Argentine provinces experience supply shortages

Cement suppliers in Mendoza province in Argentina have started importing cement from Chile due to a continued and deepening cement supply crisis in recent months.

Those that have already been granted permission from the Argentine tax agency to do so are already importing 50kg sacks from the country.

Holcim recently told the local branch of Argentina's construction sector chamber that it was going to be able to resume its normal level of production shortly, after one of its mills was due to be repaired. However, this has reportedly not yet been completed.

Shortages have also been reported in San Juan province. Distributors who used to receive 200 sacks per day are now receiving just 50. They are also receiving cement at a higher prices.

Meanwhile, construction firms in Tucuman province in northwestern Argentina gathered in the Tucuman Construction Chamber (CTC) to complain about cement shortages caused by gas supply problems, price controls and cement plant repairs. The cost of a sack of cement has increased by over 35 per cent so far in 2015 as a result, according to local press reports.