Argentina's cement consumption up 7% in December 2017

The Argentine cement market expanded 6.8 per cent YoY in December 2017 with demand at 1,004,332t, according to the latest data by the country’s cement association, AFCP. In December 2016 national demand stood at 940,055t. However, when compared with November 2017, the market contracted by 14.9 per cent.

Domestic producers dispatched some 990,472t across Argentina, a YoY advance of 5.8 per cent but a MoM drop of 14.9 per cent. These deliveries were supplemented by 13,860t of imports, more than triple the volume entering the country in December 2016 (4164t), but 16.2 per cent below the November 2017 volume of 16,548t.

Total Argentine cement output advanced 5.4 per cent YoY from 946,483t in December 2016 but fell 15.1 per cent MoM from 1,174,989t in November 2017 to 998,054t in December 2017. While most cement was delivered to the domestic markets, producers also dispatched 7582t across Argentina’s borders. When compared with 10,592t of exports in December 2016, this represents a 28.4 per cent decrease. Exports declined 35.6 per cent MoM from 11,774t.

For the full-year 2017, AFCP reports a 12 per cent advance in domestic cement consumption to 12,123,998t in 2017 from 10,822,706t in 2016. This includes 96,302t of imports, which show a YoY increase of 282 per cent from 25,212t in 2016.

Argentina cement producers increased output by 11.3 per cent to 12,106,869t in 2017 from 10,879,321t the prior year. Of this total, they exported 79,173t, down 3.2 per cent when compared with 81,827t in 2016.