Colombia's cement market contracts 1% in November

Cement dispatches in Colombia fell by 1.3 per cent YoY to 1.103Mt in November 2023 from 1.118Mt in the year-ago period, according to the country’s statistics office, DANE. Of this total, the retail sector reported a 2.5 per cent uptick, but ready-mix concrete companies reduced their off take by 4.2 per cent, and deliveries to construction companies and contractors were down by 6.1 per cent YoY.

Bulk dispatches decreased by 3.7 per cent YoY while bagged cement deliveries slipped by 0.2 per cent YoY in November 2023.

Output from Colombian cement plants fell by 6.8 per cent YoY to 1.112Mt in November 2023 from 1.194Mt.

January-November 2023
In the first 11 months of 2023 cement dispatches decreased by 4.7 per cent YoY to 11.8Mt from 12.383Mt. Bulk deliveries fell by 3.1 per cent YoY while bagged cement dispatches were down 5.5 per cent YoY in the 11M23.

The supply to the ready-mix concrete sector edged up by 0.5 per cent YoY, but all other sectors saw a drop in deliveries in the 11M23. Construction companies and contractors reduced their requirement by 14.4 per cent while the retail segment contracted by 3.8 per cent YoY in the 11-month period.

Domestic production saw a 3.1 per cent decline to 12.92Mt in the January-November 2023 period when compared with the year-ago period when output reached 13.328Mt.