Steppe Cement (AIM:STCM) shares climbed in Friday morning's trade, adding 14% to reach 21.7p, after it told investors that first-quarter revenue jumped 50% (in tenge terms) as higher prices and stronger volumes helped the Kazakhstan-focused producer widen its share of the domestic cement market.
The company, in a trading update, said it sold 344,058 tonnes of cement in the three months to 31 March 2026, up from 276,217 tonnes a year earlier, generating KZT 9.696 billion in revenue versus KZT 6.465 billion. Average delivered cement prices excluding VAT rose 20% to KZT 28,181 per tonne, while ex-factory prices for the first three months of the year climbed 27% to KZT 24,939 per tonne.
Steppe said its market share increased to 16.0% from 13.5% in the prior-year quarter. That came as total cement sales in Kazakhstan rose 2% to 2.03 million tonnes, with exports from Kazakhstan down 48% year-on-year and imports falling to 6.3% of total market consumption from 8.6%.
The group has also started work on its previously announced expansion project, which is designed to raise production capacity to 2.5 million tonnes. Steppe is targeting an additional 0.5 million tonnes of output by summer 2027, with the project currently expected to cost US$35 million.