According to Assafir newspaper (November 7, 2005), a recently publicized report by the Association of Banks in Lebanon estimated at that 299,000t of cement was delivered in July 2005 compared with 305,000t in the previous month of June and 264,000t in July 2004. The delivered cement amounts totaled 1,585,000t in the first seven months of 2005 compared with 1,492,000t in the same period last year, a 6.2% rise.