In the first half of 2018, Central America’s largest importing country was Nicaragua, which purchased cement from overseas sources to the value of US$28m, followed by Guatemala at US$18m. Smaller volumes were imported by El Salvador (US$12m), Honduras (US$7m), Panama (US$6m) and Costa Rica (US$5m), according to CentralAmericaData.

YoY the volume of cement imports in the region advanced by two per cent from US$75.6m to US$77.1m in the 6M18 when compared with the year-ago period.

Around 15 per cent of the value of the region’s cement imports is represented by Chinese imports. Other key importers are Mexico and Vietnam (11 per cent of total value each) while Peru’s import share was around five per cent of total value.

China has increased its presence in the market significantly in the last seven years. In 2012 no significant imports from China were recorded for the first six months.