The latest CEMBUREAU Quarterly Economic Report, published yesterday, highlights that although real GDP has continued to grow in 2Q15, the momentum has slowed compared to the previous quarter (+0.4 per cent vs +0.5 per cent). In this respect, business and consumer confidence indicators have fallen slightly in 2Q but have remained steadily above 2014 levels since January 2015, the European cement association highlights.

In terms of construction, the report shows that leading indicators for the construction sector in 2Q15 revealed that the ongoing economy recovery across the EU continues to be disconnected from the construction cycle, for which widespread recovery is lagging behind. "As a result, construction sector data showed mixed signs and diverging developments in major euro area economies," CEMBUREAU noted.

It further highlighted that industrial production also remained stagnant in the EU, with moderate but continued growth in Germany, a sharp fall in France, a recovery in  Italy and Spain (more pronounced in the latter) but still remaining at very low levels in historical terms.

The report shows that cement manufacturing indices in 2Q15 remained around record lows across the EU, having recorded a negligible quarterly increase, with drops in Germany and France (where indices reached a new record low) and remaining more or less unchanged in Italy and Spain, around very low levels.

To download the 2Q  Quarterly Economic Report report, click here.