Argentina: domestic demand down 19% in June 2016

Argentina’s cement demand contracted 18.8 per cent YoY in June 2016 to 857,525t from 1,055,434t in June 2015 and by 2.7 per cent MoM from 881,663t in May 2016, according to data from domestic cement association, AFCP.

The country’s cement producers also found no relief in exports as these fell by 0.9 per cent YoY from 4976t to 5020t in June 2016 and by 35.3 per cent MoM from 7758t in May 2016.

For the first six months of 2016, domestic cement consumption dropped sharply by 14.2 per cent from 5,877,120t in 1H15 to 5,041,983t in 1H16. The export market saw a 36.3 per cent contraction as sales declined from 60,188t in 1H15 to 38,366t in the first semester of 2016.