Puerto Rican cement sales dip 12% in January

Cement sales in Puerto Rico declined 11.5 per cent to 45,622t in January 2022 when compared to January 2021, according to the country’s Statistics Institute. It is the second consecutive drop and the lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cement sales saw a rise from May 2020 until the lockdown ended at the start of the pandemic. In June 2021 sales started to decline.

Last year 665,148t, or 15.6m of 94lb bags, of cement were sold, representing a market growth of 12.5 per cent when compared with 2020 and the highest sales since 2013.

However, cement production was down 13.7 per cent in January as 20,252t left the production lines. In 2021 cement output by Puerto Rico’s domestic plants was down 29.5 per cent to 315,519t.