Colombian cement market expanded 3% in September

Cement consumption in Colombia edged up 2.9 per cent YoY to 1.164Mt in September 2021 from 1.131Mt in September 2020, according to the country’s statistics agency, DANE. When compared with September 2019, demand grew by 7.9 per cent from 1.078Mt.

Bulk sales increased by 7.3 per cent YoY in September 2021 while bagged cement saw sales grow by one per cent. When compared with September 2019, bulk and bagged sales increased by 8.1 and 7.9 per cent, respectively.

Sales growth was particularly strong in Casanare, where sales expanded by 21.3 per cent  YoY in September 2021, but in Norte de Santander, Cundinamarca, Meta and Santander sales also showed robust growth at 13.1, 11.8, 11.6 and 10.8 per cent, respectively. The capital region of Bogotá posted a pick-up of 1.4 per cent while in Antioquia sales were up 3.4 per cent YoY. Nariño recorded the largest market contraction at 12.9 per cent, followed by Sucre (-8.9 per cent), Valle de Cauca (-5.4 per cent), Boyacá (-3.9 per cent) and Bolívar (-2.8 per cent) – all other regions showed modest growth.

Output from domestic cement plants advanced 7.1 per cent to 1.229Mt in September 2021 from 1.148Mt in the year-ago period. When compared with September 2019, production expanded 12.4 per cent to 1.094Mt.

January-September 2021
In the first nine months of 2021 cement demand in Colombia reached 10.094Mt, up 22.1 per cent from 8.268Mt in the 9M20.

Bulk sales saw a 25.5 per cent YoY advance in the 9M21 while bagged cement sales increased by 21.6 per cent YoY.

Expanding sales by 40.7 per cent YoY in the 9M21, Norte de Santander led growth in the market, followed by Cundinamarca (+33.6 per cent) and Atlántico (+32.2 per cent). Growth was also robust in Santander (+31.8 per cent) and Mgdalena (+31 per cent). Markets expanded across the country with the smallest YoY growth noted in Valle del Cauca, where sales were up 4.2 per cent, and Nariño, which saw a 5.5 per cent uptick in sales.

Production in the January-September 2021 period reached 9.589Mt, up 21.6 per cent from 7.889Mt in the 9M20.