Cement consumption in Spanish has declined by 9.7 per cent to 13.288Mt in 2020, according to the country’s cement association, Oficemen.

The drop was already apparent in January and February, but with the lockdown due the the COVID-19 pandemic, demand in March, April and May fell by more than 1.2Mta when compared with 2019.

It was not until December that demand seemed to pick up as cement consumption increased 8.2 per cent YoY to 1.022Mt, but from a low base in 2019.

Exports
In 2020 Spanish cement producers exported 5.988Mt of cement and clinker, down 3.4 per cent when compared with 2019 when 6.196Mt was supplied to overseas customers.

Outlook for 2021
For 2021 Oficemen expects modest growth at best with a change in demand that ranges between -3 and +3 per cent.

In terms of public works, "our best scenario for 2021 would be for the investment level not to fall and to remain at 11,300 million in 2020", explains the president of Oficemen, Víctor García Brosa.

For the housing sector he paints an equally bleak picture: ”The latest available data put the fall for this year at more than 23 per cent with respect to the levels of 2019, which will obviously have an impact on the activity of the next years 2021 and 2022", adds the president of Oficemen.

The development of non-residential building has been very similar to that of housing, registering an estimated 22.7 per cent drop in m2 permits in 2020 compared to 2019.