Peru's cement demand up 2% in August

Peru’s cement association, Asocem, reported a 2.3 per cent YoY rise in domestic deliveries from 0.838Mt in August 2016 to 0.857Mt in August 2017. Cement imports remained largely stable at 43,800t while clinker imports reached 86,000t. Total cement consumption in the Latin American country reached 0.901Mt, up 2.2 per cent from 0.882Mt in the year-ago period and 15.6 per cent MoM.

Output from Peru’s cement plants reached 0.873Mt, down 2.2 per cent YoY from 0.892Mt. Of this total, 29,000t were exported, representing a fall of 48 per cent YoY when compared with 55,900t exported in August 2016. Clinker exports rose 49 per cent from 21,600t in August 2016 to 32,200t in August 2017.

For the 12 months ending 31 August 2017, 9.441Mt of cement was dispatched within Peru’s borders with an additional 0.518Mt imported. This resulted in a total domestic cement consumption of 9.959Mt, representing a modest MoM increase from 9.94Mt in July 2017. Domestic deliveries and imports in July stood at 9.422Mt and 0.518Mt, respectively.

The construction sector expanded by 3.8 per cent in July for the second-consecutive month following a 3.49 per cent rise in June. This ended a nine-month continuous decline since September 2016, according to data by the National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI).

"There is an activation of works of the reconstruction process by El Niño and private works in some mining units such as in Huancavelica, as well as in the construction of buildings in the capital and the interior of the country," said INEI chief, Aníbal Sánchez.