Cement consumption will not grow by the same 8% in Brazil in 2009 as it will in 2008, because of the financial crisis, according to a forecast Thursday from the National Cement Industry Association (Snic).

"It certainly won’t happen," said the association’s president José Otávio de Carvalho.

This is a key indicator for the wider construction industry, one of the biggest employers in the country. Most of the main real estate developers have said there will be fewer launches next year compared with this.

He added that preliminary figures show apparent consumption should grow 0% to 3% next year compared with 15% expected in 2008.

The association forecasts 2008 consumption will be 51.5Mt to 52Mt compared with 45Mt in 2007.

"We don’t expect drop in consumption (in 2009)," said de Carvalho, explaining that infrastructure projects will compensate retraction in housing construction.
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