Displaying items by tag: Consumption

Bolivia: Bolivia produced 915,000t of cement during the first quarter of 2023, up by 3.2% year-on-year from 886,000t in the first quarter of 2022. Domestic consumption rose by 1.9% to 871,000t in the period under review. The National Institute of Statistics has recorded total national cement imports worth US$35m, up by 45% from US$24.1m.

Spain: Cement consumption grew by 4% in Catalonia in the first quarter of 2023 to reach almost 600,000t. This slight improvement after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic reflects continued pessimism in the autonomous region’s construction sector. This has been accentuated in recent months by the stoppage of real estate developments due to the uncertainty that inflation causes in costs and the increase in the price of money, which has slowed down the granting of mortgages.

While an 8.3% year-on-year improvement in sales was seen in March 2023, a large portion of this this improvement is due to artificially low consumption in March 2022 when there was a cement trucker strike.

Spain: Cement consumption grew by 7% year-on-year to 3.69Mt in the first quarter of 2023 from 3.46Mt in the same period in 2022. The Spanish cement association Oficemen noted that March 2023 had been a strong month for growth, especially due to a transport strike in March 2022, and that elections may have also helped due to a subsequent boost in infrastructure spending. Despite this, exports fell by 6% to 1.34Mt from 1.43Mt.

Pakistan: Cement consumption fell by 7.1% year-on-year in February 2023 with total dispatches reaching 4.04Mt against 4.35Mt dispatched in February 2022. According to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local cement dispatches by the industry during February 2023 were 3.59Mt compared to 3.94Mt in February 2022, a decline of 9%. Exports increased by 11%, as volumes rose from 405,489t in February 2022 to 449,940t in February 2023.

In February 2023, cement plants in the north of Pakistan dispatched a total of 3.01Mt of cement, down by 7.4% against 3.26Mt in February 2022. Cement plants in the south of Pakistan dispatched 1.03Mt during February 2023, 6.1% less than 1.09Mt during February 2022.

Northern cement plants supplied 2.95Mt to the domestic market, an 8.3% fall, while southern plants sold 640,645t, a 12.0% fall. Exports from the north rose by 58.2% as quantities increased to 64,717t. Exports from the south increased by 5.7% to 385,223t.

An APCMA spokesperson said that the economic situation in the country was becoming more complicated with each passing day. “We are facing serious operational problems. We need timely supply of spare parts and consumable items to ensure stable operation of our plants and we urge the government to come-up with practically applicable and industry friendly policies to enable the industry to come out of this difficult situation.”

Spain: Cement consumption fell by 1% year-on-year to 14.9Mt in 2022 from 14.8Mt in 2021. The Spanish cement association Oficemen blamed the slight decline on bad weather in December 2022. It also noted that the consumption volume in 2022 was the second highest in the last decade. Overall, Oficemen said that the market experienced a strong start in 2022 but energy costs and inflation, partly linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, started to slow down sales from May 2022.

Cement exports fell by 16.8% to 5.62Mt from 6.75Mt. Imports decreased by 5.4% to 1.35Mt from 1.43Mt. Oficemen has linked the fall in exports to high domestic energy and CO2 emission costs since 2019.

US: US cement companies produced 95Mt of cement in 2022, up by 2.2% year-on-year from 93Mt in 2021, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The country exported 900,000t of cement and clinker, down by 4.3% from 940,000t. The USGS recorded a 9.1% leap in apparent national consumption, to 120Mt from 110Mt. Cement imports helped to close the gap, rising by 20% year-on-year to 24Mt from 19.9Mt.

Among the US's main trade partners for cement imports, cement production fluctuated in 2022. Turkish cement production rose by 3.7% year-on-year to 85Mt, Mexican cement production fell by 3.8% year-on-year to 50Mt and Vietnamese cement production rose by 9.1% year-on-year to 120Mt. Globally, the USGS estimated a year-on-year cement production decline of 6.8% to 4.1Bnt.

India: Market research company CareEdge Research has forecast an 8 - 9% year-on-year rise in all-Indian cement demand to 380 - 390Mt throughout the 2023 financial year, which will end on 31 March 2023. CareEdge Research recorded an 11% year-on-year rise in domestic cement demand during the first eight months of the 2023 financial year, up to 30 November 2022. It attributed the growth to increased urban housing development and infrastructure activity. The market research company expects these factors to continue to drive demand growth into the final quarter of the financial year.

India produced 356Mt of cement in the 2022 financial year, up by 20% year-on-year from 296Mt in the 2021 financial year.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement recorded sales of US$876m in the first half of its 2023 financial year, up by 42% year-on-year from US$616m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. It sold 3.57Mt of cement and clinker, down by 24% year-on-year from 4.7Mt. The producer's costs rose by 50% to US$585m from US$391m. It recorded a profit of US$73.1m, up by 6.8% from US$68.4m.

During the half-year period, total national cement sales dropped by 17% year-on-year to 20Mt, while Pakistan's cement exports fell by 49% to 1.7Mt. The aftermath of flooding, high interest rates, inflation and cost of goods and cuts to government spending all impacted the domestic cement market, while 'global recessionary trends' cut into exports, according to Lucky Cement.

Lucky Cement holds a 15% share in the Pakistan market and a 34% share in the export market.

Zimbabwe: Livetouch Investments plans to build a new 200,000t/yr cement plant in Zvishavane, Midlands Province. The first phase of construction will reach completion in mid-2024 and cost US$20m. When subsequently commissioned, the plant will create 300 new jobs. The Chronicle newspaper has reported that the upcoming plant is situated close to Livetouch Investments' existing limestone resources.

Livetouch Investments' mananging director Kyle Wang said that the company is building the plant in order to reduce Zimbabwe's reliance on imports of cement, notably via Zambia. Zimbabwe already has a cement capacity of 2.6Mt/yr, but a cement demand of just 1.6Mt/yr.

US: Ed Sullivan, the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Market Intelligence at the Portland Cement Association (PCA), expects that cement consumption will decline in the second half of 2023 due to a worsening general economic outlook. However, he noted that order books for the construction industry were ‘strong’ for at least the next six months and that this would cushion the sector. Sullivan made his comments at a presentation at the World of Concrete conference in Las Vegas.

Sullivan said, "When looking at the big picture of real construction spending and cement consumption this year, we should expect both volumes to soften throughout the year, with significant declines in the second half of 2023." He added, "The downturn is expected to be short-lived as interest rates ease slightly and stronger infrastructure volumes materialise in 2024 and beyond."

Sullivan predicts that the US economy is gradually weakening under the weight of high inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical turmoil. However, he viewed the occurrence of a recession as unlikely. In the construction sector he forecasts that the private sector will continue decline in 2023 following a drop in 2022. Spending benefits from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are likely to be muted in 2023 before registering a stronger effect in 2024.