The consumption of cement fell by 7.1% in February, falling to 1.17 million tons
The consumption of cement fell by 7.1% in February, falling to 1.17 million tons.
The consumption of cement dropped in February by 7.1% in Spain, falling to 1.17 million tons, compared to the same month last year, when the highest consumption of the last decade was recorded, according to the latest data published in the Cement Statistics.
The Spanish Cement Association (Oficemen) already predicted these drops at the beginning of the year, precisely due to the «exceptional» consumption that was recorded in the initial months of 2022, compared to the more moderate evolution of 2023.
In the last 12 months, consumption has dropped by 3.4%, compared to the more moderate drop of 1.6% that this indicator had in January. In absolute values, a total of 14.4 million tons of cement have been consumed in the last 12 months.
«Even though two months of evolution do not usually have any special statistical significance, it is interesting to point out that it is in negative figures, with a drop of 2.9%, which would be in line with our forecasts for 2023», explained the general manager of Oficemen, Aniceto Zaragoza.
Exports fell by 17.2% in February, which positioned the annual aggregate in the red, with a fall of 9.7%. Just in February 85,931 exported tons were lost compared to figures in the same month of 2022.
The main factor that is responsible for this data continues to be the bad evolution of the clinker sales abroad, which resulted in a loss of 79,000 tons last month.
As for imports, they fell by 61.7% as well, to 93,000 tons, due to there being less activity in the construction sector.
