Argentina's cement market contracted by 9.6 per cent YoY to 1,040,317t in October 2018, according to the latest data by the country’s cement association, AFCP.

Deliveries by the country’s cement producers fell by 8.8 per cent to 1,040,197t while at 120t, imports were a shadow of those in October 2017 (9720t).

In addition, domestic cement producers exported 8280t of cement, down 10.5 per cent YoY, of a total output of 1,048,477t, which fell by 8.9 per cent YoY (October 2017: 1,150,524t).

In the first 10 months of 2018, domestic cement consumption edged up by 0.9 per cent to 10.036Mt from 9.94Mt in 10M17. Imports rose by 5.8 per cent to 69,736t from 65,894t in 10M17.

An increase of 0.9 per cent in output to 10.023Mt in 10M18 from 9.934Mt in the year-ago period, according to AFCP. Of this total, 60,411t was exported, representing an improvement of one per cent on the 59,817t noted in 10M17.