Peru's cement market expands 5% in January

Peru's cement consumption expanded five per cent to 0.861Mt in January 2018 when compared with the previous year, but fell eight per cent MoM, according to the country’s cement association, Asocem.

Per capita cement consumption in the Latin American country slipped 0.1 per cent YoY to 321kg but edged up 0.3 per cent when compared with December 2017, when it stood at 319kg.

Peruvian cement producers increased their domestic dispatches by 3.9 per cent YoY to 0.798Mt from 0.767Mt while total output remained stable at 0.802Mt.

They exported 0.364Mt of cement, down 7.3 per cent YoY, but up 1.3 per cent MoM. Clinker exports increased by 236.4 per cent to 0.617Mt when compared with the year-ago period and 12.3 per cent MoM.

Domestic production was supplemented by 0.625Mt of cement imports, representing a 22.4 per cent hike when compared with January 2017 and +1.8 per cent MoM. Clinker exports remained stable at 0.569Mt when compared with the equivalent period of 2017 but advanced 8.4 per cent MoM.

Around 83 per cent of cement imports were shipped from Vietnam with a further 12 per cent from China and an additional two per cent from Mexico. Clinker exports came from South Korea (81 per cent of total clinker imports), Japan (18 per cent) and Vietnam (one per cent).