Oficemen predicts slower market expansion in 2019

Cement consumption in Spain expanded by eight per cent in 2018, resulting in a domestic demand of 13.4Mt, according to the country’s cement association, Oficemen. For 2019, the association predicts a 3-6 per cent rise in cement demand.

"2018 has been an atypical year, with ups and downs in growth, which has gone from the two digits with which it started the year, touching 12 per cent, to close with only an eight per cent increase, which means a growth of barely 1Mt in absolute values, maintaining the levels of 1967,” explains Oficemen’s President, Jesús Ortiz.

However, a shift in consumption pattern has been reported with housing and non-residential construction providing 55 per cent of demand. Civil work now only accounts for 45 per cent of demand as the Spanish government rolled back annual infrastructure investment to below EUR6000m, significantly under the EUR8600m/year invested in the last 25 year.

Decline in exports
Exports were less able to mitigate any temporary falls in the domestic market as they declined by nearly 12 per cent to 8.1Mta.

"In the last two years, almost 2Mt of exports have been lost, which is equivalent to the average annual production of three cement factories," adds Mr Ortiz.

Oficemen attributes the loss in exports to reduced competitiveness of domestic producers as they are challenged by rising electricity and CO₂ emission costs, adding an extra EUR16/t of cement.