Colombian cement market contracts 29% in March

Cement dispatches in Colombia fell by 28.6 per cent to 739,700t in March 2020 from 1,035,800t in March 2019, according to the latest data by the country’s statistics agency, DANE.

Domestic output declined 25.6 per cent YoY to 848,600t from 1,139,900t in the year-ago period.

In the first quarter of 2020 deliveries contracted by 5.7 per cent to 2.759Mt from 2.926Mt in the 1Q19 while output was down 4.1 per cent YoY to 2.927Mt from 3.053Mt in the 1Q19.

However, the statistics agency reported a 2.2 per cent expansion in domestic dispatches to 12.349Mt  in the April 2019-March 2020 period from 12.087Mt in the equivalent period of the previous year. In terms of production, there was a 2.3 per cent increase YoY for the 12-month period ended 31 March 2019 to 12.869Mt from 12.584Mt.