Peru: cement sales decline 5.2% in July

Peru’s cement market contracted 5.2 per cent in July, according to Asocem, the country’s cement producers’ organisation. Deliveries fell from 846,000t in July 2013 to 802,000t in 2014. Total dispatches, which includes exports, decreased by 5.5 per cent YoY from 870,000t to 822,000t over the same period.

The association attributes the fall in domestic sales to lower public investment as well as a weak private investment. "Public investment continues to decline. National government spending to July 2015 was 30 per cent higher than the same period in 2014, but regional and local governments decreased 29 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively," he noted.

Output followed consumption trends at 5.4 per cent lower YoY, decreasing from 865,000t in July 2013 to 818,000t one year later.

For the Jan-Jul 2015 period, Peru’s cement dispatches declined 4.5 per cent to 5.529Mt when compared to the same period last year and total dispatches were 3.6 per cent lower at 5.717Mt. Production levels slipped 3.5 per cent YoY to 5.739Mt.