French cement consumption rises 5% in October

French cement demand increased by five per cent YoY to 1.904Mt in October, data from association Syndicat Français de l'Industrie Cimentière (SFIC) shows. Domestic producers advanced sales by 4.5 per cent to 1.762Mt when compared with October 2011 while importers increased their deliveries by nearly 11 per cent from 0.128Mt to 0.142Mt.

In terms of exports, the French industry made modest gains of 3.7 per cent from 0.108Mt to 0.112Mt, mostly in the form of cement (0.099Mt) although some clinker was also exported.

For the year to date, national cement demand fell by 5.7 per cent from 18.217Mt to 17.181Mt. This was largely at the expense of domestic cement makers which saw their Jan-Oct sales fall by just over seven per cent to 15.521Mt while importers benefitted, delivering 1.66Mt, up 9.4 per cent when compared with the equivalent period of 2011.

Foreign markets provided little, if any, relief for French producers as exports declined 3.8 per cent to 1.091Mt. Advances in clinker exports, which rose 17.3 per cent to 0.176Mt, could not offset the seven per cent drop in cement exports, which fell to 0.915Mt.

In 2011, cement demand in France jumped 8.1 per cent YoY to 21.382Mt, 19.543Mt delivered by local producers and 1.839Mt by importers. Cement plants in the country also notched up a modest 1.5 per cent gain in exports. Although clinker exports fell by nearly 35 per cent to 0.173Mt, cement shipments increased 10.7 per cent to 1.158Mt.