Colombia sees 4% increase in cement sales in April

Colombian cement dispatches saw a 3.7 per cent YoY uptick to 1.089Mt in April 2022 from 1.051Mt in April 2021, according to the country’s statistics office, DANE.

Of this total bulk sales increased by 12.2 per cent, reflecting the growth in the ready-mix concrete sector, which expanded its offtake by 15.6 per cent YoY. However, construction companies and contractors reduced their purchases by 4.7 per cent while at retail level, sales were down by 1.2 per cent YoY.

Output from domestic cement plants increased by seven per cent YoY to 1.216Mt in April 2022 from 1.136Mt in the year-ago period.

January-April 2022
When considering the first four months of 2022 dispatch volumes edged up by 2.5 per cent to 4.417Mt from 4.308Mt in the January-April 2021 period.

During the period bulk cement sales were up nine per cent while the market for bagged sales contracted by 0.2 per cent. Sales to the ready-mix concrete segment advanced 10.9 per cent but the requirement from construction companies and contractors was down 6.1 per cent YoY while retail sales slipped by 0.3 per cent.

Domestic production volumes increased by 4.9 per cent to 4.733Mt from 4.51Mt in the 4M21.