Chilean cement sales increased to 8.4 million bags in October 2005, from 7.7 million bags for the same period of 2004, Chilean Construction Chamber CChC said on December 9, 2005. Chilean cement sales totalled 77.2 million bags for the period from January to October 2005, compared to 72.9 million bags for the same period last year. Cement sales in the country were pushed up by the higher number of public and private sector projects, announced in the last months. The original forecast for 2005 was for an increase of 4.0 per cent year-on-year.