Dominican Republic exports increase

The Dominican Association of Portland Cement Manufacturers (Adocem) said today that so far this year, cement exports to other markets increased by 34.2 per cent over the same period last year.

Adocem data shows that from January to June, industry sales abroad were 703,000t while last year they rose to 524,000t.

According to the report, the Dominican cement industry annually exports about 35 per cent of its production, which accounts for about US$120m of foreign currency entering the country.

Adocem explained that the main destination of their shipments are the markets of the Caribbean, Jamaica, Bermuda, the ABC islands, Guyana and the Virgin Islands, among others, and Haiti is its main market.

"Even adding the local demand and the total exports, the industry remains idle for more than 35 per cent of installed capacity, which is more than 6Mt," said a statement from the organisation.