s growth to experience a significant increase during 2014 in comparison with 2013, such ambitions are within grasp.

The main contributors to this growth are the increasing pace of the economic recovery in almost all countries of the euro-zone, and economic growth in the US, where the continuing economic recovery is likely to lead to a further increase in demand for building materials, not only for residential construction but also for commercial and infrastructure construction, according to 674 HeidelbergCement, one company reporting its results.

In its first 2014 outlook, it is “cautiously confident about the future” but points out that the necessary budgetary consolidation measures in the industrial countries and their influence on the emerging countries continue to threaten the development of the world economy.

However, it is still investing and aims to continue its “successful strategy of targeted expansions of our cement capacities in the growth markets of Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.”

The story is basically the same with other operators, and while three years ago at 404 Conexpo times were still tough, particularly in the US residential market, this time around both exhibitors and attendees involved in the aggregates sector will find a renewed emphasis on buying new products to cope with the increasing demand worldwide.

This rising demand for quarried materials can be seen in quarries such of Pacific Stone Mart in Rajasthan, India, which quarries dimension granite stone, and which has invested heavily in state-of the-art equipment, as has another quarry in southern Sweden.

With this kind of investment it is not hard to see that quarry operators are expecting the demand to continue long-term.