Canacem: Mexico’s cement sector to grow 3% in 2017

The Mexican cement sector is expected to grow by three per cent in 2017, as housing construction contracts, according to Osmín Rendón, president of the national construction chamber, Canacem.

He said the cement price will continue to rise as in the last 5-7 years, but that the decision depends on individual companies and the pricing strategies they pursue. "Cement prices are diverse, there is no single price and this depends on the area and the brand. Each company will determine whether they will generate increases this year depending on how the country's economic landscape develops,” he said.

The price of cement represents an average of 5.6 per cent of direct construction costs and a maximum of 4.3 per cent of the final average of a house, according to a study carried out by researchers at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. This implies that with a potential 10 per cent increase in the price of cement, the construction cost and final price of a house would rise by 0.56 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.