Post-national congress infrastructure spree 'set to soak up' cement glut

West China Cement is banking on greater spending on infrastructure to lift demand for cement, once the Communist Party's 18th national congress wraps up next month.

The Hong Kong-listed firm's annual cement production capacity is 23 million tonnes, of which 21 million tonnes is in its home province of Shaanxi and two million tonnes in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"In the first half, there were virtually no infrastructure projects in Shaanxi because of the government's macro-cooling measures," chairman and co-founder Zhang Jimin said.

"After the 18th congress, infrastructure investment will pick up because new policies will be launched by the new leadership that takes over."

Zhang said the mainland cement producer planned to spend two billion yuan (HK$2.46 billion) to raise its annual cement production capacity to more than 30 million tonnes in 2015.

Already from July to September, West China Cement's profits and sales grew both on a year-on-year basis and from the first half, Zhang added.

The cement price in Shaanxi was 278 yuan per tonne in the third quarter, the same as the second quarter.