SAMPYO Cement

Sampyo Cement was established in 1990 and listed on KOSDAQ in 2001; it has belonged to Sampyo Group since 2015, with Sampyo Industry as the largest shareholder holding a 54.68% stake since July 2023.

Most of its revenue comes from the cement business, producing Portland cement, clinker and slag cement supplied nationwide through regional shipping bases.

Production sites are located in Samcheok and Donghae in Gangwon Province, and the company also runs a ready-mix concrete business through Sampyo Remicon, established in 2021.

Cement accounts for roughly 94% of revenue while the remicon business contributes about 6%, making the company effectively a single-business cement producer.

Cement is typically a domestic-oriented industry in most countries, and only three Korean producers—Sampyo Cement, Ssangyong C&E and Halla Cement—are capable of exporting.

Competitors include Ssangyong C&E, Asia Cement, Halla Cement and Sungshin Cement, with competitiveness driven more by logistics efficiency and cost control than price alone.

More recently, the company has moved into real-estate development using its former Seongsu-dong remicon plant site in Seoul and the DMC Susaek site in Eunpyeong-gu, shifting its center of gravity from a raw-material supplier toward a developer handling space planning, branding and operations.

These development projects represent a new growth track that has not yet materially flowed into reported revenue and runs separately from the core cement and remicon operations.

Annual revenue rose from KRW 721.1 billion in 2022 to KRW 823.7 billion in 2023, then declined for two straight years to KRW 790.8 billion in 2024 and KRW 676.9 billion in 2025.

Operating profit climbed from KRW 71.1 billion (2022) to KRW 84.7 billion (2023) and KRW 103.9 billion (2024) before falling to KRW 76.6 billion in 2025, with the operating margin slipping from 13.1% to 11.3%.

Net income attributable to owners rose from KRW 30.2 billion (2022) and KRW 33.8 billion (2023) to KRW 66.1 billion in 2024, then fell back to KRW 40.8 billion in 2025.

The quarterly pattern is more pronounced: operating profit was a strong KRW 28.4 billion (roughly 16.0% margin) in Q2 2025, plunged to KRW 12.9 billion (about 8.2%) in Q3 2025, then rebounded to KRW 33.2 billion (about 17.4%) in Q4 2025.

Into 2026, however, operating profit was only KRW 10.0 billion (about 6.0%) in Q1 and KRW 11.7 billion (about 6.4%) in Q2, marking two consecutive quarters of single-digit margins and clearly weaker first-half profitability.

Net income attributable to owners was likewise thin at KRW 2.6 billion in Q1 2026 and KRW 4.7 billion in Q2 2026, well below the comparable 2025 quarters. Indeed, last year's consolidated revenue fell 14% year-on-year and operating profit dropped 26%, a sharp deterioration in profitability.

Cash generation was comparatively resilient—operating cash flow rose from KRW 80.9 billion (2022) to KRW 120.2 billion (2023) and KRW 126.1 billion (2024) before easing to KRW 93.9 billion in 2025, still exceeding net income—while the debt ratio steadily improved from 111.3% (2022) and 115.4% (2023) to 96.4% (2024) and 84.0% (2025).

Korea's cement industry is in an unprecedented downturn driven by a prolonged construction slump. Annual domestic shipments in 2025 fell below 40 million tons for the first time since 1991, dropping to roughly 36.5 million tons.

Continued declines in construction starts and permits have fueled industry concerns that shipments could fall further this year.

Cost pressures are also mounting: Australian Newcastle thermal coal prices rose from an average of USD 109.15 per ton in January 2026 to USD 146.7 by early June, an increase of more than 36%, driven by a weaker won.

Coal accounts for 20-25% of cement production cost and is entirely imported, leaving the industry fully exposed to external price swings.

Carbon-neutrality obligations are adding to the burden, as the fourth phase of the Emissions Trading Scheme, which began in 2026, cuts the average annual emissions cap by 16.4% versus the prior phase.

In addition, low-carbon cement costs roughly 20% more to produce than conventional cement, and given the industry's heavy reliance on domestic sales, that added cost is difficult to pass through to prices immediately, pressuring sector-wide profitability.

In this environment, Sampyo Cement, Ssangyong C&E and Halla Cement are the only three domestic producers capable of exporting and are leaning on exports to partly offset weak domestic demand, although some observers question how much exports alone can resolve, given the industry's fundamentally domestic-oriented nature.

The most closely watched medium-term event is redevelopment of the former Sampyo Remicon site in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. Seoul City finalized and announced the detailed development plan for the Seoul Forest district and Sampyo Remicon special planning zone on February 5, 2026.

Sampyo Group has stated its goal of completing contractor selection in the second half of 2026 and breaking ground within the year, with construction expected to start as early as late 2026 or early 2027 following this process.

On July 28, 2026, Seoul's architecture committee approved the complex development plan, under which a residential tower of up to 81 stories and a 53-story mixed office building will be built, with a floor area ratio of 919.71% and total floor area of about 432,868 square meters, including 403 residential units, 61 officetel units and 130 hotel rooms, with completion targeted for 2032.

Sampyo Group has branded the project "SGL" (Sampyo Global Landmark) and stated its ambition to build out a full-fledged developer organization spanning development through operations.

Separately, the "DMC Susaek" development project in Eunpyeong-gu was about 60% complete as of mid-2026, with completion targeted for April of the following year, and Sampyo Group plans to relocate its headquarters there.

The core cement and remicon business remains closely tied to the timing of a broader construction recovery, with the scale and pace of government infrastructure spending and housing-supply policy likely to be key swing factors, while the company continues a defensive, cost-focused approach that has included closing lower-profitability distribution points to streamline its network.