Spain cement sales fall on rain, housing crisis

Spain cement sales fall on rain, housing crisis
17 June 2008


Sales of cement in Spain fell 12.4 per cent from January to May after one of the wettest springs in memory further sapped sales already hurt by a sharp slowdown in the housing sector, figures showed on Monday.
 
Spain is the European Union’s biggest consumer of cement and the fifth biggest in the world, thanks to a decade-long house building boom. Last year the country built more than 600,000 homes, equivalent to the combined output of Britain, Germany and Italy.
 
In May alone, cement sales fell 18.7 per cent YoY, the Spanish cement makers body, Oficemen, said in a statement.
 
Imports of cement and clinker fell 36 per cent in the first five months of the year, Oficemen said.
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