Spain's cement consumption falls 28% in March

Cement demand in Spain decreased 28.3 per cent YoY to 923,581t in March 2020, according to the country’s cement association, Oficemen. The level had not been seen since 1965, excluding the recessions of the last decade.

However, exports saw an 11 per cent recovery after 33 months of decline with 54,588t of cement exported.

January-March 2020
In the first quarter of 2020 cement consumption fell 12.7 per cent to 3.143Mt, or 457,246t less when compared with the 1Q19 when demand reached 3.6Mt.

Exports declined 10.6 per cent YoY while imports decreased 58.4 per cent YoY.

Outlook
Oficemen President, Víctor García Brosa, warned that demand was expected to further decline in April as the country’s construction sector ground to a halt between 30 March and 12 April due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He has asked the government for the urgent approval of the National Green Construction Plan “to compensate for the fall” of the tourism sector in 2020-21. He highlighted that the plan “should promote, among others, the infrastructures related to the 2030 Agenda”.