The Philippines: 1H12 cement sales up 20%

Philippine cement sales from January to June this year reached 9.54Mt, up by about 20 per cent YoY, according to data from the Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philippines (Cemap).

Cemap president Ernesto Ordoñez attributed the sales increase to higher infrastructure spending, which was a combination of new infrastructure projects for 2012 and the pent-up demand from last year.
The government deferred last year the implementation of various projects for review. This resulted in the noted drop in demand for construction materials, including cement. The cement industry reported combined sales of 15.6Mt for 2011.

For the rest of 2012, cement sales are expected to remain strong, according to Cemap, with the prevailing good investment climate seen to further boost construction activities in the country.

The National Statistics Office reported in June increases in the prices of cement, sand, gravel, hollow blocks, common wire nails, electrical wires and corrugated GI sheet. The retail price index of these construction materials rose to 1.9 per cent from -0.1 per cent in May. YoY, the retail price index of these construction materials in the national capital region increased to 4.7 per cent in June from 2.6 per cent in May.