Moroccan monthly sales down 31%

The Moroccan cement market contracted in June by 30.6 per cent YoY to 721,846t from 1,039,544Mt in June 2016, according to the country’s Ministry of Housing. The drop in sales was attributed to a slowdown in construction activity.

In the first half of 2017, demand decreased 9.24 per cent to 6,771,681t with all parts of country seeing a drop in sales, apart from a few southern provinces.

The largest MoM decline was reported in the eastern region, where sales fell by 39.8 per cent, from 84,668t to 50,972t at the end of June. In Fes-Meknes sales declined 37.65 per cent, or 56,735t sold against 90,996t in the same month of last year. Sales decreased at Drâa-Tafilalet, Tangier-Tétouan-Al-Hoceima, Casablanca-Settat and Marrakech-Safi respectively by 36.13, 35.31, 32.90 and 30.32 per cent. Only the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Eddahab regions were able to recover.  In Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, cement consumption reached a 9.79 per cent increase, ie sales of 19,054t, up from 17,355t in the same month of last year.