Morocco reports 8% drop in 1Q deliveries

Cement deliveries by APC members in Morocco fell 28.7 per cent YoY to 910,995t in March 2020 when compared with 1,278,486t in March 2019, according to market research company, IPSOS.

The building sector was particularly hit with a 44.7 per cent YoY drop to 42,912t, but the retail and prefabricated segments also noted declines of 30 per cent to 582,738t and 78,214t, respectively. In the ready-mix concrete market, the offtake fell by 26.7 per cent YoY to 162,440t. Infrastructure provided some positivity as deliveries were up 13 per cent YoY to 44,692t.

In February 2020 dispatches increased 6.7 per cent to 1,191,778t, up from 1,117,515t in February 2019. Deliveries in January 2020advanced by 2.4 per cent YoY to 1,204,833t from 1,177,011t in the year-ago period.

January-March 2020
In the first quarter of 2020 cement deliveries fell by 8.4 per cent YoY to 3.267Mt when compared with 3.566Mt reported for the 1Q19.

The largest decline was reported in the building sector, which saw a drop of 21.6 per cent YoY to 0.161Mt. The retail sector saw deliveries decline by 10.8 per cent YoY to 2.06Mt while the prefabricated segment saw a 9.4 per cent fall to 0.284Mt. Deliveries to the ready-mix concrete segment slipped by 1.7 per cent YoY to 0.605Mt. However, infrastructure saw a 27.3 per cent rise to 0.156Mt when compared with the 1Q19.