US import tax on Mexican products to have little effect on Mexican cement

The five per cent import tariff on all Mexican products, imposed by US President, Donald Trump, would not impact the cement industry as shipments to the US represent only 3.4 per cent of the total domestic output, assured Yanina Navarro, general director of Mexico’s chamber of cement, Canacem. In 2018 Mexico produced 44Mt of cement but only exported 1.416Mt.

"Cement is a very local product, even moving it within the country implies a lot of logistics, which is why it represents very little of the total production of grey cement. The provisions of President Trump are not expected to have a strong impact," Ms Navarro explained.

Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC) would be affected to some extent as 17 per cent of its output is destined for export to the USA through its plants in Samalayuca and Ciudad Juárez. However, the company operates a cement plant in the US and only recently completed an expansion of its local capacity. Therefore, the impact of the new tariff would be considerably reduced.