The Cement Demand Index in Spain noted a YoY 9.3 per cent rise in May 2018, down 1.2 percentage points when compared with the previous month, according to Oficemen, the country’s cement association.

In the last 12 months Spain’s cement market totalled 12.8Mt of cement, up 1.1Mt when compared with the same period of the previous year.

“These volumes maintain the annual demand for cement in our country in figures similar to those recorded in 2013 and in half of what would be a normal level of activity,” says Oficemen.

Moreover, Oficemen added that ”The high cost of electricity, the negative result of the interruption service auction and the high price of CO2 emission rights, continue to strongly penalise the industrial competitiveness of the Spanish cement industry compared to the production in other countries with better costs".