Peru’s cement demand remains stable in August

Cement dispatches by Asocem members remained largely stable in August 2018 at 865,000t when compared with the year-ago period, according to the country’s cement association, Asocem. However, they advanced 9.4 per cent when compared with July 2018 when 790,000t was sold in the domestic market. When all domestic cement producers are included, national dispatches reach 975,000t, down 0.5 per cent YoY.

Domestic supply was complemented by cement imports, which surged by 60 per cent YoY to 70,000t. When compared with July 2018, cement imports were down 13.1 per cent. Clinker imports dropped 18.5 per cent YoY to 70,000t in August but advanced 41 per cent MoM when compared with the 50,000t imported in July 2018.

As a result, Peruvian cement demand reached 982,000t in August, up 0.4 per cent YoY when compared with August 2017 when the domestic off-take was 979,000t.

Cement production increased 2.8 per cent YoY and 9.7 per cent MoM to 897,000t in August 2018. Clinker production remained stable at 549,000t when compared with August 2017 but fell 18.1 per cent MoM.

Cement exports fell 27.9 per cent YoY to 21,000t in August 2018 but MoM they increased by 12 per cent. Clinker exports edged up by 5.4 per cent to 34,000t when compared with August 2017. However, when compared with the previous month, they more than halved from 71,000t.

January-August 2018
Apparent consumption (domestic sales + imports) in January-August 2018 advanced 4.8 per cent YoY to 6.902Mt from 6.589Mt in the 8M17.

Cement production edged up 1.2 per cent YoY from 6.384Mt in 8M17 to 6.462Mt in the first eight months of 2018.

Cement imports surged 60.5 per cent YoY to 0.603Mt in 8M18 from 0.376Mt in the year-ago period while for clinker imports a 23.3 per cent advance was reported as they increased from 0.360Mt in 8M17 to 0.444Mt in the equivalent period of 2018.