Mexican cement producers concluded the first half of the year with positive sales. According to reports from the three cement companies traded on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV), Cemex, Cementos Moctezuma and GCC, combined sales grew 18 per cent during the first six months of 2011, driven by volume growth and prices.


Between January and June this year, the average growth of cement volume was 3.7 per cent.


According to Cemex, the infrastructure, industrial and trade sectors were the main drivers of demand for building materials, in contrast to formal housing, primarily low-and middle strata, due to the contraction of credit.


However, price increases were also key to revenue growth of cement, who saw their cost structure affected by the rising cost of inputs like energy.


Vice President of Finance and Administration of Cemex, Fernando Gonzalez, said recently that the company faces pressure on its cost structure resulting from high energy prices, which are expected to have an increase of 13 percent at the end of 2011.
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