Lafarge sees China as high-growth, but difficult market

FRANCE's Lafarge SA, a world leader in building materials with significant operations in Malaysia, sees China as one of its potentially high-growth areas in Asia, despite difficult market conditions and investment returns below the group's average, said chief executive officer Bernard Kasriel.  

“China is a huge market, but at the same time, market conditions are difficult in terms of pricing and competing with companies that have very different constraints and shareholders than us,” Kasriel said at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.