Cement consumption in Kenya falls to 2.3Mt Jan-May 2018

Cement consumption in Kenya in the first five months of 2018 dipped to 2.3Mt compared to 2.5Mt in the same period in 2017 reports the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

"The deceleration was reflected in the decline in consumption of cement from 1.5Mt in the first quarter of 2017 to 1.4Mt in the quarter under review," said KNBS in its quarterly gross domestic product report for the 1Q18.

KNBS noted that the decline in consumption was also occasioned by notable decreases in the import volume of cement which declined by 15.7 per cent and clinker by eight per cent.

It is noteable that the government has eased back its spending on construction which has impacted on cement demand. Low-priority projects are being suspended as part of fiscal consolidation to reduce expenditure.

However, the government allocated KES74.4bn (US$738m) for the construction of the second phase of SGR between Nairobi and Naivasha, KES87.5bn for ongoing road construction financed domestically and KES34.2bn for the foreign-funded. The Government promised the International Monetary Fund that it would delay the implementation of what they described as ‘lower-priority’ investments.