Spanish cement consumption increased 3.2 per cent to 930,593t in August when compared with August 2015, according to the country’s cement association, Oficemen. The developments breaks a five-month stint of market contraction.

In the first eight months of the year, cement demand has slipped 2.8 per cent to 7.419Mt.

"Data from the summer confirm the sector’s new entry into recession, severely affected by the fall in investment in public works, which has already been noted in the decrease in consumption experienced since the beginning of 2016," explains the CEO of Oficemen, Aniceto Zaragoza.