Cement consumption in Spain in January expanded by 5.4 per cent to 1,066,959t, according to Oficemen, the Spanish cement association.

“We expected lower values at this beginning of the year, but it has been a particularly dry month in which the weather may have allowed us to recover part of the consumption lost in December due to heavy rains. The calendar effect has also had an influence, due to the absence of holidays. In fact, the average daily consumption has had a practically flat growth of 0.4 per cent”, indicates Aniceto Zaragoza, general director of Oficemen.

Exports were up by 10.3 per cent YoY to 428,117t in January, on the back of improved cement exports. Clinker sales were down by 15.7 per cent YoY.