Colombian cement market stable in January

Cement consumption in Colombia slipped 0.3 per cent from 994,700t in January 2020 to 992,200t in January 2021, according to the country’s statistics office, DANE. Output from the domestic cement industry decreased by one per cent to 1.034Mt in January 2021 from 1.045Mt in January 2020.

Sales to ready-mix concrete companies declined 10 per cent in January 2021, but off-take by construction companies and contractors rose by 5.3 per cent while the retail sector saw 1.7 per cent more sales than in January 2020. Bulk sales were down three per cent while bagged cement sales edged up by 0.8 per cent YoY.

The largest market contraction was seen in Bogotá, where sales fell by 17.3 per cent YoY in January 2021. In Meta they were down by 12.6 per cent YoY. Boyacá and Cundinamarca saw demand reduced by 4.3 and four per cent, respectively while in Tolima sales decreased by 3.3 per cent YoY. In Valle del Cauca consumption slipped by 0.7 per cent. However, Nariño reported an increase of 19.4 per cent, the largest in the country, followed by Casanare (+15.2 per cent), Norte de Santander (+13.7 per cent), Cesar (+11 per cent) and Sucre (+10.8 per cent). Smaller but significant advances of just under 10 per cent were reported in Santander, Atlántico and Caldas, while the Magdalena market expanded by 8.7 per cent.