Colombian cement market contracts 4% in April

National cement dispatches in Colombia declined 3.9 per cent YoY to 0.991Mt in April 2019 from 1.031Mt in April 2018, according to the country’s national statistics office, DANE.

The market of Magdalena noted the largest contraction at 21.6 per cent, followed by Atlántico (-13.5 per cent), Córdoba (-12.6 per cent) and Cundinamarca (-11.1 per cent). Sales in Bogotá declined by 4.9 per cent and in Valle del Cauca they were 5.7 per cent down YoY. Casanare reported a 17.5 per cent advance in offtake and Bolívar sales were up 11.8 per cent.

Cement production in Colombia slipped 6.2 per cent to 0.971Mt in April 2019 from 1.035Mt in the same month of the previous year.

January-April 2019
In the first four months of 2019 domestic dispatches edged up 1.4 per cent to 3.934Mt when compared with 3.88Mt in January-April 2018.

In terms of distribution segments, the retail sector saw its offtake decline by 3.9 per cent YoY while dispatches to construction companies and contractors fell by 9.7 per cent. Sales to ready-mix concrete companies slipped by 0.7 per cent YoY while the prefabricated segment was down 1.1 per cent.

Output from Colombian cement plants advanced 1.5 per cent YoY to 4.024Mt. In the 4M18 their production totalled 3.064Mt.