Mexico's cement market sees cement prices surge

The price of grey cement in Mexico increased on average 14.5 per cent per 50kg bag and 20 per cent per tonne of bulk cement in January 2022 when compared with December 2021, according to industry sources and material distributors, reports El Norte.

This is significantly above the 2.4 per cent increase between January 2021 and December 2020 as reported by INEGI, the country’s statistics office.

In the case of market leader Cemex, the company reported a 14.4 per cent price rise for its bagged cement per tonne while bulk cement per tonne saw a 20 per cent hike at producer level. "The increases applied to our products seek to recover part of the inflation that the company has had in its costs," Cemex explained.

Other cement companies have also increased their prices, said Javier Fernández, director of materials distributor Grupo Mecasa. In Monterrey, bagged cement prices at retail level saw an increase to MXN215 (US$10.43) in January 2021 from MXN190 in December 2020.

In addition, Grupo Reforma said on 10 January that cement prices had risen 6.7 per cent YoY in December 2021 at producer level. The distributors also said that the price of a 50kg bag had increased 14.5 per cent while bulk cement prices were up 20 per cent.