Following a poor performance in recent years, the Colombian cement sector seems to be on the cusp of a new era. Although the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to be understood, a steady pipeline of construction projects over the next few years should support rising cement prices and a positive cement demand forecast, argues Bancolombia. By Jairo Julian Aquedelo Restrepo, Bancolombia, Colombia.
In 2016 Bancolombia wrote a report on the Colombian cement sector which had a positive tone (see ICR January 2017). However, this viewpoint was overshadowed by a series of events that caused the cement sector to underperform in light of the country’s economic growth over the 2017-19 period.
The first such event to have an impact was the Odebrecht scandal, which hit one of Colombia’s main road infrastructure projects – the second tranche of Ruta del Sol – and resulted in local banks putting their support for new infrastructure projects on hold given the risks associated with the payment of the project’s loans.
