Morocco’s cement demand falls 16.5% in first four months

During the first four months of the year, cement demand in Morocco fell by 16.5 per cent from 6Mt to just under 5Mt as the start of the year was affected by heavy rainfall, according to the country’s cement association.

In addition, faltering demand from key consumers sent sales on a downward trend. A new tax regime relating to the income of sale of land further restrains the real estate market as does the lower level of self-construction projects.

Geographically, the Tadla-Azilal and Tangier-Tetouan regions have been affected most (apart from Smara, which represents two per cent of demand and recorded a 50 per cent cut). They saw demand drop by a quarter during Jan-Apr when compared with the equivalent period of the previous year. Souss-Massa Meknes and Greater Casablanca noted decreases of around 20 per cent. The Doukkala and Laayoune regions form the only spot of hope as they saw consumption rise by 2.5 and 27 per cent, respectively. However, their combined market of seven per cent is modest.

In April alone, cement consumption in Morocco fell three per cent YoY to 1.4Mt.