Spain’s cement consumption falls 2% in February

Cement demand in Spain has declined 2.4 per cent YoY to 1,136,748t in February 2021, according to Oficemen, the country’s cement association.

Cement consumption in the first two months of the year saw a 10.1 per cent drop when compared with the 2M20.

In terms of exports, volumes increased by 29.2 per cent YoY in February 2021. “We are observing this export improvement with great caution. We cannot forget that we are still immersed in a pandemic situation, which still weighs on local production in many of the neighbouring countries, traditional producers and recipients of cement, and we have serious doubts that it will come to stay if mechanisms to improve our competitiveness in the medium and long term. Furthermore, our domestic market continues to be burdened by the lack of investment in public works and housing,” commented Oficemen President, Víctor García Brosa.

Mr García Brosa highlighted the issue of CO₂ emission rights in providing competitive cement on the international market: “The most urgent problem continues to be the costs of CO₂ emission rights, which have doubled in the last year, to exceed EUR40/t emitted, a cost that is very difficult to bear. In this sense, we welcome that the European Parliament is already taking the first steps, with the favourable vote last Wednesday, for the creation of a CO₂ border adjustment system for products imported from third countries that do not have a decarbonisation agenda equivalent to that of the European Commission. It is an essential decision, not only to avoid the disappearance of the European industry, but also, and, above all, so that the carbon tax has a real effectiveness on the environment.”