Brazil's cement market contracts 1% in November

Cement sales in Brazil slipped 0.8 per cent YoY to 5.3Mt in November 2022, according to the Brazilian cement association,  SNIC.

In the January-November 2022 period sales declined by 2.5 per cent YoY to 58.5Mt.

In its monthly summary of the country’s construction industry, SNIC also highlighted that real estate financing remains challenged by the higher Selic rate of 13.75 per cent, shifting investment towards financial assets. Real estate launches continues to fall by 8.5 per cent until September, compared to the same period of 2021, worsening the prospects for the cement industry. However, real estate sales remained stable, edging up by 0.1 per cent YoY. The Casa Verde Amarela programme reported a 26.2 per cent YoY drop in launches up to September and a 9.3 per cent YoY fall in sales. It currently accounts for 34 per cent of all real estate launches, down from 60 per cent before.

While employment is recovering, incomes are lower than their pre-pandemic level and this is reflected in a 6.6 per cent decrease in building material sales until October 2022 and high indebtedness, reports SNIC.

To offset this performance, SNIC calls upon the government to increase investments in civil construction in urban and infrastructure development.

“In a month traditionally strong in sales for the sector, cement sales continue to be negatively affected by the World Cup, in addition to uncertainties regarding the direction of the economy, high interest rates and strong household debt, projecting a drop of around two per cent in 2022,” said Paulo Camillo Penna, president of SNIC.

Exports
Exports saw a 28 per cent increase from 25,000t in November 2021 to 32,000t in November 2022.

However, in the first 11 months of 2022, exports declined by 14.8 per cent to 369,000t from 433,000t in the year-ago period.