Cement sales in Portugal’s autonomous region of the Azores Islands registered a 2.7 per cent year-on-year decrease to a total 27,724t in April 2005, data from the Azores regional statistics office SREA showed on June 15, 2005. In comparison, sales of cement in the region totalled 27,632t in April 2004, SREA added.
Cement sales on the Azores Islands amounted to 106,915 tonnes in the four-month period January to April 2005, down from 108,702 tonnes in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, cement imports in the Azores region grew to 46,177t in the four-month period since the beginning of 2005, up from 43,120t in the respective period of 2004. According to SREA, the fall in the volumes of the cement sales on the Azores Islands reflects the decrease in the number of building permits issued by the municipal authorities in the region. New building permits issued in Azores during the 12-month period, ended April 2005, decreased by 0.4 per cent year-on-year, SREA said.
