2012 Annual Report - Italcementi Group

2012 Annual Report
Presentation 4
General information 14
Annual Report Consolidated Annual Report Directors’ report 30
Sustainability disclosure Italcementi S.p.A. Annual Report Consolidated financial statements 63
Extraordinary session 351
The roots of the new deterioration in the international scenario lie in the crisis that hit some
countries of the euro zone and the high turbulence on the financial markets, which eased
only toward the end of the year. Trends on the currency markets too were heavily
influenced by the climate of financial instability; specifically, the dollar exchange rate, which
had gained almost 20% against the euro in the twelve months to August 2012, has since
lost almost half of its previous gains.
Widespread unemployment and low utilization of production capacity contributed to lower
inflation in the industrialized area; commodities prices showed a downward trend too, as
demand from the emerging countries became flatter. Oil prices remained high, however,
due to the continuing geo-political tensions in the Middle East and contingent supply
problems in some producer countries, which had an impact on international energy costs.
In the European area, the construction cycle, already in a long-standing recessionary
phase, was affected by the sudden worsening in the macroeconomic situation, and slowed
at a faster rate. Although trends varied from one country to another, low creation of income,
growing unemployment, squeeze on credit, tightening of state budgets and surplus
construction in previous years were all factors contributing to the slackening in all segments
of the building construction industry, at double-digit rates in some cases. Unlike 2011, the
France-Belgium area also reported a contraction, in part as a result of a decrease in publicsector
support for the industry.
Trends were decidedly more comforting in North America, especially in the USA, where the
recovery in the residential sector finally consolidated, although the latest figures show
levels of activity at little more than half the levels recorded in the previous expansionary
peak. While there was an upturn in private investment, the downturn continued in
infrastructure investment due to state and federal budget restrictions.
The picture in construction investments in the emerging countries where the Group
operates was substantially favorable, although the differences between Asia and North
Africa widened. In Asia, business activity was sustained by a dynamic macroeconomic
context together with specific public incentive policies; in North Africa the uncertainty
surrounding the political transition in Egypt has not been entirely dispelled, and in Morocco
there was a sharp decline in activity, although this seems to be temporary.
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