Brazil’s civil construction industry, one of the most affected by the past
year’s recession, appears to have resumed growth after a year and a half of
crisis, as cement consumption rose along with sales of apartments in the
economic hub of Sao Paulo.
Responsible for 10 per cent of the Brazilian gross domestic product (GDP)
and one of the last sectors to react to the economic recovery, the civil
construction is enjoying the effects of other activities’ expansion, such as
industry and commerce.
Cement consumption, one of the main indicators of the sector as it is used
in each project, has been growing since May 2004. The June 2004 consumption
of cement in Brazil rose by 5.0 per cent from the same month of 2003.
However, Jose Otavio Carvalho, the executive secretary of a cement
industries union, noted that in 2003 the cement consumption fell by 11 per
cent.
Carvalho said that the cement industries were still cautious. To confirm a
consistent recovery it is necessary the growth of consumption to persist for
at least three consecutive months, the secretary said.
