A fragile but positive outlook
While South America’s cement markets may have been considerably affected by the economic downturn, the Central American countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are hopeful of a better future. Domestic cement producers are looking for an upturn in cement demand, particularly following recent increases in their production capacities. By Rob Roy, ROI Economic Consulting, USA.
In Honduras Argos operates the 1.3Mta Piedras Azules integrated works (pictured)
and the 0.3Mta Cesur grinding facility
Central American cement consumption totalled 10.72Mt in 2015, higher than any previous year, except for the record demand of 11Mta in 2013. It is a relatively small cement market, accounting for less than six per cent of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Guatemala was the largest Central American cement consumer and producer in 2015 with a 32 per cent market share and a 33 per cent share in total domestic production. The remaining six countries, except Belize, also represented production and consumption shares that were virtually identical:
