Lafarge may unveil new cement sales goal July 31-CEO
* Will change cement drop target if needed at H1 results
* Using 750 mln euro bond issue to refinance debt
* Says energy costs still down yr/yr despite oil rebound
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, July 4 (Reuters) - France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA) may revise its forecast for global cement sales in 2009 when it publishes interim results later this month, the head of the building materials giant said on Saturday.
Speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in southern France, Bruno Lafont told reporters Lafarge was, for the time being, sticking to a forecast made in May for a drop of between 2 percent and 5 percent in global cement sales this year.
Lafarge had to lower an initial forecast for a full-year fall of as much of 3 percent as economic conditions continued to deteriorate, hitting construction activity worlwide.
"We will issue a new estimate if needed at the end of July. For the time being this is what I can say," Lafont said in English. The company publishes its results on July 31.
"Our forecast is a mix of developed countries, which are in a recession, and emerging markets that are overall slightly positive -- still negative in Central Europe but very positive in Asia, the Middle East and Africa," Lafont said.
Lafont also said Lafarge would use the proceeds of a recent 750 million euro bond [ID:nLF421922] to refinance its debt -- which surged 94 percent year on year to 16.88 billion euros at the end of 2008 following the 8.8 billion euro acquisition of Orascom Cement.
"This is a normal strategy when you have make an acquisition like Orascom," Lafont said.
Asked whether Lafarge, a big consumer of energy to produce and transport cement, was impacted by a rebound in oil prices to nearly $70 a barrel, Lafont said:
"For the time being, we see a slight decrease in overall costs after a very high inflation in 2008."
Lafarge is the world's biggest cement maker by market capitalisation, followed by Holcim (HOLN.VX) of Switzerland and Mexico's Cemex (CMXCPO.MX)(CX.N).
(Reporting by Marie Maitre, Editing by Peter Blackburn)
