UK cement sales seen up 3% in 2011, declines ahead

Latest cement data from the Mineral Products Cement Association (MPA) shows that cement sales for the January – November 2011 period were 7.92Mt, up 5.5 per cent on the 7.51Mt recorded in the same period of 2010. Domestic cement sales for November 2011 were 730,000t, compared to 666,000t in November 2010, up 9.6%.

Production for the first 11 months of 2011 rose 6.6 per cent YoY to 8Mt. Output for November alone reached 720,000t, a YoY rise of 4.8% compared to November 2010.

However, a spokesperson for the MPA told ICR that while cement sales have witnessed an improvement for 2011, a decline is forecast for the current year. “We expect 2011 to be four per cent up and 2012 three per cent down.”

According to the latest forecasts by the UK’s Construction Products Association (CPA) said construction output is forecast to fall by more than five per cent in 2012 and remain flat throughout 2013.  It will be 2014 before the industry is expected to see any significant signs of recovery, by which time output will be 12% lower than at its peak in 2007. The CPA noted that cuts in public sector construction activity are really beginning to bite and that for the construction industry to return to growth there needs to be a strong private sector recovery, but at present this is not being witnessed.