Volumes contributed 30.4% to the increase, while prices, the mix of products and clients, had a negative impact of 5.2%.
In the second quarter of the year, Lafarge sales volumes in Romania rose 37%, due to solid trends on the segment of residential and non-residential constructions.
For 2015, Lafarge revised upward its forecast on cement volume growth in Romania to 4%-7%, from 2%-5% previously.
In Central and Eastern Europe, sales volumes, in comparable terms, grew 4% in the second quarter, following the inauguration of a new factory in Russia and the positive trends in Romania.
On a group level, Lafarge cement sales volumes, in comparable terms, fell 3% due to lower exports. Volumes were backed by positive trends on numerous markets, such as Romania, the Philippines, Egypt and Canada, but the increase was limited in the United States. On other markets, such as France, Brazil and Iraq, the economic conditions are more difficult.
Lafarge cement sales in the second quarter of the year rose slightly to EUR3.54 billion.
Lafarge, which merged with Swiss group Holcim early July, registered a loss of EUR381 million in the second quarter, mostly fueled by merger costs. Its loss widened to EUR477 million in the first six months of the year. Lafarge said the losses generated by the sale of some of its assets will be offset by other assets when the transaction is completed in the second half of the year.
Early February 2015, CRH reached an agreement with Holcim and Lafarge to acquire the bulk of assets the two companies were selling, including those in Romania, for EUR6.5 billion. Lafarge’s two cement factories in Romania, in Medgidia and Hoghiz, and its grinding station in Targu Jiu, will be taken over by Irish manufacturer CRH.
Holcim and Lafarge agreed to merge in April 2014 to create the world’s largest cement producer, with annual sales totaling around EUR40 billion.