Dominican Republic sees 16% rise in cement demand

The Dominican Republic sold around 2.9Mta of cement in 2013, cement association Adocem has said. Compared with 2012 sales, this performance heralds a break with the declining trend witnessed since 2007.

"In contrast with 2012 sales this represents a significant increase of about 16 per cent, ending the downward path that we have been experiencing since 2007," said Carlos Gonzalez , president of Adocem.

In his view, the positive trend can be attributed to the efforts of the Dominican government to stimulate the economy. He cited the National School Building Programme, which will see the construction of 28,000 new classrooms.

In addition, the Law for the Development of the Mortgage Market had also an impact on the construction sector although not to the extent expected. For instance, the social housing sector had experienced a “lethargy”.

He said that falling cement prices had also acted as a stimulus for the local cement demand. These are a result of a natural market process due to excess production capacity. "Our installed capacity exceeds 6Mta, which means a surplus of close to 60 per cent capacity," he added.

He noted that this situation is rare, and given the size of the island, makes the Dominican Republic the country with the largest production capacity of cement per capita of the whole American continent, surpassing large producers such as Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.

However, looking forward, Mr Gonzalez said he expected significant demand to be generated by the Ministery of Public Works.

"We remain optimistic as today we are in an excellent position to encourage and harness the tremendous potential we see for cement, and therefore in 2013 we invested in promoting the innumerable qualities and uses of our products, the possible incorporation of concrete roads and cemented roads, as paving alternatives, "Gonzalez said.