Brazil cement sales fall 3% YoY in July

Domestic cement sales in Brazil slipped 2.5 per cent to 4.589Mt in July when compared with the year-ago period when sales reached 4.709Mt, according to the country’s cement association, SNIC. Exports increased by a third to 8000t from 6000t in July 2017.

In the first seven months of 2018, cement sales fell 1.7 per cent to 29.969Mt from 30.48Mt in the 7M17. Apparent consumption, which includes imports, decreased 2.1 per cent YoY to 30.1Mt.

Exports from Brazil during the January-July 2018 period edged up to 50,000t from 48,000t, representing a 4.2 per cent rise.

SNIC President, Paulo Camillo Penna, commented that "the sector projected to close 2018 with growth of cement consumption between one per cent and two per cent, but the results accumulated so far have reversed this trend."

SNIC expects sales to fall between 1-2 per cent in 2018, thus registering a fourth-consecutive year of contraction.