Kenyan cement consumption falls 15% YoY

Cement consumption in Kenya declined from 2.596Mt in the third quarter of 2021 to 2.217Mt in the same period this year, marking a contraction of 14.6 per cent YoY. Cement production over the same period fell from 2.64Mt in the 3Q21 to 2.302Mt.

The drop mirrors the downward trend seen in the country’s construction sector, which reported growth of 4.3 per cent in the 9M22, compared to an advance of 6.7 per cent in the same period a year earlier, according to Business Daily.

The data, provided by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, is reportedly indicative of a downturn in construction activities by both the government and other developers in the quarter in which the country’s general elections had been concluded. Economic growth has also slowed not only due to the August elections but also on the back of ongoing elevated inflationary pressures with inflation averaging 8.7 per cent in the July-September quarter this year, compared to 6.7 per cent in the year-ago period.