The consumption of cement in the Brazilian market has slightly increased by 0.2 per cent in the first half of 2004 (Jan-June) when compared to same period in 2003. According to the Brazilian Syndicate for the cement industry - Snic (Sindicato Nacional da Industria de Cimento) in the period between January and June 2004 the consumption of cement in the country - including imports - has been of 16.363Mt against 16.33Mt in the first half of 2003.
The exports have grown by 79.84% in the period, jumping from 124,000 to 223,000 m tons. In June 2004 the consumption hit 2.911Mt, an increase of 6.24% when compared to May and 4.95% comparing to June 2003. In the period between January and June 2004 the imports totaled 115,000 m tons of cement, a growth of 29.21% over the 89,000t imported in same period in 2003. The domestic production has increased by 0.04%, from 16.24Mt to 16.248Mt.
