A boom in the French housing market is fuelling domestic cement demand. While in 2016 cement consumption reached 17.5Mt, the market is expected to continue its expansion this year to around 18Mt.

“Our statisticians forecast a growth of 3-4 per cent in 2017, representing a cement demand between 17.9-18.1Mt,” said Raoul de Parisot, president of the French cement association, SFIC.

“In the first quarter, we have seen sales advance between 1-2 per cent. But we expect an acceleration in the second half of the year,” explained Mr de Parisot.