April dispatches in Colombia see 14% rise

Deliveries to the Colombian cement market increased 13.9 per cent YoY to 1.025Mt in April 2018, according to the country’s national statistics office, DANE.

Antioquia reported a 17.2 per cent rise YoY while in Valle del Cauca and Magdalena, market expansion reached 25.5 and 37.8 per cent, respectively. The Bogotá market remained largely stable while Cundinamarca noted a 3.9 per cent advance. Atlántico saw sales rise by 15.7 per cent while in Norte de Santander deliveries were up 14.1 per cent. Only in Casanare, the market contracted - by four per cent YoY.

Of total deliveries in April, 0.712Mt was supplied as bagged cement and 0.313Mt as bulk. When compared with April 2017, bagged sales increased 17.6 per cent while bulk dispatches were up 6.4 per cent.

In April 2018 domestic grey cement production advanced 5.6 per cent to 1.032Mt when compared with April 2017.

For the January-April 2018 period, deliveries slipped 0.9 per cent from 3.904Mt to 3.868Mt in 4M17. Córdoba reported the largest YoY decrease at 20.7 per cent, followed by Casanare (-18.7 per cent), Bogotá (-11.1 per cent), Santander (-8.4 per cent) and Cundinamarca (-8 per cent). In contrast, Norte de Santander noted a 23 per cent rise in dispatches YoY and Cesar 22.3 per cent. Strong growth was also reported in Magdalena (12 per cent), Valle del Cauca (9.2 per cent) and Caldas (7.8 per cent).

Output in 4M18 fell to 3.955Mt from just under 4Mt in the equivalent period of the previous year.