Cement sales in Chile totalled 1.57Mt in the first five months of 2004, a 2.8 per cent decrease from sales of 1.61Mt in the same period in 2003, according to a report by a Chilean brokerage house. The drop reflects falling demand for cement from large ongoing infrastructure projects, which have already reached the final phases of their implementation. Cement sales in May 2004, however, increased by 5.4 per cent compared with May 2003. Cement manufacturers Cemento Melon, which is owned by the French group Lafarge, and Bio Bio increased accumulated sales by 2.9% and 1.6%, respectively. Polpaico, on the other hand, recorded a 11.4% drop in sales. Cemento Melon led the market in the first months of the year with a 38% share, ahead of Polpaico (33%) and Bio Bio (29%). Published under Cement News