The Catalan cement association, Ciment Català, forecast Catalan cement consumption to rise by five per cent, the first increase  after seven years of continuous falls.

Ciment Català’s president, Angel Cercós, said 2014 would prove to be another “bad year” for the sector as consumption is estimated to have fallen “between nine and 10 per cent” with demand barely reaching 1.31Mt – far below the 8Mt seen in the boom year of 2007.  However, he said that he “had the impression that we have touched the bottom.”